Indian technology consultancy Wipro is launching a managed private 5G-as-a-service offering in partnership with Cisco.

The aim is to let enterprises achieve better business outcomes through the seamless integration of private 5G with their existing LAN, WAN and cloud infrastructure.

The changing nature of work and digital transformation across IT and OT infrastructures are being driven by 5G and other complementary technologies. Managed private 5G from Cisco and Wipro supports organisations looking to enjoy the advantages of a private 5G network without having to acquire, run and maintain one.

The as-a-service model benefits enterprises by reducing the risks associated with upfront capital expenditure investments and expedites technology adoption as Wipro and Cisco take on the technical, operational, and commercial risks.

“Private 5G is already enabling connectivity for a wide range of use cases in factories, supply chains, university and enterprise campuses, entertainment venues, hospitals and more,” said Masum Mir, senior vice president for Cisco. “We’ve created a simplified and intuitive private 5G with Wipro, leveraging the advantages of 5G, IoT, edge and Wifi 6 technologies to improve customer outcomes.”

The managed private 5G offering is built on Cisco’s mobile core technology and IoT portfolio, spanning IoT sensors and gateways, device management software, as well as monitoring tools and dashboards. The offering is seamlessly built, run and managed by Wipro for its customers. To support the partnership, Wipro has created a dedicated private 5G lab to build, test and demonstrate industry use-cases.

“Wipro and Cisco have a long history of building secure networks for enterprises and industries,” said Jo Debecker, global head of Wipro FullStride Cloud. “We are both dedicated to the partnership and delivering a secure, cloud-managed private 5G service to our customers. Because it is an as-a-service, it provides maximum benefits while minimising the human resources and costs associated with owning a private network.”

Wipro vice president Lourdes Charles added: “Private 5G integration will put organisations on the cusp of a new revolution. We are delighted to expand our long-standing strategic relationship between Cisco and Wipro to include managed private 5G for enterprise customers. To simplify the customer experience, the solution will validate mission-critical use cases, operations service-level agreements and lifecycle management. Wipro is fully committed through our 5G Def-i platform, to assist customers with their private 5G networks through best-in-class technology, pricing and performance.”

Wipro has more than 250,000 employees and business partners across 66 countries.