Manulife Financial acquired Maritime Life in April this year, as part of its merger with John Hancock Financial Services. It is turning to IBM for technology support for the Canadian acquisition.
As part of the agreement, IBM will manage Manulife’s desktop PCs and servers as a service with variable pricing and the ability to scale up and down based on customer demand.
The agreement is expected to provide Manulife with significant savings in information technology costs over the next four years. Starting in 2005, IBM will provide Manulife with access to its computing resources with the aim of enhancing the quality, performance and delivery of Maritime Life’s technology systems. Under the agreement, IBM will take over the management of 3,000 desktop PCs and 200 mid-range servers.
The new agreement builds upon Manulife’s existing relationship with IBM that was announced in 2002. Under that agreement, IBM provides technology services and infrastructure support for the insurance company’s North American operations, including help desk services, servers, storage, and desktop computers.
IBM also has an agreement to manage John Hancock’s IT services in the US This new agreement will expand IBM’s management of Manulife’s infrastructure to include Maritime Life operations acquired earlier this year.
