IBM Corp. today announced an expanded partnership with Amazon Web Services Inc. designed to make it easier for customers to run its software on the cloud giant’s platform.

IBM has an extensive portfolio of software products spanning dozens of categories. More than 30 of those products can be deployed through the AWS Marketplace. As part of the newly announced collaboration with the cloud giant, IBM is bringing yet another set of software offerings to the AWS Marketplace. 

Several of the offerings that the partnership encompasses are designed to ease the task of building and maintaining applications. The lineup of IBM products available on the AWS Marketplace is being expanded to include Db2, one of the company’s most popular data management platforms. The company is also adding IBM Observability, a tool that helps developers detect and fix technical issues in their applications.

Many of the offerings in IBM’s software portfolio focus on streamlining enterprises’ business processes. One such offering is the Maximo Application Suite, a collection of applications designed to help organizations more efficiently perform tasks such as maintaining industrial equipment. The Maximo Application Suite is being made available through the AWS Marketplace alongside Db2 and IBM Observability. 

IBM is also adding Watson Orchestrate, a chatbot that can automate tasks such as retrieving business information from applications. Watson Orchestrate will be joined by three cybersecurity tools: Security ReaQta, Security Trusteer and Security Verify. The company plans to add more products to the list later this year.

“As hybrid cloud continues to become the reality for our clients, IBM is ready and willing to meet them with a flexible and cloud-native software portfolio wherever they are in the cloud or in data centers,” said Tom Rosamilia, the senior vice president of IBM Software.

IBM and AWS are investing in a number of joint business initiatives to support customers’ cloud projects. To support go-to-market efforts, the companies are prioritizing integrated sales and marketing initiatives. They will offer channel incentives for partners, as well as developer resources.

“Our collaboration with IBM allows joint customers to accelerate their modernization to the cloud and consume IBM services in a cloud native manner on AWS,” said Matt Garman, senior vice president of sales and marketing at AWS. “Through our multiyear agreement, AWS will work with IBM to offer a broad array of IBM Software as SaaS on AWS. In addition, we’ll be working together on stronger joint marketing and co-selling programs for customers.”

Software products such as the more than a half-dozen offerings that IBM is bringing to AWS Marketplace have become a center focus of the company’s revenue growth strategy. Last quarter, IBM’s software division grew sales by 15% year-over-year. The division’s growth helped the company exceed both revenue and earnings per share estimates during the quarter.

IBM earlier spun off its managed infrastructure services business, which generated $18.7 billion in sales last year, to focus on higher growth markets such as the software segment. But professional services continue to play a central role in the company’s strategy, including its newly expanded partnership with AWS. The technologists at IBM’s consulting and cybersecurity services divisions hold more than 10,000 AWS certifications.

IBM has made several acquisitions in recent months to expand its cloud consulting business. In total, the company has acquired more than a dozen professional services firms over the past two years. 

Photo: IBM