The AU $450 million deal includes access to IBM’s vast software portfolio, core systems infrastructure and cloud development capabilities, with IBM providing common platforms across ANZ’s network of branches, digital and mobile channels.
ANZ have signed a five year strategic agreement with IBM that sees the bank signal its intentions to drive productivity and innovation with the development of an Innovation Lab as well as supporting ANZ’s regional expansion into Asia.
The AU $450 million agreement includes access to IBM’s vast software portfolio, core systems infrastructure and cloud development capabilities, with IBM providing common platforms across ANZ’s network of branches, digital and mobile channels.
ANZ Chief Information Officer, Scott Collary, said the partnership was integral to the bank cementing its position as a super-regional bank and will allow ANZ to deliver a more integrated and innovative banking experience for digital customers.
“Understanding our customers’ needs and preferences around mobile and digital banking is critical to our business and to providing a superior customer experience,” he said.
“We therefore need to ensure we are meeting these needs in an innovative, consistent and seamless way and with this partnership with IBM, we are working to achieve this goal.”
The deal sees ANZ and IBM co-invest in the Innovation Lab, powered by Bluemix, IBM’s cloud development platform-as-a-service.
Touted as “an essential pillar” of this agreement, the Lab is expected to allow ANZ to deliver new products and services to market quickly by allowing the bank’s developers to build, test and deploy new applications and services at “a fraction of the time and cost”.
In turn, IBM will implement its z13 mainframe and POWER8 infrastructure across ANZ’s private cloud environment, with ANZ tapping into IBM’s catalogue of integration, content management, data, analytics and cloud software solutions.
Scott Barlow, IBM Client Director for ANZ Bank, said the new infrastructure will provide ANZ with greater “reliability, security and resiliency” essential to helping the bank service the needs of its mobile customers, as well as gaining deeper insights into customer attitudes.
“For more than forty years IBM has been a strategic partner of ANZ and delivering innovation in customer service is at the forefront of our partnership,” Barlow said.
“This new agreement [enables] ANZ access to an arsenal of leading-edge technology to provide the agility, speed and innovation essential in the rapidly changing financial services marketplace.”
