IBM and Cisco have partnered on expanded firewall and network solutions.

Cisco Secure Firewall will be integrated into IBM Technology Lifecycle Services (TLS), IBM’s IT infrastructure offering, with support for physical, cloud, and virtual firewalls.

The support covers firewall planning, designing, and purchasing, as well as installation and removal. The integration was positioned by the firms as helping users to optimize their AI or core infrastructure in response to the expansion of the network attack surface through remote and hybrid work setups, cloud-based networks, internet of things (IoT) devices, and AI uptake.

IBM cited its own research claiming that 56% of executives were concerned about increased potential for business disruption from generative AI. Just over half (51%) cited unpredictable risks and new security vulnerabilities as a major worry, as well as the vulnerability of existing AI models, data, and services (47%) to new forms of attack.

More challenges have come with the rise of data center virtualization, according to IBM, which cited IDC research that the demand for enhanced computing will mean over 70% of enterprise compute infrastructure will be virtualized by 2027.

With the Cisco tie-up, IBM is touting virtual firewalls as a scalable and flexible solution through cloud-native integration, delivering enhanced visibility and simplified management across hybrid and multi-cloud frameworks.

The partnership follows recent updates to IBM’s Power server line, leveraging IBM’s Concert automation platform for insight and AI-powered services via IBM TLS to help with system optimization.

Cisco meanwhile was recently deemed a “visionary” in Gartner's latest Magic Quadrant for hybrid mesh firewalls (HMF).

The security giant was praised for multiple flexible firewall deployment types, enabling customers to support hybrid environments.

The firm found itself a visionary rather than in the leadership category because Gartner found it was “rarely seen in stand-alone HMF and cloud firewall shortlists,” with the research house finding Cisco had “one of the lowest new customer acquisition volumes in this market.”