New Zealand Ministry of Health selects IBM Cloud
IBM contracted to deliver highly secure cloud solutions for government in New Zealand
AUCKLAND, New Zealand – 13 May 2015: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that the New Zealand Ministry of Health has adopted
IBM’s government cloud service to meet its all-of-government requirements to operate an onshore Infrastructure as a
Service (IaaS) model.
New Zealand’s Ministry of Health, the government’s principal policy advisor on health and disability, manages an
infrastructure that supports internal IT systems as well as national health systems. These include the National Health
Payment System, which processes transactions for pharmacy and health care providers, and the National Health Index
database, used to help with the planning, coordination and provisioning of services across the country.
“The agreement is a key element in improving the Ministry of Health’s ability to deliver shared services for the sector,
which enables secure access to personal health records for patients and their health care providers,” said Graeme
Osborne, Director of the National Health IT Board. “Our aim is to improve productivity and patient safety, and enable
new models of care through strategic technology investments.”
The Ministry has signed on to IBM’s Cloud Managed Infrastructure Services for New Zealand Government, a cloud solution
developed specifically for the public sector using onshore data centres, for a minimum of five years. Their adoption of
IBM Cloud follows an agreement by Health Benefits Limited to consolidate all 20 District Health Boards on IBM Cloud as
part of the National Infrastructure Platform.
IBM is a member of the Government ICT Common Capability IaaS panel managed by the Department of Internal Affairs, the
government’s ICT Functional Lead. With access to IBM’s computing resources ‘as-a-Service’, government agencies will be
able to provision new applications faster and scale up IT infrastructure as required, creating cost savings and avoiding
the need to purchase additional server and storage capacity separately as new applications are developed.
"We continue to invest in advanced technology infrastructure vital for New Zealand’s long-term economic growth. IBM’s
cloud services offer customers like the Ministry of Health the most comprehensive enterprise-grade cloud environment in
New Zealand and will support new, enhanced services for the public, suppliers and staff,” says Andrew Buchanan, Cloud
Business Leader, IBM New Zealand. “This agreement further demonstrates our leadership and commitment to health care
innovation.”
IBM offers a comprehensive hybrid cloud model, designed to meet the strategic business, security and data sovereignty
needs of public and private sector clients operating locally and internationally. These services include the IBM Cloud
Managed Infrastructure Services for New Zealand, IBM Cloud Managed Infrastructure Services for New Zealand Government,
and cloud infrastructure from SoftLayer, an IBM company. These services enable IBM’s local clients in New Zealand to
leverage a mix of bare metal and virtual servers, storage, and networking in one integrated platform utilising IBM’s
global network of data centres.
IBM New Zealand’s cloud portfolio leverages earlier investments in advanced data centre infrastructure and follows an
announcement in March 2014 to invest NZ$10 million to expand its local cloud capability to meet the evolving needs of
New Zealand public sector agencies and private organisations.
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