Orange Business Services embraces AWS to accelerate cloud innovation

Orange Business Services announced a deeper relationship with Amazon Web Services that was designed to accelerate customers' move to the cloud.

When it comes to cloud services, businesses want options, which is why Orange has various cloud partnerships in place with the top cloud providers.

Orange Business Services announced in July that it had struck a strategic partnership with Google Cloud to help the telco build its IT infrastructure, edge compute and cloud services. Orange Business also has a relationship in place with Microsoft Azure for Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Dynamics applications on the cloud.

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The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated enterprises' digital transformations, which includes moving more data and applications to multiple clouds. Hybrid clouds also adapt quicker to market changes and user needs, as well as putting low-latency applications closer to the edge.

While enterprises are clamoring for various cloud-based services from the likes of AWS, Azure and Google Cloud, service providers need to insure they can offer those various services seamlessly.

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AT&T and Telefónica, among others, are also partnering with multiple cloud providers to tailor different types of services to their enterprise customers at the network edge.

With AWS, Azure and Google Cloud, Orange Business Services is building out an extensive vendor-agnostic multi-cloud approach to address all customers’ needs throughout their various cloud transformation.

Through the AWS partnership, Orange Business Services will be delivering a number of solutions including cloud-native tailored applications, data lakes, protection of IT assets in the cloud, detect and respond, app modernization, fraud detection and healthcare solutions, among others. Orange didn't say when the AWS-based services would be available.

As part of the agreement, a dedicated Cloud Center of Excellence will be built on AWS, coordinating joint development of an extensive training and certification program for more than 3,000 Orange Business Services cloud, cybersecurity, digital and data employees. 

Orange said the Cloud Center of Excellence would be global in nature with an initial focus on Europe, followed by APAC and the Americas. Amazon Web Services will provide AWS capabilities in each region. AWS is currently putting together a joint go-to market strategy, co-developing offerings, putting training elements in place and planning operational events for France-based Orange.

As part of its ongoing plan to reinvent its operator model, Orange has also invested heavily in cloud-native skills and tools to help customers to take full advantage of on-demand delivery, flexibility, and higher-level services, including resiliency and cost optimization. 

On that note, Orange Business Services said it would leverage AWS services such as cognitive, machine learning and artificial intelligence components to develop cloud-native applications that can continuously adapt to customers’ needs.