IBM yesterday announced that it has reached a seven-year agreement with NiSource Inc. to continue providing a broad range of IT services, including the creation and management of a hybrid cloud computing environment. The agreement will help accelerate business innovation, while supporting NiSource’s continued strong focus on customer service, system security and business application performance.
Under the agreement, IBM will help NiSource implement a hybrid IT model using SoftLayer, an IBM Company, as well as a private, secure cloud powered by traditional infrastructure. The resulting integrated, hybrid cloud will enable NiSource to continue delivering efficient, reliable service to its customers, while supporting enhanced technology agility, availability and performance.
Embracing a hybrid cloud approach can provide a number of benefits to companies, including greater efficiency by better matching computing workloads to the best-fit infrastructure, greater agility to respond rapidly to changes in business demands, and the ability to easily add new capabilities such as analytics or mobile technology.
Speaking during the announcement, General Manager IBM Global Technology Services, North America Philip Guido said NiSource is a powerful example of how companies today are turning to the cloud as a competitive lever for their business.
“Embracing the cloud not only provides a better way to integrate hybrid IT systems, it enables companies to forge new pathways to innovation and improve services by applying technologies such as analytics across their enterprise,” he said.
Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at NiSource, Violet Sistovaris said their longtime partnership with IBM has been built on a shared commitment to innovation, performance and continuous improvement. “This new agreement builds on our existing partnership and keeps us on a trajectory to further leverage IBM’s extensive capabilities, new delivery models and advanced technologies to deliver efficient, reliable service to our customers.” she added.
Among the benefits of the new agreement, NiSource now will have the ability to collaborate with the IBM Client Center for Advanced Analytics to bring new analytics capabilities that further enable the company to solve business challenges.
Since 2005, IBM has provided a range of IT services to NiSource. The companies’ new seven-year service agreement is valued at approximately $600 million, a level comparable with the prior NiSource–IBM service agreement. NiSource further noted that the new agreement is consistent with the company’s ongoing financial plans and outlook. NiSource is a Fortune 500 company engaged in natural gas transmission, storage and distribution, as well as electric generation, transmission and distribution.
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