Deutsche Telekom, a leading telecom and IT services provider, has partnered with IBM to deploy IBM Concert, an AI-powered solution aimed at revolutionizing its patch management and security orchestration processes.
As the volume of enterprise applications is projected to skyrocket — with IDC forecasting an additional one billion apps globally by 2028 — Deutsche Telekom is proactively preparing to manage this scale through intelligent automation. Even minor application updates now require seamless coordination across various internal teams to avoid operational risks. Traditional patching methods, often slow and error-prone due to manual steps, are no longer viable.
IBM Concert addresses this challenge by offering a unified platform for vulnerability management, patching, and reporting. It leverages AI to contextualize data and automate end-to-end processes, transforming how Deutsche Telekom handles software patches and security measures. The fully automated system can reduce patching times from 90 minutes to just 20 minutes per instance.
A pilot implementation of IBM Concert at Deutsche Telekom yielded striking results: a tenfold improvement in its “Median Time To Patch” for critical vulnerabilities — down from 80 hours to just 8 hours. This significant boost in response speed enhances not only IT security but also the company’s ability to meet compliance requirements and manage risk more effectively.
Peter Leukert, Group CIO of Deutsche Telekom, said: “Secure operating systems form the foundation for all applications, databases, and services that we offer our customers. The time factor has taken on a critical role. We were looking for a standalone solution that reliably automates complex patch management — and IBM Concert delivers exactly that.”
IBM executives say the solution is designed for hybrid cloud environments and reflects the company’s own internal experience managing complexity at scale.
Steve Canepa, IBM’s Global Managing Director, said: “IBM Concert incorporates AI and automation technologies so that Deutsche Telekom can stay ahead of the escalating number and complexity of vulnerabilities.”
