Microsoft and Lumen Technologies will jointly sell networking services to large companies moving their AI work to Microsoft's Azure cloud. The companies say customers should plan the network and the cloud move together. Lumen will bring its cloud networking tools to Azure, and its sales teams will work alongside Microsoft's on related deals.
Microsoft and Lumen Technologies will jointly sell networking services to large companies moving their artificial intelligence work onto Microsoft's Azure cloud, the two companies said Monday.
Why do AI workloads need better networks?
The pitch rests on a practical problem. AI systems pull data from many places at once, including public clouds, private data centers and office networks. Those links are often patchy. The companies want customers to plan the network and the move to Azure at the same time, rather than treating them as separate projects.
How will Microsoft and Lumen sell AI-ready networks?
Lumen, a U.S. fiber network operator, plans to bring its full range of cloud networking tools to Azure. Its sales teams will work alongside Microsoft's on deals where networking, cloud migration and AI overlap.
Demand for fiber has climbed along with AI. Networking equipment maker Ciena says it can barely keep up.
“AI is reshaping where applications run and how organizations use and move data,” said Katy Brown, a corporate vice president at Microsoft.
Customers can already buy one Lumen product, Alkira, through Microsoft's online store for business software. Lumen bought Alkira earlier this year for $475 million. The software lets companies manage links between clouds and offices from a single place.
The companies also plan to explore how their networks could work with Microsoft's tools for controlling AI agents. They gave no figures or timeline for the deal or for those plans.
The partnership builds on a 2024 arrangement in which Lumen supplies fiber links between Microsoft's data centers. Azure passed $100 billion in yearly sales in July.
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