IBM and Juniper Networks (News - Alert) today announced that they have signed a five-year, data center hosting agreement with IBM to support Juniper’s global operations.

 

Under the agreement, IBM (News - Alert) will provide Juniper with a next-generation, global hosting environment to support its enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) application deployments worldwide.

 

In addition, IBM will be hosting Juniper's operations from its new energy-efficient “green” data center in Boulder, Colorado.

 

The center, according to Juniper Networks, features “leading-edge technologies and services” such as computing systems utilizing virtualization technology, and also energy efficient power and cooling technologies.

 

In addition to the Boulder facility, IBM will provide management and support at a second site for quality assurance.

 

Company officials said that Juniper will utilize IBM's microchip technology, System p servers, BladeCenter technology and enterprise storage as well as Juniper Networks’ network infrastructure including routing, switching and security elements, all powered by JUNOS software.

 

Michele Goins, chief information officer at Juniper Networks said that Juniper Networks turned to IBM for an “innovative and environmentally friendly solution” to scaling the IT infrastructure and business-critical application deployments in-line with the escalating demands of the business.

 

“By partnering with IBM, Juniper will have access to energy efficient data center technology and hosting services, freeing them to focus on serving their customers,” said Bronwyn Guthrie, vice president for Strategic Outsourcing, Americas at IBM.

 

Earlier this week, Juniper Networks announced that the Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) is securing its campus, lowering bandwidth costs using Juniper Networks' networking and security solutions to deliver remote access, routing and network firewall measures across its campus.

 

The new infrastructure supports IP traffic growth from SIM's expanding staff and student population, including time sensitive network services for administration, communications and coursework.