Kyndryl and AWS sign global cloud pact

IBM spin-off and mega managed services provider (MSP) Kyndryl has signed a global cloud partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Kyndryl – formerly IBM’s Managed Infrastructure Services unit – will ensure the company builds an AWS Cloud Center of Excellence (CCOE) that combines the two companies’ respective expertise in cloud infrastructure and services.

According to an announcement, the partnership will “offer cutting-edge customer solutions and services to support mission-critical infrastructure, next-generation technologies, and modernize applications and workflows across all industries.”

As part of the agreement, Kyndryl gains Premier Global Alliance Partner status with AWS, with the latter acting as Kyndryl’s cloud provider to help the company build its own internal cloud infrastructure.

As a Premier Global Alliance Partner and an MSP-certified member of the AWS Partner Network (APN), Kyndryl said it has invested heavily in AWS competency development and has built an experienced team of AWS-certified services professionals through the Kyndryl Academy for AWS.

The IBM spin-off and AWS jointly announced that they intend to invest in training 10,000 Kyndryl employees by the end of 2022, upskilling them in a variety of AWS skills.

“Our ability to freely explore and unlock the combined benefits of AWS cloud services with Kyndryl’s deep industry-specific managed services and expertise will provide an unprecedented level of knowledge and innovation,” said Martin Schroeter, Chairman and CEO of Kyndryl. “Together we will invest in enhancing Kyndryl’s expertise in AWS to help organizations modernize, innovate and compete.”

Meanwhile, AWS CEO Adam Selipsky said the duo is “committed to educating, empowering, and empowering thousands of AWS certified practitioners and developing solutions together.”

“By joining forces with Kyndryl, we are helping customers of all sizes modernize, grow their business and transform what is possible faster than ever,” he said.

One of the first steps of the partnership will be the establishment of a VMware Cloud on AWS accelerator aimed at helping customers develop expertise and custom solutions.

“Given the high concentration of Kyndryl customers running VMware on-premises, this provides an accelerated path to VMware Cloud on AWS and helps enterprises run their mission-critical workloads in the cloud,” the two said in a statement.

Kyndryl officially became an independent company late last year following its split from Big Blue. As of November, Kyndryl has 90,000 employees, annual sales of $19 billion and operations in over 60 countries.

Following its split, Kyndryl formed its first major strategic cloud partnership with Microsoft, with the latter becoming its Premier Global Alliance Partner.

Around the same time, Kyndryl and VMware expanded their existing relationship, promising to help customers with their application modernization and multi-cloud plans.

As part of the agreement, the companies said they will focus on developing a range of services targeting multi-cloud infrastructure and management, digital workspaces, managed applications and other areas.

In December of last year, Kyndryl entered into a global strategic partnership with Google Cloud to support the companies’ mutual customers in the cloud.

Locally, Kyndryl is managed in Australia and New Zealand by Big Blues former A/NZ Managing Director Kerry Purcell.

Purcell is a tenured IBM employee and joined IBM ten years ago as General Manager for IBM Global Business Services in Japan. He then became Managing Director of IBM A/NZ in 2015.

Meanwhile in ASEAN, Susan Follis has been appointed Managing Director of Kyndryl and head of the go-to-market growth unit for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa.

Tags Amazon Web ServicesAWSKyndrylIBM