IBM this week revealed it will make its software-as-a-service (SaaS) catalog available on Amazon Web Services (AWS), as part of a multi-year agreement between the two cloud vendors.
Clients with IBM will be able to purchase IBM SaaS products via Amazon Marketplace and from there they can set up and integrate the software with AWS. IBM and AWS are also committing a series of joint investments so clients can better consume IBM software on AWS and are planning to launch integrated go-to-market activities across sales and marketing, channel incentives, developer enablement and training and more.
The partnership is part of IBM’s continued initiative to bring hybrid cloud services to its clients, according to Michael Gilfix, IBM’s VP of product management for data and AI. He told Fierce IBM already had a good foundation of offerings with IBM Cloud. Many clients value IBM’s software products in their on-premises environments but have decided to shift to AWS.
“Our AWS partnership allows existing clients and new clients alike to leverage the strength of IBM Software in managing and securing their AWS workloads and getting value from their data on AWS,” Gilfix said.
Teaming up with AWS is a smart financial move, as the company maintains its grip as market share leader in the public cloud market. Amazon in its Q1 2022 earnings reported AWS revenue of $18.44 billion, representing over 36% year-to-year growth.
Gilfix noted the demand for AWS integration wasn’t restricted to a particular subset of clients. It stems from the broad trend of enterprises wanting to continuously scale workloads – by running software both on-premises and across hybrid cloud environments. With this expanded partnership, Gilfix said IBM will “continue to offer our clients the full stack of technology they need and meet them wherever they are in their digital transformation journeys.”
Hybrid cloud revenue accounted for over one-third of IBM’s overall Q1 2022 revenue. CEO Arvind Krishna said on an earnings call IBM added 200 hybrid cloud platform clients, raising its total to over 4,000.
IBM is likely to maintain its hybrid cloud efforts, as enterprises continue to shift their technology resources to the cloud due to the surge of hybrid work environments. Research firm Gartner estimates global end user spending on public cloud services will top almost $500 billion this year.
“IBM takes a holistic approach to delivering on our promise of providing secure hybrid cloud and AI solutions to support our clients’ and partners’ digital transformations,” Gilfix concluded. “We’re excited to build on that legacy with AWS.”