KUALA LUMPUR (June 17): Google Cloud and Axiata Enterprise, the business-to-business unit of Axiata Group Bhd (Axiata), have announced a strategic partnership to serve evolving needs of millions of companies across rapidly digitalising economies in Asia.

The cloud computing services provider said the partnership will be rolled out in two distinct phases, whereby the first stage will see Axiata’s digital telcos offering Google Workspace as part of their integrated information and communications technology (ICT) portfolio and solution bundles to small and medium businesses.

“Dialog in Sri Lanka will lead, with implementation scheduled for the second quarter of this year, followed by Celcom in Malaysia, XL in Indonesia, Robi in Bangladesh, Ncell in Nepal, and Smart in Cambodia by the second half of the year,” the parties said in a joint statement today.

The second phase of the partnership will see Axiata’s digital telcos continue to leverage Google Cloud’s core compute, storage and networking capabilities to modernise their infrastructure and drive their digital transformation initiatives.

Axiata Enterprise chief executive officer (CEO) Dr Gopi Kurup said both Axiata and Google Cloud had a shared vision of helping businesses digitise and grow as they build greater resilience for the long haul.

“With nations increasingly stepping up on digitalisation for economic recovery and growth, we stand at a critical juncture to support businesses, especially small and medium players in their efforts to adjust and adapt to the new digital norms for survival,” he said.

Meanwhile, Google Cloud Southeast Asia managing director Ruma Balasubramanian said the company is thrilled to partner with Axiata to accelerate the digital transformation of millions of companies in the region, and help them solve their complex business and technology challenges.

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