IBM and McCain Foods Limited to establish IT Delivery Centre in New Brunswick

IBM (NYSE:IBM) today announced a services agreement with McCain Foods Limited to create a new technology services delivery facility at McCain’s Florenceville- Bristol, New Brunswick location. This initiative will drive the creation of local, high-value IT jobs and the development of high value skills of the future in the province.
  IBM will provide McCain Foods’ global operations with system infrastructure support, resiliency, security and mobility services. The facility will also provide security compliance and tools services to new and existing IBM clients.

Kevin Perkins, Chief Information Officer, Global Information Services, for McCain Foods Limited:
 

“This initiative will enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of information technology and services for McCain while bringing a second major global company to Florenceville-Bristol, serving clients beyond McCain,”

“We are confident it will be good for our business, our employees and our community.”

As part of the agreement, IBM and McCain also agreed to collaborate on local analytics and security skills development – skills which are in high demand by today’s employers. IBM committed to provide $5 million to develop curriculum and programs, provide students with access to IBM expertise and technologies and seed innovative applied research in security intelligence, building off a previous investment in New Brunswick-based security intelligence software provider Q1 Labs, which IBM acquired in 2011.

A recent study by Forrester Research and IBM shows global IT decision makers and business leaders have acquired security technology, but lack the skills needed to apply these technologies and protect their businesses. There is a shortage of people to design secure systems, and to create tools to prevent, detect, or mitigate system failures and malicious acts.

David Drury, general manager of IBM Global Technology Services for Canada:
 

“Our marketplace is rapidly changing and Canadian businesses must continually transform as they adopt emerging technologies in cloud, big data, security, mobile and social computing.”

“This initiative with McCain demonstrates leadership in sharing expertise to spur regional economic growth, seed high-value job skills, and drive competitiveness to take advantage of that continual transformation, and innovate for the future.”