Kyndryl completes hyperscaler trifecta with AWS partnership

Now three for three with the major cloud players after deals with Google and Microsoft

Kyndryl, the infrastructure services business spun out from IBM last year, has signed a money-making deal with Amazon Web Services to help customers navigate cloud transformation.

The move means that Kyndryl now has agreements in place with all three of the major cloud providers.

The spin out of Kyndryl from IBM came after years of declining revenues at the division as clients opted to use cloud services delivered by the hyperscalers instead of signing big ticket outsourcing agreements for managed infrastructure.

It seems that Kyndryl has decided that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. DXC Technology made the same move in 2018 and Atos decided this month that traditional data centres services do not represent its future.

Kyndryl said of the deal that it and AWS would bring together their respective nous and global resources to aim industry-focused cloud services and solutions at customers wishing to "transform" their businesses. As part of the deal, Kyndryl will establish an AWS Cloud Centre of Excellence (CCOE) to provide services to support mission critical infrastructure, next generation technologies and the modernising of applications and workflows.

The "partnership" follows similar link-ups with Google Cloud and Microsoft for its Azure cloud platform towards the end of last year.

In December, Kyndryl said its partnership with Google Cloud would be focused on accelerating digital transformation for customers, and that the two outfits would provide data and analytics, applied artificial intelligence (AI), and infrastructure modernisation.

As part of that agreement, Kyndryl said it was establishing a "Google Cloud Academy for Kyndryl" to focus on customers migrating mission-critical workloads into Google Cloud.

Kyndryl's global strategic partnership with Microsoft came in November, hard on the heels of its spin-out from IBM. That agreement was for the two firms to focus on solutions on Microsoft's Cloud to accelerate hybrid cloud adoption, modernise applications and processes, support mission critical workloads, and further enable modern work experiences for customers.

At the time, Kyndryl said the agreement was expected to open up additional markets and new customers to Kyndryl across all industries.

The latest one with AWS is slightly different, however, in that Kyndryl said it plans to build its own internal infrastructure in the cloud, using AWS as its preferred cloud provider. Accordingly, AWS is to become a Kyndryl Premier Global Alliance Partner.

TechMarketView Chief Research Officer Kate Hanaghan said Kyndryl has completed the "hyperscaler hat trick", and despite it being a challenging time has made strides in its evolution as an independent entity.

"A key strategic advantage of the separation is its ability to shake-up its partnerships. The firm has moved quickly, and the announcements have come thick and fast. In addition to the hyperscalers, it has announced new partnerships with Nokia, VMware, and Pure Storage. These illustrate the power of independence from IBM, which of course remains a very important partner to Kyndryl," Hanaghan said in a statement.

She added that there has also been a healthy stream of recent customer wins that demonstrate Kyndryl's role in driving digital transformations, citing the relationship with Kutxabank in Spain to support the bank's digital transformation and sustainability plans.

One example of the differentiation Kyndryl is able to offer is the announcement that it and AWS are developing an accelerator for VMware Cloud on AWS. Kyndryl said that it has a large number of customers running VMware on premises, and it aims to provide an expedited path to VMware Cloud on AWS to help organisations run mission-critical workloads in the cloud. ®