Sonda, IBM ink alliance targeting US$100mn in joint LatAm projects

Chilean systems integrator Sonda and US software and hardware giant IBM are aiming at US$100mn in digital projects for corporates under a newly expanded partnership covering Latin America, BNamericas was told.

The goal of this alliance is to accelerate digital transformation of corporate clients through AI, cloud, security and infrastructure services solutions targeting key sectors such as banking, healthcare, agribusiness, government, industry, retail and utilities.

“Talks for this partnership began in early 2023 and we formalized the contract in October of last year. Since then, we've already developed some projects together,” Gustavo Trevisan, VP of digital services at Sonda Brasil, told BNamericas.

Through the agreement, Sonda will be the integrator of IBM solutions within the scope of these technologies. The contract is not exclusive, and both Sonda and IBM can work with other tech providers and integrators. Last year, Sonda announced a digital transformation alliance in Latin America with Intel.

“We have two projects in Brazil and two projects in Chile, and are constructing new projects and opportunities until the end of the year, in Argentina, Colombia and Mexico,” said Trevisan. 

The names of these clients have not been made public yet.

Among the solutions jointly developed by the partnership for clients is "AI Operations," an application focused on workplace safety that automatically detects whether company's employees are using the necessary personal protective equipment (PPE) correctly, according to Sonda.

The solution also provides detailed reports, with analyses for identifying risks and making strategic decisions regarding workforce safety.

Another solution developed jointly is focused on retail. 

Using video analytics to analyze the profile of customers entering stores, the application allows the client company to more effectively allocate employees and resources, improving service and increasing sales.

Expanding partnership

This new Sonda-IBM solutions contract expands a partnership the companies had for equipment and infrastructure.

In August, for example, Sonda announced investments of 16mn reais (US$2.8mn) in hardware and 1.5mn reais in workforce as part of a project to modernize and expand the capacity of its tier 3 datacenter in Belo Horizonte in Minas Gerais state, Brazil.

That investment included the acquisition of five storage solutions from IBM, which was the provider chosen by the Chilean group following a market selection process. Ricardo Scheffer, CEO of Sonda Brasil, provided details of the deal in this interview with BNamericas.

Sonda ended 2023 with US$1.48bn in revenues and projects and direct operations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Ecuador, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Uruguay.

The company reports over 13,000 professionals in its workforce.

Last week, IBM reported mixed results for its operations in 3Q24, with US$14.9bn in revenue, up 1% year-on-year. Software revenue was up 10%, consulting revenue was flat and infrastructure revenue was down 7%.

"Our third-quarter performance was led by double-digit growth in software, including a re-acceleration in Red Hat. We continue to see great momentum in AI as our models are trusted, fit-for-purpose and lower cost, with performance leadership. Our generative AI book of business now stands at more than US$3bn, up more than US$1bn quarter to quarter," Arvind Krishna, IBM chairman, president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.