Telstra’s cloud computing strategy shift continues as it signs a major deal with Telkom Indonesia

Telecommunications giant Telstra has taken yet another step in its transformation into a cloud provider, signing a memorandum of understanding to form a cloud computing joint venture with Telkom Indonesia.

The joint venture would see Telstra become the sole provider of network applications and services (NAS) in Indonesia for Telstra and Telkom Indonesia.

The deal would see cloud-based services, provided by Telstra, marketed towards the Indonesian enterprise services market, allowing both companies to grow their presence in the sector.

Telstra Global Enterprise and Services group executive Brendon Riley.

“Indonesia is a fast growing NAS market and we believe the best way to make in-roads is by partnering with a well-recognised and respected local player. It also aligns to our strategy of supporting our enterprise customers around the globe.

“The proposed joint venture will form part of Telstra’s expansion plans for Asia, where we expect to have both Telstra entities and local market partnerships.

“We plan to focus on areas such as business continuity, business performance optimisation, protection of business information and data assets and improved employee productivity.”

News of the deal comes just days after the telecommunications giant announced the takeover of Melbourne-based systems integration, network and security consulting firm O2 Networks.

Meanwhile, in August of last year, Telstra also announced the takeover of NSC Group, a move that increased its presence in the contact centre and integrated comms equipment.

The acquisitions form part of an ongoing shift in strategic focus for the carrier, which recently announced the sale of a 70% stake in its Sensis directory advertising business to US-based private equity firm Platinum Equity for $454 million.

Meanwhile, in December of last year, Telstra announced the sale of its Hong Kong-based mobiles business, CSL, to HKT Limited for $US2.425 billion.

“Earlier this week we completed an acquisition in O2 Networks, a leading Australian provider of network and security consulting and integration services for Australian enterprise customers. Late last year we acquired NSC, a provider of unified communications, contact centre, managed network services and associated integration and consulting services,” Riley says.

“We have also commenced expansion of selected NAS portfolios – Managed Network Services and Cloud – into international markets, particularly in the Asia-Pacific Region so today’s announcement is a further indication of our intentions for the region and for our NAS business.”