German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom plans to enhance its IT operations by implementing IBM Concert, an AI-powered automation solution.

According to IBM, this initiative aims to improve efficiency in patch management and security activity orchestration within Deutsche Telekom’s digital infrastructure.

IBM Concert employs AI-driven recommendations and workflows powered by IBM watsonx to streamline IT operations. This adoption is expected to significantly reduce operational costs and improve response times in addressing vulnerabilities.

Patches are essential for securing software environments, and IBM Concert facilitates this by integrating various data sources to create a comprehensive plan for prioritised patching.

IBM global managing director Steve Canepa said: “Security and trust are the cornerstones of success for all telecommunications companies.

“IBM Concert incorporates modern AI and automation technologies so that Deutsche Telekom can stay ahead of the dramatically escalating number and complexity of critical vulnerabilities across their hybrid cloud platform.”

IBM revealed that Deutsche Telekom’s decision to implement this solution follows a successful pilot that demonstrated substantial gains in efficiency. During the pilot, the median time to patch critical vulnerabilities was reduced from 80 hours to eight hours.

Deutsche Telekom group chief information officer (CIO) Peter Leukert said: “Secure operating systems form the foundation for all applications, databases, and services that we offer our customers. When it comes to patching, the time factor has taken on a critical role in the AI era.

“Those who use available updates immediately and automatically can reduce security risks. We face this challenge together with our partner.

“We were looking for a standalone solution on the market that combines all the complex aspects of patch management and reliably automates everything.”

IBM Concert aggregates data from security scans, application information, and publicly available databases to develop an optimised patching strategy. This process is claimed to decrease patching time per instance from 90 minutes to 20 minutes, freeing IT teams for more strategic tasks.

The solution supports fully automated installation of operating system patches for platforms such as Microsoft Windows Server and Red Hat Enterprise Linux. It integrates tools like Ansible Playbooks in cloud environments, ensuring seamless execution within maintenance windows.

The automation process includes generating ServiceNow change requests and documenting results in the IT service management system. This ensures compliance, improves traceability of changes, and provides a quick overview for maintaining hybrid cloud environments.