Credit: Juniper Networks
IBM Services has signed a US$325 million agreement with Juniper Networks, assisting the networking vendor in managing existing infrastructure, applications and IT services.
Spanning seven years, terms of the contract will see Big Blue leverage the IBM Services Platform with Watson to manage support systems including data centres, help desk, data and voice networks.
“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, CIO at Juniper Networks. “In working with IBM Services, we will be able to collaborate with them on innovative solutions for our cloud-first business model.”
Worrall said Juniper Networks will also tap into IBM’s cognitive technologies in a bid to create a more “agile IT environment”, required to help reduce costs and “enhance their journey to the cloud”.
To facilitate this, IBM will introduce the ‘Factory Development’ concept for application management, which uses automation and cognitive tools to drive efficiency and help create a “cloud-native landscape”.
“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," added 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.”
The agreement comes two months after Juniper Networks announced its intent to acquire HTBASE, which has developed a platform for software-defined enterprise multi-cloud deployments.
Revealed in November 2018, HTBASE offers a single layer of compute, networking and storage across public and private clouds as well as the edge, in a move designed to simplify how multi-cloud environments are managed.
From a technology standpoint, the acquisition aims to bring multi-cloud storage capabilities to the vendor’s network and compute orchestration offerings within its Contrail Enterprise Multicloud solution.
