Qwest, IBM Team for Midsized Business Services
Qwest Communications International Inc. (Q) and IBM (IBM) have announced a five-year agreement to deliver managed services to midsized businesses. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Qwest and IBM will go to market with network management services that simplify complex technology operations and enable customers to optimize their IT networks, while minimizing capital expenditure.
Through the Qwest and IBM partnership, customers will have access to these capabilities through the following services:
- Managed security services powered by IBM Internet Security Systems, designed to provide 24/7 protection against malicious Internet activity including viruses, spam and attacks such as distributed denial of service (DDoS).
- Network management services managed by IBM Express Remote Management Infrastructure Services (ERMIS), which is an automated solution that monitors data network performance, proactively identifies issues, notifies customers and initiates resolution.
- Unified communications services also managed by ERMIS, which will support implementations of fewer than 100 IP phones, include remote monitoring, reporting and management for a unified communications telephony service.
The Qwest managed services offering will enable customers to monitor the performance of their network services and make changes through a single, secure, Web-based portal with real-time alerts and advisories. IBM Global Business Services will work with Qwest on the portal design and implementation as well as the systems integration to ensure the customer experience is seamless across all services and aspects of account management. The companies also will work jointly to optimize the performance of clients’ network components and will provide competitive service-level agreements.
