UPS has handed NTT Data a 10-year deal to overhaul its IT cloud/edge infrastructure to make new and better usage of AI to drive new efficiencies and innovations.
In short – what you need to know
AI transformation: UPS partners with NTT Data to overhaul IT infrastructure, focusing on cloud migration and AI-driven solutions for operational efficiency.
IT management: NTT Data will manage UPS’s data centers, integrate public/private cloud solutions, and develop AI and IoT tools to support digital innovation.
Efficiency gains: The partnership allows UPS tech teams to focus on customer solutions while NTT Data handles infrastructure, driving operational cost savings and growth.
US package delivery company UPS has handed business and technology services outfit NTT Data (stylised NTT DATA) a 10-year deal to overhaul its IT infrastructure in a bid to reorganise its data workloads between private and public cloud facilities to make new and better usage of modish AI services. The brief is to drive digital-change efficiencies across the UPS business, including in its internal processes and external products; the initial focus is about data centres, and the final focus is about customer services, it said.
NTT Data will purchase and manage the firm’s critical data centres as part of the deal; it will also develop new solutions in support of its logistics and delivery services, said a statement. The implication is the deal will stretch to the development of AI sense-making tools, orchestrated across the cloud-edge continuum, via the deployment also of sundry IoT sensing and networking tools – which NTT Data has in its kit bag, as well. But the initial focus of the work is about “custom data-centre colocation, digital transformation, and cloud migration”.
A statement said: “NTT DATA will purchase and operate one of UPS’s mission-critical data centers and enable colocation of IT workloads in-place. This includes using the best mix of public cloud and on-premises solutions to enhance efficiency and flexibility. NTT DATA will also help develop new solutions. These changes will support UPS’s plans to reallocate savings toward innovative projects designed to drive growth initiatives, including developing new digital-centric services for their customers.”
The London-headquartered consultancy and integrator firm described the project as an exercise to “operationalise [UPS’s] ‘data-centre-of-the-future’ vision, deliver the next generation IT infrastructure, and accelerate digital product development”. Abhijit Dubey, president and chief executive at NTT Data, said: “As the third-largest data centre provider in the world, and the only one to offer full-stack transformation services, [we are] well-positioned to help UPS reduce operational costs and risks, drive innovation and revenue growth, and maintain market leadership.”
NTT DATA provides true end-to-end services seamlessly integrating IT services, data center operations and digital transformation solutions. From designing and constructing state-of-the-art data centers to managing and optimizing IT systems, NTT DATA provides a comprehensive suite of services that address every technological need. This holistic approach ensures that clients can focus on innovation and growth while NTT DATA handles complex technology transformation.
Ken Finnerty, senior vice president for global IT at UPS, said: “This arrangement allows the UPS technology teams, under our ‘efficiency reimagined’ initiatives, to focus their expertise on the development of digital solutions to solve customers’ supply chain needs.”
