IBM has inked a landmark $325 million cloud migration contract with California-based Juniper Networks, the networking company that provides routers, switches and software-defined networking capabilities.
The seven-year agreement will see IBM manage the cloud transition of Juniper’s infrastructure, applications, and IT services, data centers, and help manage support systems for its desks and data and voice networks.
IBM Juniper Networks Deal: Includes Automated Services Support
The two will use the semi-automated IBM Services Platform with Watson to help manage Juniper’s support systems, they said in a release. It was not immediately clear if the deal also involves IBM’s own cloud provision.
Juniper Networks has been struggling to keep up with industry competitors like Cisco and signing a number of agreements intended to boost its competitiveness in the multi-cloud space, for example through a recent deal with Nutanix.
“Our work with thousands of enterprises globally has led us to the firm belief that a ‘one-cloud-fits-all’ approach doesn’t work and companies are choosing multiple cloud environments to best meet their needs,” said Martin Jetter, Senior Vice President of IBM Global Technology Services.
“Working with Juniper, we are integrating cloud solutions with their existing IT investments via the IBM Service Platform with Watson. This gives them the opportunity to generate more value from existing infrastructure, along with helping them manage strategic services that are critical to their business.”
IBM claims that with its IBM Service Platform, which supports automated remediation and assistance, customer incident resolution time has decreased from hours to minutes, and average recovery time for fully automated responses fallen 90 percent.
“A key element of our digital transformation is to manage the complexities of our global operation and to get the most out of our current investments,” said Bob Worrall, Chief Information Officer, Juniper Networks. “In working with IBM Services, we will be able to collaborate with them on innovative solutions for our cloud-first business model.”
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