Vodafone Idea extends partnership with Kyndryl for 3 years; stock reacts

Kyndryl has announced a three-year extension of its partnership with telecom major Vodafone Idea (Vi) to transform the latter’s IT operations and delivery. Following the announcement, shares of the telecom operator witnessed volatility in Thursday’s trading session. 

The Vodafone Idea stock opened nearly 1 per cent higher in Thursday’s trade but soon fell as much as 2 per cent to touch day’s low of Rs 10.46 on the BSE over its previous close of Rs 10.69 apiece.

Under the terms of the renewed agreement, Kyndryl will develop a cyber resilience framework tailored for the telco. This initiative will focus on critical aspects such as security governance, data protection, and zero-touch services. 

Additionally, Kyndryl is tasked with redesigning Vodafone’s cybersecurity architecture to better align with anticipated future regulatory frameworks. The company aims to reduce manual interventions and mitigate the impact of security disruptions by providing early visibility into vulnerabilities.

The partnership will also see the deployment of a next-generation IT operations delivery model anchored in advanced automation. This approach is designed to transition Vodafone Idea toward a zero-touch delivery framework, enhancing both service delivery and operational agility. Vodafone Idea will continue to utilize Kyndryl Bridge, an AI-powered open integration platform. According to the release, Kyndryl Bridge has already deployed over 1,000 unique automations at Vodafone Idea, helping to reduce delivery event noise by 15 percent.

Commenting on the strategic renewal, Jagbir Singh, CTO, Vodafone Idea, said, “At Vi, our focus is on building a resilient, scalable and intelligent IT backbone that can support rapid innovation and business agility." He added that the collaboration allows the telco to leverage advanced automation, AI-driven insights and a zero-touch operations model to optimize our IT infrastructure.

Lingraju Sawkar, President, Kyndryl India, highlighted the long-standing relationship, stating, "We’re proud that Vodafone India has recognized Kyndryl’s core expertise in managing mission-critical systems and delivering complex transformations through this extended partnership."

The companies have a history of collaboration, with Kyndryl previously managing the integration of two separate entities to form Vodafone Idea Limited. This included driving 26 consolidation projects in record time and ensuring operations continued with zero impact during the COVID-19 pandemic through a structured business continuity plan.