The Hartford Signs Agreement With IBM To Move IT To The Cloud

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HARTFORL, CT – 16 Apr 2014 — /BackupReview.info/ — The Hartford and IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced a new six-year technology services agreement to implement a new service model that includes a private cloud infrastructure. The partnership supports The Hartford’s strategy to drive profitable growth and increase operational effectiveness as it continues to focus on its property and casualty, group benefits and mutual funds businesses.

“As The Hartford continues to execute on its strategic plan, we are making significant technology investments to increase operational effectiveness and improve our competitiveness,” said Andy Napoli, president of Consumer Markets and Enterprise Business Services at The Hartford. “The partnership with IBM will help The Hartford implement a strategic technology infrastructure that will provide us with greater agility and offer us more flexibility and transparency as we continue to grow our businesses.”

The Hartford will move to a private cloud-based infrastructure on IBM’s PureFlex System. Under the $500 million agreement, IBM will also provide a number of other services related to mainframe, storage, backup and resiliency. The Hartford will define the services it requires, and IBM will be responsible for the solution and delivery of those services.

“Today’s announcement is an example of how leading organizations are utilizing cloud technology to gain competitive advantage,” said Philip Guido, general manager, IBM Global Technology Services, North America. “Clients today are looking for IT partners who can understand and help drive their business with a focus on innovation and delivering business outcomes, not just IT efficiency. This expansion of our partnership with The Hartford illustrates the work IBM is leading with cloud.”

A recent IBM study reveals that 66 percent of organizations are using cloud to strengthen the relationship between IT and lines of business, and the majority are using cloud to integrate and apply mobile, social, analytics and Big Data technologies.

As part of the agreement, The Hartford and IBM will also partner on the creation of a joint innovation committee to foster collaboration on strategic initiatives. The project will leverage the expertise of both firms, market insights and research to build new business models and competitive capabilities that will enhance The Hartford’s ability to anticipate and meet the needs of customers and agents.

About IBM
IBM has helped more than 30,000 clients around the world with 40,000 industry experts. Since its acquisition in 2013, IBM SoftLayer has served 4,500 new cloud clients. Today, IBM has 100+ cloud SaaS solutions, thousands of experts with deep industry knowledge helping clients transform and a network of 40 data centers worldwide. Since 2007, IBM has invested more than $7 billion in 17 acquisitions to accelerate its cloud initiatives and build a high value cloud portfolio. IBM holds 1,560 cloud patents focused on driving innovation. In fact, IBM for the 21st consecutive year topped the annual list of US patent leaders. IBM processes more the 5.5M client transactions daily through IBM’s public cloud. For more information about IBM cloud offerings, visit http://www.ibm.com/cloud. Follow us on Twitter at @IBMcloud and on our blog at http://www.thoughtsoncloud.com. Join the conversation at #ibmcloud.

About The Hartford
With more than 200 years of expertise, The Hartford (NYSE: HIG) is a leader in property and casualty insurance, group benefits and mutual funds. The company is widely recognized for its service excellence, sustainability practices, trust and integrity. More information on the company and its financial performance is available at www.thehartford.com. Join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheHartford.  Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TheHartford

HIG-C
Some of the statements in this release may be considered forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  We caution investors that these forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may differ materially.  Investors should consider the important risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ.  These important risks and uncertainties include those discussed in our 2013 Annual Report on Form 10-K, subsequent Quarterly Reports on Forms 10-Q, and the other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  We assume no obligation to update this release, which speaks as of the date issued.

From time to time, The Hartford may use its website to disseminate material company information. Financial and other important information regarding The Hartford is routinely accessible through and posted on our website at http://ir.thehartford.com. In addition, you may automatically receive email alerts and other information about The Hartford when you enroll your email address by visiting the “Email Alerts” section at http://ir.thehartford.com

Contact(s) Information:
Leslie Monreal-Feil
IBM Media Relations
1 (561) 862-3074
lmonreal@us.ibm.com

Michelle Symington
The Hartford Media Relations
1 (860) 547-5385
michelle.symington@thehartford.com

Source: IBM

Tags: IBM, The Hartford