\tBharti Airtel struck a deal with Google to add the latter’s cloud services to its portfolio, as the Indian operator stepped-up its digital offering for enterprise customers.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Airtel said the agreement would enable it to offer Google\u2019s G Suite of apps comprising Gmail; Docs; Drive; Calendar and more to small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), while providing real-time collaboration and machine learning tools.<\/p>\n
Airtel said it serves more than 2,500 large businesses, and more than 500,000 SMBs and technology start-ups in India.<\/p>\n
The deal was tipped to provide a platform for both companies to tap growth opportunities in the country.<\/p>\n
Indeed, for Google, the partnership gives it a larger presence in India to compete with a major rival in cloud services, Microsoft.<\/p>\n
Microsoft struck a deal with Airtel\u2019s rival Reliance Jio in August 2019 to provide small businesses with cloud services.<\/p>\n
Transformation
\nThe tie-up with Google follows rumours earlier this month that Airtel was in talks with local rival Vodafone Idea and China Mobile on developing a joint venture cloud service [1].<\/p>\n
In its statement, Airtel quoted a recent report by Indian software and services trade association Nasscom, which tipped the Indian cloud market to be worth more than $7 billion by 2022, as businesses adopt more digital services.<\/p>\n
Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, said Indian companies \u201care making a massive transformation to the cloud\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe combination of G Suite\u2019s collaboration and productivity tools with Airtel\u2019s digital business offerings will help accelerate digital innovations for thousands of Indian businesses,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n[1] https:\/\/www.mobileworldlive.com\/featured-content\/top-three\/china-mobile-eyes-india-operator-jv\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bharti Airtel struck a deal with Google to add the latter’s cloud services to its …<\/p>\n
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