State-run telecom operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and IT solutions provider Dimension Data on Tuesday entered into a new partnership to launch enterprise cloud services in India.

BSNL will render the enterprise cloud services via Internet data centres. The services will be based on Dimension Data's Managed Cloud Platform (MCP). The new partnership has signed up 15 enterprises across government, IT / ITES, Education and Financial Services. Dimension Data's MCP provides enterprise-ready, offering multiple layers of security, administrative controls, highest availability SLAs, 24/7 phone support and integrated management capabilities.

 "The IDC and cloud services have not only enabled us to build and add new strategic capabilities to our portfolio, but also, it has benefited our clients who can leverage our flexible sourcing options or simply host their entire IT assets within our secure environment and with expert care," said RK Upadhyay, chairman and managing director, BSNL.

He also added that BSNL is in a tryst to notch the top position in the market and with the expansion of next phase BSN would be able to achieve this.

"We are currently expanding our network by around 15 million lines which is called phase 7 of network expansion. In the next round of expansion, which will be phase 8, we will give real push to be number 1 in the industry," said RK Upadhyay.

Kapil Sibal , minister of communications and IT, who presided over the launch said, "With the central as well as state governments strategically investing in strengthening their e-governance initiatives to benefit citizens, this public-private partnership to offer cloud services is another step towards realising the larger goal of bridging the gap between citizens and the government."