Shell is to create three computing hubs, or ‘MegaCenters’ in Houston, The Hague and Kuala Lumpur as part of a five-year strategic agreement with IBM. The alliance supports Shell’s standardization and consolidation of its IT application infrastructure in a deal valued at over $100 million.
SAP
The MegaCenters will initially provide infrastructure for SAP and eBusiness solutions which will be delivered through a global IT application hosting environment. The agreement includes IBM’s eServer systems, Enterprise Storage Server, tape drives and libraries, Storage Area Network switches, storage management software from Tivoli, and related technology. Shell has pre-negotiated options for IBM Financing, Technical Support Services and Maintenance. The deal is planned to reduce Shell’s total cost of ownership (TCO) and will establish a ‘harmonized infrastructure platform’ to accelerate deployment of eBusiness applications.
Matula
Shell IT manager Alan Matula said, “We were looking for a trusted technology partner to help us achieve aggressive TCO targets in our MegaCentre project, one of the most important IT initiatives in our history. We selected IBM because of their industry-leading technology and ability to provide full-scope infrastructure worldwide. IBM is well positioned to help Shell maximise return on investment.”
Borman
IBM Server Group VP, Mike Borman added, “Shell has been at the forefront of the eBusiness revolution and recognizes how important it is to build a secure and reliable infrastructure. IBM is proud to help one of the world’s largest corporations execute such an impressive vision of the future.”
Supercomputer
The announcement follows an earlier agreement between IBM and Shell (see PDM Vol. 5 N° 11) to develop the world’s most powerful Linux supercomputer for seismic research.