IBM Canada announced last week that it has joined hands with Celero, a solutions integrator for Canadian credit unions, to modernize its data centre and data network environments, moving its infrastructure services onto a hybrid cloud environment.
This seven-year, multi-million dollar strategic outsourcing agreement will see Celero advance the digital banking technologies, cloud services, security and payment solutions that it provides to over 110 credit unions and financial institutions across Canada, ultimately supporting businesses and the economy recover from the fallout of COVID-19, IBM Canada noted in a press release.
“To deliver on our clients’ digital ambitions and accelerate their recovery from COVID-19, it’s critical for Celero to embark on this innovative path forward with our long-standing collaborator, IBM. The transformational opportunities of moving to a hybrid IBM Cloud platform will result in Celero and our clients becoming more agile, resilient and forward-looking, which will ultimately translate to a superior experience for credit union members,” said Tom Papagiannopoulos, senior vice-president at Celero, in the press release.
The company said that the agreement focuses on secure cloud services, resiliency testing, threat management, disaster recovery support and process automation.
“Innovation cannot stop in a crisis; in fact, it is instrumental in navigating out of one,” said Xerxes Cooper, general manager of global technology services for IBM Canada. “I believe what we’ll see in a post-COVID economy is those businesses that fought the urge to shift their priorities, and instead recognized the imperative to accelerate their digital transformation, will emerge stronger and more prepared. The vision that Celero is demonstrating in their commitment to innovation and transformation by migrating workloads onto a hybrid cloud environment is a fantastic example of an organization planning for success long-term.”