SCIENCE

IBM has announced that it has signed a new agreement with Samlink to manage the information technology (IT) infrastructure for the company's more than 400 bank branch offices across Finland. The five-year, EURO 28 million agreement signed this month follows the IT agreement between the two companies inked one year ago in November 2009 in which IBM enabled Samlink to achieve greater efficiency in its data center operations.

IBM will manage overall IT operations and internal workstations for Samlink and its clients including self-service kiosks, wireless networks, workstation and maintenance, desktop, servers, and printers.

IBM will also develop a desktop cloud solution that offers a flexible learning environment for Samlink's Finnish banking clients. Traditionally, education within the banking system has been provided in a fixed personal computer (PC) classroom. With the new desktop cloud-based learning environment, banking employees can take classes from any device at any location. For Samlink's clients, the new cloud-based learning environment provides a scalable, faster and cost effective learning environment.

"After a year-long successful relationship with IBM, we are looking forward to developing this partnership further," said Heikki Sirve, Chief Executive Officer of Samlink. "IBM has proven its industry expertise and capability to deliver high quality services with its ability to offer innovative solutions, such as cloud, that will help our services add more value to our clients, the Finnish banks."

"Our partnership with Samlink started one year ago when Samlink's infrastructure services across its data center environment were transferred to IBM. The objective was to simplify Samlink's IT infrastructure while increasing its resiliency and efficiency," said Johan Sandell, Country General Manager, IBM Finland. "The new agreement further demonstrates IBM's commitment to deliver the highest quality services and the most advanced technologies enabling Samlink to deliver greater value to its clients."