As part of a deal declared to be an expansion of the companies' 'long-term strategic relationship', AT&T is 'transitioning' its managed app and managed hosting services unit to IBM.
IBM will also acquire equipment and floor space access in AT&T data centres supporting the business.
Once the deal closes, IBM will deliver the managed app/hosting services currently provided by AT&T. The offerings will be aligned with IBM's cloud services portfolio.
The move follows a Q3 in which IBM's global tech services revenue fell 10% yr/yr to $7.9bn, and its global business services revenue 13% to $4.2bn, amid cloud and forex pressures.
The company is already a notable player in the managed app and hosting markets, its SoftLayer unit participates in the latter.
Within its Business Solutions segment, AT&T's fixed strategic services revenue (including hosting, Ethernet, cloud, VPN, and security services) rose 12.6% Y/Y in Q3 to $2.76bn. That helped offset an 8.7% drop in legacy voice/data service revenue to $4.5bn.