Lisbon, February 18th 2021 – Vodafone and IBM have announced an alliance to launch Vodafone Virtual Private Cloud, a new private cloud offering for Vodafone Portuguese enterprise customers. Vodafone Virtual Private Cloud will provide customers the scalability, efficiency and security they need to speed their digital transformation.  

Portuguese businesses are accelerating their digital transformation and increasing their use of cloud-based services and technologies to improve their resilience, sustainability and competitiveness.  

IBM will provide the dedicated private infrastructure to Vodafone Portugal which will be hosted in IBM’s datacenter in Portugal. With Vodafone Virtual Private Cloud, customers will be able to access a self-service portal created and managed by IBM, where they will be able to run and manage their IT workloads while benefitting from the high scalability, cost-effectiveness and adaptability of the solution to evolving client needs.  

Additionally, customers will have the option to use a range of automation and monitoring capabilities and IBM managed services to help them manage, optimize and update their virtual infrastructure and run their business more efficiently.

Besides access to a solution based on the best network in the market, Clients who opt for Cloud Services will have Vodafone’s Cyber Security solutions at their disposal, enabling them to more seamlessly and securely manage their systems in a virtual environment. With this offering, Vodafone clients may have one-stop-shop provider regarding to a range of services like telecommunications, cloud, cybersecurity and managed services.  

This offering is particularly crucial for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in Portugal, who are seeking to digitally transform their operations but need a flexible and cost-effective way to manage and optimize their workloads in a secure cloud environment. According to a 2019 study prepared for COTEC Portugal and the European Investment Advisory Hub,almost 40% of Portuguese SMEs lack any digital technology.  

The new offering combines the excellence and security of VF Portugal's network with IBM's deep expertise in transforming enterprise cloud offerings to help Vodafone customers drive new value. 

“Regardless of their size and their sector of activity, businesses are facing enormous challenges to anticipate and/or answer to a new labor and operational paradigm. If the use of cloud-based technologies and services was already a differentiating factor for many organizations, thanks to the agility, security, innovation, scalability and cost reduction obtained, it has now become more urgent in the actual pandemic context and with remote work being mandatory in most cases. Through this partnership with IBM, Vodafone Portugal reinforces its commitment to actively contribute to the ongoing digital transformation process in businesses operating in the national market”, refers Henrique Sacadura Fonseca, Business Segment Administrator of Vodafone Portugal. " 

“Our growing work with Vodafone – and specifically Vodafone Portugal – is another example of our shared commitment to meeting the needs of customers wherever they are on their hybrid cloud journeys. Today, we’re delivering an enterprise cloud offering that can deliver the security, efficiency and scale Portuguese customers need to drive new value”, said José Eduardo Fonseca, Global Technology Services Leader, IBM Portugal. “This is another important step forward in our active collaboration to provide innovative cloud offerings to the Portuguese market”, he reinforced

Today’s announcement builds on IBM and Vodafone’s strategic global agreement. Under this venture, Vodafone Business customers have access to the full portfolio of IBM's cloud offerings, underpinned by IBM's deep industry expertise and open technologies. As part of this global agreement, IBM is providing managed services to Vodafone Business' cloud and hosting unit.