IBM has announced it’ll make its hybrid cloud available on any cloud, on-premises, or at the edge via its IBM Cloud Satellite.

Big Blue said it’s worked with Lumen Technologies to integrate its Cloud Satellite service with the Lumen edge platform to enable customers to use hybrid cloud services in edge computing environments. The firm also said it will collaborate with 65 ecosystem partners, including Cisco, Dell Technologies, and Intel, to build hybrid cloud services.

It said that IBM Cloud Satellite is now generally available to customers and can bring a secured, unifying layer of cloud services to clients across environments, regardless of where their data resides. IBM added that this technology would address critical data privacy and data sovereignty requirements. 

IBM said customers using the Lumen platform and IBM Cloud Satellite would be able to deploy data-intensive applications, such as video analytics, across highly distributed environments and take advantage of infrastructure designed for single-digit millisecond latency.

The collaboration will enable customers to deploy applications across more than 180,000 connected enterprise locations on the Lumen network to provide a low latency experience. They can also create cloud-enabled solutions at the edge that leverage application management and orchestration via IBM Cloud Satellite and build open, interoperable platforms that give customers greater deployment flexibility and more seamless access to cloud-native services like artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT), and edge computing.

One example given of how this would benefit customers is using cameras to detect the last time surfaces were cleaned or flag potential worker safety concerns. Using an application hosted on Red Hat OpenShift via IBM Cloud Satellite from the proximity of a Lumen edge location, such cameras and sensors can function in near real-time to help improve quality and safety, IBM claimed.

IBM added that customers across geographies can better address data sovereignty by deploying this processing power closer to where the data is created.

“With the Lumen Platform’s broad reach, we are giving our enterprise customers access to IBM Cloud Satellite to help them drive innovation more rapidly at the edge,” said Paul Savill, SVP enterprise product management and services at Lumen. 

“Our enterprise customers can now extend IBM Cloud services across Lumen’s robust global network, enabling them to deploy data-heavy edge applications that demand high security and ultra-low latency. By bringing secure and open hybrid cloud capabilities to the edge, our customers can propel their businesses forward and take advantage of the emerging applications of the 4th Industrial Revolution.”

IBM is also extending its Watson Anywhere strategy with the availability of IBM Cloud Pak for Data as a Service with IBM Cloud Satellite. IBM said this would give customers a “flexible, secure way to run their AI and analytics workloads as services across any environment – without having to manage it themselves.”

Service partners also plan to offer migration and deployment services to help customers manage solutions as-a-service anywhere. IBM Cloud Satellite customers can also access certified software offerings on Red Hat Marketplace, which they can deploy to run on Red Hat OpenShift via IBM Cloud Satellite.