IBM and AT&T team up on FlexWare software for virtual networks with the goal of enhancing their offer of cloud services for businesses.
IBM, AT&T Collaborate On FlexWare
IBM and AT&T announced on Wednesday, Oct. 5, that the two companies have teamed up to collaborate on the FlexWare software with the aim to provide more cloud networking services to businesses.
According to Computerworld, IBM will help promoting and sell AT&T's new FlexWare software designed for setting up and managing virtual network functions on various single network devices, such as a router. At the moment, the FlexWare software is already available globally available through the AT&T Network on Demand service.
The new partnership created between IBM and AT&T will allow customers to take advantage of cost savings and new networking capabilities, according to a statement of both companies. IBM has already started to offer AT&T FlexWare at many of its own sites and AT&T will be able to run applications on IBM's infrastructure for security, cognitive analytics and cloud.
Chief marketing officer for AT&T Business Solutions Steve McGaw said in a statement that by expanding the company's relationship with IBM, AT&T FlexWare will be made available to more customers. In the same time, the software solution "will adapt and grow with customers' business needs."
FlexWare Features
According to ZDNet, AT&T's FlexWare deals with network functions virtualization and software defined networking. The virtual networking software helps providers to quickly deploy various items over networks, such as IT as a service.
Previously, FlexWare used to manage virtual networks on a device and used to be called AT&T Network Functions on Demand. The new partnership between IBM and AT&T are will focus in hybrid cloud deployments, according to TechRepublic.
Such partnerships created between major technology providers are not unusual in the industry. Recently, there is a growing demand for networking capabilities in virtualization and cloud services. In order to support innovations in Internet of Things and clouid technology, Verizon, AT&T and other major service providers are expanding use of their large networks.
