The Hartford, IBM Enter $500 Million Cloud Agreement

Reflecting greater insurance industry comfort with cloud-based software, The Hartford and IBM have announced a new six-year technology services agreement to implement a new service model that includes a private cloud infrastructure.

"As The Hartford continues to execute on its strategic plan, we are making significant technology investments to increase operational effectiveness and improve our competitiveness," said Andy Napoli, president of Consumer Markets and Enterprise Business Services at The Hartford, in a statement. "The partnership with IBM will help The Hartford implement a strategic technology infrastructure that will provide us with greater agility and offer us more flexibility and transparency as we continue to grow our businesses."

[Church Mutual's cloud-based policy admin project]

The Hartford will move to a private cloud-based infrastructure on IBM's PureFlex System. Under the $500 million agreement, IBM will also provide other services related to mainframe, storage, backup and resiliency.

The companies will also partner on the creation of a joint innovation committee to foster collaboration on strategic initiatives. The goal is to leverage market insights and research to build new business models and competitive capabilities that will enhance The Hartford's ability to anticipate and meet the needs of customers and agents.

Nathan Golia is senior editor of Insurance & Technology. He joined the publication in 2010 as associate editor and covers all aspects of the nexus between insurance and information technology, including mobility, distribution, core systems, customer interaction, and risk ... View Full Bio