April 10, 2002 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- IBM Canada Ltd., the Canadian portion of technology giant IBM (ibm.com), announced on Tuesday that it has signed a service agreement with Canadian financial services group Manulife Financial (manulife.com).
According to the agreement, IBM will manage Manulife?s information technology infrastructure and operations. The contract?s value, says IBM, is estimated at about $850 million Canadian over a 10-year period.
IBM says it will manage the infrastructure supporting Manulife?s North American operations. This includes data centers, help desks, desktop computers and voice and data networks. The agreement will include the transfer of approximately 400 Manulife employees to IBM Global Services. These employees, says IBM, will remain in their current locations in Canada and northeastern United States.
"Our partnership with IBM will result in both improved customer service and significant expense management opportunities," said John Mather, Executive vice president and chief information officer of Manulife Financial. "We are now equipped with a strengthened IT infrastructure that will allow us to deploy technology that will make Manulife more competitive globally."
And through the agreement, says IBM, Bell Nexxia will provide support and delivery for the local area network, metropolitan area network and wide area network infrastructure, as well as telephony services, to support Manulife?s data and voice communications requirements.
"Businesses want to focus on their core activities and the use of a capable 'general contractor' to manage IT contributes to the achievement of this objective," says Rick Horton, general manager, IBM Global Services, IBM (Canada) Ltd. "IBM has built a strong outsourcing business in Canada that reflects customer appreciation for IBM's trusted name and global reach. Customers know they can draw on IBM's vast global resources and deep industry expertise to help them transform their business."
According to IBM, Manulife Financial has also agreed to be the premier participant in the recently announced IBM Infrastructure Solutions Centre (ISC), centered in Kitchener-Waterloo with operations in Toronto. The ISC, says IBM, will help insurance companies to address the key business imperatives in the rapidly changing marketplace. IBM also plans for the center to work closely with IBM Research, enhancing the company?s research and technology relationship with the University of Waterloo.
