Kyndryl, Post-IBM Spinoff, Expands Nokia Partnership

IBM spinoff Kyndryl has teamed up with Nokia to build LTE and 5G private wireless networking solutions.

The partnership combines the Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) application platform with Kyndryl services. Kyndryl offers consulting, design, implementation and management. The companies said they have already done deployments and built application proofs-of-concept for Dow.

Kyndryl’s Paul Savill

“As enterprises across every industry are seeking new ways to digitally transform their operations, 5G and edge computing are growing so they can harness the promise of these emerging technologies,” said Paul Savill, global practice leader of network and edge computing for Kyndryl. “By collaborating with Nokia, we’re taking another step forward in helping our customers unlock the power of LTE and 5G through a secure, private environment that helps them deliver tailored enterprise-grade edge solutions that drive new value for their bottom lines and next-gen customer experiences.”

The solutions target “Industry 4.0,” which emphasizes smart and agile manufacturing.

“By combining Kyndryl’s world-class services expertise and global reach with Nokia’s mission-critical, industry leading private wireless and industrial edge computing solutions, we will enable even more organizations to transform their operations, accelerate their digitalization journey and reap the benefits of Industry 4.0,” Nokia head of global enterprise Chris Johnson said.

Impact

Nick Wood of Telecoms.com said the partnership brings together a top three cellular vendor and one of the biggest IT companies in the world. Wood wrote that the alliance stirs the conversation about where mobile operators “fit in the private networking and edge compute value chain.” AT&T last summer outsourced its 5G network core to Microsoft Azure.

Nokia’s Chris Johnson

“Operators of course hold spectrum and control access to it, but as we all know, there is only so much they can charge for that access,” Wood said. “It’s a well-worn argument that to derive greater value from that spectrum, operators need to claw their way up the value chain and establish broader and deeper relationships with their customers.”

Background

Kyndryl spun off from IBM last year. The former IBM managed infrastructure services business announced that it would expand its partner base as a result of the separation. Specifically, it promised to add public cloud providers, system integrators, independent software vendors (ISVs) and technology vendors. For example, Kyndryl two weeks ago announced a partnership with Pure Storage.

Nokia announced a 5G partnership with Google Cloud a year ago to develop cloud-based 5G radio solutions together.