- The two companies will deploy SHARK.X, an open, hybrid and
multi-cloud hardware and software platform specialized in
analytics, data management and AI
- Telefónica Tech and IBM will create a use case office to
develop customer pilots
- The new collaboration agreement will promote training and
education actions to develop and scale digital transformation
projects in the business sector and public administration based on
these technologies
MADRID, June 18,
2024 /CNW/ -- Telefónica Tech and IBM (NYSE: IBM)
today announced a new collaboration agreement to drive the
deployment of Artificial Intelligence (AI), analytics and data
governance solutions and respond to the constant and dynamically
evolving needs of enterprises. The agreement, initially limited to
Spain, establishes a framework of
collaboration between the two companies to help their customers
deal with the complexity of managing new technologies in a
heterogeneous and changing environment and to extract the full
value of these technologies in their business processes.
According to findings in IBM Global AI Adoption Index study,
almost half of the companies in Spain that are already working with AI claim
that they have accelerated their investments in this technology in
the last 24 months. This highlights the need to provide the
business landscape with tools and solutions that drive their
digital transformation journeys, in which AI plays a prominent
role.
Through this new collaboration, the companies will work together
on the development and deployment of an open, hybrid and
multi-cloud platform, specializing in data management and AI to
facilitate and accelerate business initiatives for customers, a use
case office, demonstrations and development of MVPs; and the
implementation of resources, training and certifications. Last year
IBM launched the watsonx AI and Data platform, which will be at the
heart of the collaboration agreement.
Elena Gil Lizasoain, director of
the Artificial Intelligence and Data business unit at Telefónica
Tech, said: "This new collaboration with IBM will help drive the
many benefits of Artificial Intelligence, traditional and
generative, and proper data management in the business world. By
combining the knowledge of both teams, we will continue to advance
in the construction of use cases aimed at creating more efficient
and sustainable businesses."
Adolfo Hernández Pulido Technology Managing Director for
Telefónica at IBM added: "This collaboration is another step in
our long history of working with Telefónica Tech. Together, we are
accelerating the digital transformation of the Spanish business
community, enabling the development of innovative technology
solutions that will help companies adapt to the AI era. Analytics,
data governance and the correct deployment of AI are key elements
for today's business success, and we both share the commitment to
help businesses achieve it."
Technology and co-creation to provide answers to real
business needs
Telefónica Tech and IBM will launch a use case office, made up
of highly qualified professionals from both companies, to promote
and coordinate the definition and development of use cases, proofs
of concept, and MVPs to accelerate business development and further
showcase the value available to clients through the use of these
technologies.
IBM Client Engineering, the IBM team that helps solve business
challenges through co-creation and innovative work with experts,
will play an important role in the use case office, as will the
Telefónica Tech professionals who brings extensive technical
knowledge and experience in the implementation of AI in the
business sector.
The collaboration is already providing generative AI solutions
to its customers that include code generation for IT applications,
automation of processes and incidents, cognitive assistants in
industrial operations, advice and customer service, analytics,
processing and management of audiovisual content and text
documents.
IBM and Telefónica Tech have a strong history of collaboration
that includes hybrid cloud-based solutions, such as TROS,
Telefónica Tech's multi-cloud service based on RedHat OpenShift;
integrated AI for the creation of virtual assistants to improve
customer service; and optimized supply chain management to increase
the traceability of business assets with blockchain. This joint
effort is the next step in the fruitful relationship in which both
companies continue to drive innovation and digital business
transformation through the implementation of cutting-edge
technologies.
SHARK.X, the new platform to drive end-to-end AI
deployment
SHARK.X, a new and innovative open, hybrid and multi-cloud
platform that hosts different IBM hardware and software components,
with access to IBM Cloud and other clouds, where the native
hyperconverged IBM Storage Fusion HCI infrastructure for running
enterprise applications stands out, will be deployed in Telefónica
Tech's La Cabina facility, which is Telefónica's technological
inspiration centre for the digital transformation of companies and
public administrations.
Telefónica Tech will provide specialized professional services
to define the most appropriate deployment architecture for each
customer and integrate the solution into their environment, as well
as ingest data from different sources and develop artificial
intelligence use cases aimed at addressing their business
priorities. It will also provide advice in the field of data
governance and artificial intelligence models and in the field of
regulatory and ethical compliance, which is especially relevant
with the new regulations approved in the European Union.
At the software level, SHARK.X will include several IBM
technologies that will cover the entire value chain associated with
enterprise data management, analytics and management of enterprise
data. SHARK.X will host IBM Cloud Pak for Data to enable data
collection, organization, analysis and governance; it will include
the IBM watsonx AI and Data platform to build, deploy and scale AI
applications in a simple, secured and governed way; as well as
Cognos and Planning Analytics, which enables collaborative business
intelligence, planning and reporting solutions.
With these capabilities, the SHARK.X platform will address both
traditional and generative AI initiatives and address end-to-end
data governance and management while providing a Lakehouse as a
robust enterprise data management solution, helping address data
security and protection, and delivering business intelligence,
planning, optimization and reporting.
About Telefónica Tech
Telefónica Tech is the leading
company in digital transformation. The company offers a wide range
of services and integrated technological solutions in
Cybersecurity, Cloud, IoT, Big Data and Blockchain. For more
information, please visit: https://telefonicatech.com
About IBM
IBM is a leading provider of global
hybrid cloud and AI, and consulting expertise. We help clients in
more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data,
streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the
competitive edge in their industries. More than 4,000 government
and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as
financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM's
hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital
transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM's
breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing,
industry-specific cloud solutions and consulting deliver open and
flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM's
long-standing commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility,
inclusivity and service. Visit www.ibm.com for more
information.
Media Contacts:
Miguel Gimenez de Castro
miguel.gimenezdc@ibm.com
Clare Chachere
clare.chachere@ibm.com
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SOURCE IBM