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elecommunications operator PT Indosat Ooredoo and US technology giant IBM announced on Friday a partnership for the development of digital security and efficiency solutions for Indonesian businesses in a bid to better serve customers in the world'€™s fourth most populous country.

The five-year partnership aims at improving the digital capacity and capability of corporate IT systems and securing their digital content using data centers operated by Indosat Ooredo'€™s subsidiary, data
communications company Lintasarta, as well as IBM'€™s cloud service, Indosat CEO Alexander Rusli said on Friday.

Alexander said by integrating the capabilities of the three companies, their corporate clients would be able to improve the quality of their digital systems and provide the best digital service for their customers.

'€œThis initiative is also in line with our personal vision of becoming Indonesia'€™s foremost digital telecom services company, as we want to be the ones that can bring out the maximal digital potential for businesses and companies in Indonesia,'€ he said.

The partnership, valued at around US$200 million, will mainly target companies in the transportation, financial, energy and government sectors, which rely on digital services to support their operations.

To help manage and monitor companies'€™ IT system performances, Indosat and IBM will build an integrated data command center and security operations center (SOC), taking advantage of IBM'€™s expertise in the fields of cloud data, mobility, security and analytics.

IBM Indonesia president director Gunawan Susanto elaborated that within the partnership, his company for example, would help corporate clients to develop customized digital apps for their employees in order to reap the full benefits of system upgrades.

Companies that chose to implement the IT solutions offered by Indosat and IBM, Gunawan added, would be able to build solutions based on the capability of IBM'€™s data centres and be able to join IBM'€™s global Cloud network.

'€œIBM'€™s role in the partnership leans more toward the provision of expertise, to help create complimentary products such as mobile apps,'€ he said.

'€œOur cloud-based platforms will be used to improve these companies'€™ digital infrastructure.'€

The partnership with IBM is the latest in Indosat'€™s portfolio of partnerships with large tech companies to further its digital services.

Earlier in February, the company partnered with tech giant Google in supporting Indosat'€™s GIG Home Internet service, which comes in a package with the Google Chromecast streaming service, a Google Chromebook laptop and up to 50 GB of free Google Drive storage for subscribers.

It is also continuously pushing its new 4G/LTE network to its customers, urging them to switch from old 2G and 3G networks to harness the capability of Indosat'€™s 4G networks. Indosat'€™s 4G is available for use in 27 cities, with an additional 16 cities planned to be added this year.

Indosat expects its business to see growth in line with or faster than the industry standard of 7 to 8 percent by the end of 2016.

Indosat'€™s Lintasarta, meanwhile, provides data communication, internet and value-added services for various industrial sectors. The company has catered for more than 2,000 corporate customers.