China Telecom and IBM have joined force to push enterprise mobility for businesses in China.
Under the partnership, joint customers can leverage IBM’s iOS-based MobileFirst platform to build and integrate enterprise apps that will be hosted on China Telecom’s cloud.
The IBM MobileFirst platform is a result of a collaboration between IBM and Apple announced in July 2014, under which the two will jointly develop enterprise-class software and services for Apple’s iOS devices.
The platform enables companies to build, integrate, deploy and manage native apps for iOS in more secure and cost-effective way. The enterprise-class cloud offering also enables enterprises to benefit from cloud-based management and security capabilities for mobile devices, applications, content and transactions.
The IBM/China Telecom partnership is intended to help businesses implement secure, cost-effective and scalable cloud applications, the companies said in a joint statement issued last week.
The partnership will allow Chinese enterprises to customize and manage the mobile apps using the cloud platform of China Telecom, the largest IDC/cloud service provider in China hosting more than 70% of the domestic internet content and services in the country.
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 Tongqing, executive vice president of China Telecom, said in the statement.
"With the rapid development of mobile internet and the popularity of intelligent terminals, Chinese businesses and industries are facing unprecedented challenges and opportunities. 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 has become an important topic for us.”
The partnership is the latest cloud collaboration between IBM and China Telecom. China Telecom signed an agreement with IBM on the SAP public cloud and private cloud solutions in August, 2014.
The deal also signals good news for Apple, which recorded $16.1 billion in revenues from Greater China including mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan in its first fiscal quarter ended December 27, up 70% year-on-year. The company is also garnering increasing adoption of its iPhones in Urban China.