Leading Vietnam Telco Selects IBM to Develop Cloud-Based Mobile Computing Platform

ARMONK, N.Y. and HO CHI MINH CITY, Vietnam, May 31, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Vietnam Mobile Telecom Services Company (VMS), one of the country's leading telecom companies, today announced a collaboration to build an advanced, end-to-end mobile computing platform. The agreement that includes IBM MobileFirst, IBM SmartCloud and IBM PureSystems offerings will allow VMS to expand into new markets, while enhancing its enterprise application development capabilities and improving workforce productivity.

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This collaboration with IBM, a part of VMS' five-year Information Technology (IT) strategy, will be led by its subsidiary, Vietnam Mobile Telecom Services Center II (VMSII), which is the top revenue contributor for VMS. 

VMS' multi-faceted IT strategy includes speeding up IT adoption via cloud computing and leveraging mobile technology to support the company's business growth plans. The objective is to build an effective cloud ecosystem and value-added mobile services by providing Mobile Platform as a Service, Infrastructure as a Service and Software as a Service to VMS' partners and enterprise customers.

"VMS is the first organization in Vietnam to deploy an end-to-end mobile on cloud infrastructure based on IBM technology, and VMSII is privileged to be selected to pioneer this solution," said Mr. Nguyen Bao Long, deputy director of VMSII. "This strategic investment will help us sustain our leading position in telecommunication services in Vietnam. We will leverage the new mobile cloud infrastructure to streamline management of employees' personal devices, quickly deliver value-added services and promotions to our customers and improve customer satisfaction."

Founded 20 years ago, VMS is a major telecom service provider in Vietnam with the brand MobiFone. Today, VMS provides mobile services to more than 40 million subscribers, including 5.5 million 3G subscribers, or 43 percent of the country's total 3G subscriber population, making it the country's largest 3G service provider. VMSII, located in Ho Chi Minh City, oversees the company's business and operations in South Vietnam. 

In recent years, the Vietnamese mobile landscape has matured from its heady days of exponential growth to one that is fiercely competitive. This drove service providers to examine their business models, explore ways to reduce their operating expenses and seek new and better ways to differentiate themselves by providing superior products and customer services.

The new mobile cloud infrastructure will help VMS improve the scalability of its IT infrastructure and meet growing customer demand, while supporting revenue growth and overseas expansion. Targeted at VMS MobiFone subscribers, the company also intends to introduce new value-added services, including advertising and promotional campaigns. By efficiently and effectively managing the entire innovation process from conceptualization and software engineering to market, VMS will be able to diversify its product offerings and expedite product to market.

In addition to implementing hardware and backup infrastructure, IBM's services team will help VMS migrate its computing platform to the cloud, transforming its business processes. As a result, VMS will be able to better connect with its employees, especially front office employees, regardless of their preferred mobile device. This will not only allow communication among employees within the organization at any time, anywhere but also encourage employee mobility and increase workforce productivity. As part of these workforce productivity initiatives, VMS will deploy new mobile applications to enable its field personnel across Southern Vietnam.

"These aggressive efforts have placed VMS in a much stronger position in the marketplace," said Jee Toon Tan, general manager, IBM Vietnam. "IBM is committed to supporting business leaders such as VMS to leverage the latest technologies, including mobile and cloud, as they strive to increase operational efficiency and improve the company's bottom line."

The new mobile platform is based on IBM WebSphere Application Server and IBM Worklight software, as well as a cloud management system running on IBM SmartCloud Provisioning. It includes IBM PureFlex System, part of the IBM PureSystems family of expert integrated systems, as the core infrastructure. As a key feature, the platform is fully integrated and optimized, thus radically simplifying computing and allowing easier management. The IBM Storwize V7000 storage systems are integrated to efficiently and cost-effectively manage the torrent of data so it can be swiftly delivered for workloads like transaction processing. The IBM TS3200 Tape Library Express is optimal for handling backup and archiving with higher levels of security and dramatically less power requirements.

About Vietnam Mobile Telecom Services Company
Vietnam Mobile Telecom Services Company, a state-owned company under Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Corporation, has won various recognitions for best quality service provider in Vietnam, rewarded by customers, media and ICT organizations. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Hanoi, Vietnam. For more information, visit: http://www.mobifone.com.vn/portal/en/

About IBM MobileFirst
As the first new technology platform for business to emerge since the World Wide Web, mobile computing represents one of the greatest opportunities for organizations to expand their business. Based on nearly 1,000 customer engagements, 10 mobile-related acquisitions in the last four years, a team of thousands of mobile experts and 270 patents in wireless innovations, IBM MobileFirst offers an array of solutions that helps businesses connect, secure, manage and develop mobile networks, infrastructures and applications. 

To learn more about IBM MobileFirst solutions visit the press kit or http://www.ibm.com/mobilefirst. Follow @ibmmobile on Twitter, and see IBM MobileFirst on YouTube, Tumblr and Instagram. 

Contact(s) Information

Chi, Nguyen Van
Communications, IBM Vietnam
Office: +84 4 3946 2172
Mobile: +84 91 505 85 35
Email: [email protected] 

Harriet Ip
External Relations, IBM Growth Markets Unit
Office: +65-6418-1521
Mobile: +65-8161-8505  
E-mail: [email protected]

Elizabeth Campbell
External Relations, IBM Software Group
Office: +1-617-693-2718
Mobile: +1-781-820-9840
E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE IBM