Bharti Airtel has entered into a multi-year, strategic collaboration agreement (SCA) with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to provide cloud solutions to small, medium and big enterprises in India. As per the agreement, Airtel Cloud will build an AWS Cloud Practice, which'll be supported by AWS Professional Services. It'll also develop Airtel Cloud products by leveraging AWS' services, Airtel's data centre capabilities, network and telecoms offerings to cater to the cloud-based needs of businesses.

"Airtel customers will benefit from integrated sales, consulting, and support approach from both the companies, and improved security, scalability, and cloud management capabilities," the company said in a statement.

Airtel Cloud will offer customers a range of AWS services, including Windows on AWS, SAP on AWS, VMware Cloud on AWS, database migration, and security and risk governance solutions, the company said. It'll leverage AWS's innovation and transformation services across analytics, data warehousing, Internet of Things (IoT), and machine learning (ML) to help customers adopt new services and migrate to the cloud from legacy infrastructures.

"This collaboration brings AWS, the world's leading cloud platform, together with Airtel's deep reach and proven expertise in handling network, data centres, security, and cloud as an integrated solution." said Harmeen Mehta, CIO & Head - Cloud and Security Business, Bharti Airtel.

Airtel also plans to leverage AWS services for the development of digital applications. It has also partnered with AWS' Direct Connect Delivery, a cloud-based service to set up dedicated network connections to customers.

"Indian companies are using the cloud to innovate and to operate at an increased scale. Many need partners like Airtel, with deep cloud expertise and an industry-focused approach to support them," said Puneet Chandok, President, Commercial Business, India and South Asia, Amazon Internet Services Private Limited, said.

Airtel, which has over 2,500 large enterprises as its customers, also caters to over a million emerging businesses with its integrated product portfolio, including Airtel Cloud, a multi-cloud product and solutions business.

Businesses in India are rapidly adopting cloud for digital transformation. Rishu Sharma, Principal Analyst, Cloud and Artificial Intelligence, IDC India, said as per the IDC Semi-annual Public Cloud Services Tracker - Forecast 2019H2, the cloud services market in India is likely to reach $7.1 billion in 2024, rising at a compound annual growth rate of 20.3 per cent from $3.4 billion in 2020.

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