TORONTO, July 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that it has entered into a seven-year services agreement with The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company (Manulife) valued at close to $90M CAD annually to support Manulife Financial's (TSX:MFC)(NYSE:MFC)(PSE:MFC)(SEHK:0945) ongoing business growth, as well as continued evolution of its information technology operations.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO )

One of the greatest challenges facing financial services organizations today is adapting to the accelerating change and complexity of their competitive industry landscape for governance models and regulations, organizational effectiveness and business productivity. With an increased volume and variety of information to monitor and manage, it is imperative for financial services leaders to keep pace with the latest technological developments to improve efficiency and provide access to secure relevant information quickly to make business decisions.

The agreement will advance Manulife infrastructure services for mainframe, midrange server and storage, desktop services, business continuity, disaster recovery and security. Manulife will also evaluate, as part of ongoing joint innovation, the application of cloud computing and high-performance computing environments to accelerate and enhance the deployment of business applications.

"This contract will provide us with leading-edge technologies in the efficient and effective growth of our business," said Joe Cooper, Executive Vice President, Global Services & Chief Information Officer, Manulife Financial. "IBM's expertise in the finance and insurance sectors also assists Manulife in the execution of its information services strategy by providing industry skills as required to support our businesses and customers."

Manulife has collaborated with IBM for ongoing business transformation since 2002.

"Our 10-year relationship with Manulife provides a strong foundation for us to share global expertise in cloud computing, infrastructure reliability and security," said Leslie Keating, Vice President, Global Technology Services, IBM Canada. "In today's interconnected world, there is an increasing need for businesses to be prepared and agile to deal with new and evolving opportunities and threats. By continuing to enhance Manulife's core infrastructure to improve service and increase efficiency, we are helping strengthen their competitiveness."

Today's announcement with Manulife is another example of how IBM Global Services teams with its clients to solve business problems and help them capitalize on new opportunities. Clients today are looking to IT services providers for more than just cost cutting. Global clients need help finding ways to better leverage IT into their business to stimulate growth and prepare for the future. By tightly weaving together business insights, an industry-leading software portfolio, world-class technology research and operations expertise, IBM is redefining what it means to design, deploy and deliver IT services on a global scale. As a result, IBM Global Services clients achieve faster return on investment while freeing up resources to focus on innovative projects.

The agreement was signed on June 29, 2011.

About Manulife Financial

Manulife Financial is a leading Canadian-based financial services group operating in 22 countries and territories worldwide. For more than 120 years, clients have looked to Manulife for strong, reliable, trustworthy and forward-thinking solutions for their most significant financial decisions. Our international network of employees, agents and distribution partners offers financial protection and wealth management products and services to millions of clients. We provide asset management services to institutional customers worldwide as well as reinsurance solutions, specializing in life and property and casualty retrocession. Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were C$478 billion (US$492 billion) as at March 31, 2011. The Company operates as Manulife Financial in Canada and Asia and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as 'MFC' on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under '945' on the SEHK. Manulife Financial can be found on the Internet at www.manulife.com.

About IBM

On Smarter Banking

For more information on IBM banking solutions, visit

http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/ca/en/banking_technology/nextsteps/solution

On Smarter Computing

For more information on IBM cloud solutions, visit http://www.ibm.com/cloud/ca

http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/ca/en/smartercomputing/overview/index.html

For further information:
Joanne Fortin
External Communications Manager - IBM Canada
t:514-964-8558/m: 514-238-2995
Fortin@ca.ibm.com
twitter: www.twitter.com/jf_ibm

Tara Sucato Tsapepas
IBM Communications (U.S.)
917.472.3701
tjsucato@us.ibm.com

SOURCE IBM