Earlier today, I penned an article about an Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) company entering a strategic partnership with none other than Microsoft (News - Alert). (Give it a read here.)
Well, it seems like that’s today’s trend, in a sense.
Forging another strategic collab with Microsoft now is Mangata Networks (or simply Mangata). This reportedly long-term commitment “represents a sustained collaborative journey to continuously advance cloud technologies through HEO and MEO (Highly Elliptical Orbit and Medium Earth Orbit) satellites, as well as a terrestrial network of edge data centers.”
Let’s break this down into digestible parts now, shall we?
So, the goal.
As mentioned, the two will develop an AI-enabled edge cloud product connected via HEO and MEO satellite systems. Mangata’s connectivity and intelligent cloud computing services will bring the benefits of Microsoft Azure to more users around the globe.
It also covers a sort of umbrella-esque effort to ensure customers can continue processing data where it’s created; doing so at the best-possible location(s) reduces latency and time-to-insight with valuable data that can now be utilized by additional cloud services (e.g. Microsoft Fabric, as the announcement listed).
“We are thrilled to develop this transformative product in strategic collaboration with Microsoft, further enriching the Microsoft commercial marketplace ecosystem,” said Brian Holz, Mangata Networks’ CEO. “Microsoft's direct sales channels will play a crucial role in scaling our innovative solutions to enterprises globally.”
“Our offering is not just a product but an all-encompassing network, infrastructure, platform, and software service,” Holz added. “With capacity bundled into the service, we provide a seamless, integrated SLA that simplifies the adoption of our services for customers. This is more than a partnership; it is a long-term alliance set to redefine how enterprises leverage the cloud and intelligent edge compute.”
With an “Edge-to-Space-to-Cloud” achievement roadmap in mind, Mangata will leverage Microsoft’s GenAI and data analytics capabilities to integrate more AI-powered end-to-end features; feedback improvements for both customers and partners, managed services that can extend the geographical reach and functionality of the Azure adaptive cloud, remote bandwidth optimization, workload management, real-time data processing, digital twin support, satellite backhaul management, 5G integration standardization, and multi-vendor sub-system integration (e.g. ORAN-based and RAN-based equipment).
Available through the Azure Marketplace, this also entails end-to-end application-level Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with conveniently bundled connectivity.
“In collaboration with Mangata, we look forward to delivering an end-to-end Edge-to-Space-to-Cloud platform to enterprise and government customers. This platform will enable business and mission critical applications anywhere with committed availability through satellite connectivity. Mangata will leverage Microsoft's portfolio of Microsoft Azure Space and Azure for Operators to run their satellites' constellation and edge platforms. This collaboration is key for our continued commitment to empower our customers with intelligent, secure, and resilient technology.” said Mitra Azizirad, President and Chief Operating Officer, for Growth, Innovation and Strategy, Microsoft Strategic Missions and Technologies.
Plenty of additional information about this Mangata-Microsoft work-together can be found here.