IBM has launched a new Microsoft Practice within IBM Consulting, formalizing its multi-year collaboration with Microsoft to support businesses undergoing AI, cloud, and security modernization. The move brings together IBM’s consulting and industry expertise with Microsoft’s cloud and AI platforms, providing a unified path for organizations to address complex transformation needs.The practice will deliver end-to-end support across strategy, implementation, and optimization, leveraging Microsoft tools such as Azure, Azure OpenAI, Copilot, Microsoft Fabric, and Sentinel. These tools will be integrated into IBM Consulting Advantage, the firm's AI-powered delivery platform, giving enterprises flexibility to tailor AI deployments while maintaining enterprise-grade security and governance.The dedicated Microsoft Practice comprises over 33,000 certified professionals across key global markets. It also includes access to IBM and Microsoft Experience Zones, offering clients hands-on engagement with both companies’ technologies. This global scale is expected to help clients reduce costs, increase operational efficiency, and drive innovation within regulated and data-intensive industries.IBM and Microsoft’s joint capabilities are being directed toward industry-specific solutions, including those for retail, public sector, financial services, and supply chain. The collaboration builds on existing offerings such as IBM Copilot Runway and Azure OpenAI Services, and continues to expand with new tools aimed at helping businesses adopt generative AI responsibly and efficiently. IBM notes it has already completed over 14,000 Microsoft-related projects worldwide and continues to integrate more IBM software with Azure.For MSPs, IBM’s new Microsoft Practice signals increased demand for managed services that can support enterprise-grade AI and cloud adoption across industries. With IBM combining its consulting depth and global scale with Microsoft’s AI and cloud platforms, MSPs will likely see new opportunities to deliver co-managed solutions, especially around Azure, Copilot, and security tooling like Sentinel. As businesses seek tailored transformation roadmaps, MSPs can position themselves as implementation partners or specialists that bridge gaps between strategic consulting and operational execution.The launch also reinforces the growing importance of AI governance, security, and scalability—areas where MSPs can add value by managing infrastructure, monitoring compliance, and optimizing cloud environments. IBM’s push to industrialize AI through its Consulting Advantage platform and Microsoft integrations creates room for MSPs to expand their service portfolios by offering AI-enabled automation, cost optimization, and managed security services tuned to sector-specific needs.
AI/ML, Cloud migration, MSP, Managed Services, Security Management
IBM Establishes Microsoft Practice to Streamline Cloud and AI Transformation
(Adobe Stock)
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