Airtel partners with AWS to provide cloud-based solutions to SMEs

Bharti Airtel on Wednesday announced a strategic partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) in a bid to tap into and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises and provide them with innovative cloud-based solutions to accelerate the digital transformation in the country.

As a part of the partnership, Airtel Cloud, which is Airtel’s cloud-based solution for businesses, will build an AWS Cloud Practice and differentiated Airtel Cloud products that will leverage AWS, Airtel’s data centres and telecom giant’s network and other telecoms offerings to provide a comprehensive solution to SMEs and large enterprises.

Airtel says that Airtel Cloud will offer customers a range of services and solutions which includes migration and assessments, data analysis that leverages the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), application modernisation, data warehousing and Internet of Things (IoT) services, which in turn would enable SMEs and large enterprises to adopt new services and migrate to the cloud from legacy infrastructures.

The company says that its customers will benefit from an integrated sales, consulting, and support approach from both the companies. It would also give them ease of doing business, manage all AI-related operations, reduce the time to get their product to the market, provide them security against phishing attacks and other forms of cybersecurity threats and help them manage their costs.

“This collaboration gives customers a single point of contact when dealing with complex migrations or custom-built solutions. Airtel has demonstrated a strong commitment to our shared customers, and we look forward to continue working with them to bring innovative solutions to market,” Puneet Chandok, President, Commercial Business, India and South Asia, AWS said on the occasion.

“This collaboration brings AWS, the world’s leading cloud platform, together with Airtel’s deep reach and proven expertise in handling network, data centres, security, and cloud as an integrated solution,” added Harmeen Mehta, CIO & Head – Cloud and Security Business, Airtel.

It is worth mentioning that Airtel’s partnership with AWS comes nearly a year after Reliance Jio announced a similar partnership with Microsoft Azure. To give you some context: the two companies had announced a partnership last year that is ‘aimed at accelerating the digital transformation of the Indian economy and society’.

The partnership included the two companies working together in the field of data analytics, AI, cognitive services, blockchain, IoT and edge computing for increasing the adoption of various technologies among SMEs and large enterprises and helping them grow.

Two partnerships that have Reliance Jio and Microsoft Azure on one side and Airtel and AWS on the other are essentially targetting the same piece of the pie -- providing comprehensive cloud and AI-based services to SMEs and large enterprises to help them upgrade their existing infrastructure and grow while being not being price intensive. It remains to be seen which company is able to capture a bigger market segment in this context.

Meanwhile, Reliance Industries in its quarterly report announced that its profits had risen by 182.8% from ₹891 crores in the first quarter of 2019 to ₹2,520 crores in the first quarter of 2020. Bharti Airtel, on the other hand, announced that its losses had widened to ₹15,933 crore for the June quarter.