Enterprise mobile apps will be managed by IBM
WASHINGTON – American hardware and software company IBM announced a deal with China Telecom to manage the state-owned Chinese firm’s enterprise-grade mobile apps.
Under the terms of the deal, China Telecom will host IBM’s MobileFirst service program, which was co-developed by IBM and Apple.
Nancy Thomas, a Beijing-based managing partner of global business services, told the Associated Press that the companies “will seek out everything from large, state-owned enterprises in sectors like banking and insurance to private startups” as potential customers.
The deal comes despite protectionist policies from Beijing. Citing potential cyber threats, the Chinese government recently enacted regulation encouraging companies to purchase products from firms affiliated with the state.
In a speech at a private function in Beijing, IBM CEO Virginia Rometty reiterated the company’s commitment to sharing its technology with Chinese firms and allowing them to do business in what is arguably the largest digital market in the world.
Despite the regulatory challenges foreign companies doing business in China face, Thomas is optimistic about IBM’s future partnership with China Telecom and other Chinese firms.
“When we think about technology sharing, that is the first foundation we’ll be working on when we’re bringing MobileFirst to China Telecom’s cloud,” she said. “We’re looking to China Telecom to be the foundation to give clients confidence in the service’s security.”
IBM MobileFirst currently has 24 apps that have been translated into Chinese and several more in development.
“China Telecom and IBM will jointly promote the mobile transformation of Chinese enterprises,” Gao Tongging, China Telecom’s EVP, said.
“With the rapid development of mobile Internet and the popularity of intelligent terminals, Chinese businesses and industries are facing unprecedented challenges and opportunities,” Tongging said. “How to use innovative technologies to create new customer experiences, how to implement the secure, cost-effective and scalable cloud-based applications and drive enterprises’ mobile transformation have become important topics for us. In the future, both parties will continue to accelerate innovation when collaborating with various partners so as to jointly promote the Internet transformation of Chinese enterprises.”
China Telecom is one of the three state-sanctioned carriers operating in China; the other two are China Mobile and China Unicom. The three companies last year spun-off China Tower, a joint venture dedicated to constructing cell towers.
While China Mobile is the largest carrier in the country and the world, China Telecom is the nation’s largest cloud-computing provider, hosting more than 70% of the country’s Internet services and content.
