IBM (NYSE: IBM) has signed a ten-year technology services and digital transformation agreement with Saudi International Petrochemical Company (Sipchem). Sipchem will leverage IBM’s cloud, mobile, analytics and security platforms and services to support its ambitious efficiency enhancement and growth strategy.
The agreement equips Sipchem to drive greater efficiencies, improve service, deliver continuous innovation and significantly lower its operational costs.
Sipchem has initially collaborated with IBM since 2011 to embark on its digital transformation journey when it deployed IBM’s design thinking, analytics and system integration capabilities to develop a sustainable growth platform.
“Sipchem has a clear strategy for continuous optimization to support our business and growth objectives. By collaborating with IBM on outsourcing the full IT services we can better focus on our core business, introduce continuous innovation into the local operation, achieve improved service and reduced total cost of ownership,” said Sipchem’s CEO, Ahmad Al Ohali.
IBM will manage and enhance Sipchem’s current critical business operations applications. IBM will also manage Sipchem’s IT infrastructure including data centers, security operations, help desk, end user services, network services, mobile device management and operational analytics.
Disaster recovery will be delivered from a local data center in Saudi Arabia based on the IBM Cloud. This approach will optimize Sipchem’s IT infrastructure and support continuous availability of critical applications and capabilities for its business continuity plan.
The IBM Security Services include IBM’s QRadar security intelligence platform, for integrating security information and events which leverages, the world-renowned X-Force security research tools and IBM X-Force Incident Response Services.
Sipchem also selected IBM’s mobility services for Mac and iOS devices to offer its employees a consistent, secure and a compelling user experience.
“Sipchem is a valuable and trusted partner of IBM, through this collaboration IBM will be able to bring the full range of its global and local capabilities to support Sipchem’s ongoing optimization and growth strategy,” said Mohamed Abdelhak, General Manager, IBM Saudi Arabia. “Adopting an IT model incorporating advanced cloud, mobile, analytics and security technologies and services from IBM will ensure a flexible and reliable IT platform to support Sipchem’s innovative vision and growth plans.”