Blue Chip, a leading provider of data centre services, has further strengthened its relationship with IBM. The company has been accepted onto IBM’s new Power System Cloud Provider programme, and has also achieved Gold Level in IBM’s enhanced PartnerWorld Programme.
Blue Chip is the UK’s largest IBM power systems managed services provider. It has over 50 IBM power systems in its cloud services and 2.2 million CPW of IBM i processing power.
IBM has recently launched its Power System Cloud Provider programme, which is designed to provide customers with a full end to end service for its Power Systems range. The programme supports on-premise, hybrid and off-premise hosting solutions, enabling customers to confidently develop their hosting strategy into new areas, with the reassurance of technical back up from IBM-accredited partners. Eligible IBM Power System Solutions Providers, including Blue Chip, deliver a preferred lead service, increased technical and sales support and enhanced marketing activities. Blue Chip is one of the first companies to be accepted onto the programme, following a stringent selection process.
To qualify, Blue Chip was required to demonstrate its superior capability across a range of criteria, including IBM Power System Cloud capabilities to an extremely high standard, its 24/7 support and high availability options for end user customers, among others. Customer references were an important part of the selection process, giving IBM confidence that they were working with a premium partner.
Blue Chip has made a rapid move from Silver to Gold partner status, having demonstrated an exemplary level of technical expertise, sales success and customer satisfaction. In achieving the new status, technical staff were required to refresh accreditations across the board and Blue Chip had to demonstrate advanced competence in selling technical solutions. Finally, a combination of customer survey feedback and references from across the IBM Power Systems range secured the change in status for Blue Chip.
Douglas Greenwell, strategy, marketing and sales director at Blue Chip said, “Achieving Gold Level status is a reflection of the enormous capability that has been developed within Blue Chip and our absolute focus on service excellence. We are delighted to be one of the few companies working with IBM to deliver its new Power System Cloud Provider programme. Both achievements are representative of the high-quality standards that we hold at Blue Chip and the work we put into delivering best-in-class service for customers.”
The Partner Power Cloud Programme is designed to enable IBM to deliver a comprehensive, high quality service to customers.
Achieving Gold Level in the enhanced PartnerWorld Programme is a great accolade for Blue Chip, recognising the hard work that Blue Chip has put into developing its capabilities and customer relationships.
Blue Chip is a specialist company delivering IBM mid-range support services worldwide, and is the largest independent provider of these IT services in the UK. In addition, the company owns and operates two data centres within the UK, one Tier 3 and one Tier 4 by design.
About Blue Chip
Established in 1987, Blue Chip is a privately-owned global leader in IBM support and Cloud & Data Centre Services operating the largest, independent IBM POWER Cloud infrastructure in the world.
Blue Chip owns and operates two data centres within the UK, one Tier 4 by design and one Tier 3.
Offering high availability solutions and full disaster recovery alongside business-critical IT support, Blue Chip supports the IT infrastructure of some of the largest organisations within the UK, including within the banking and retail sector.
In 2016, Megabuyte awarded the company first place for Best Performing Company in its Infrastructure Services category. In addition, Blue Chip were ranked fourth overall in the Megabuyte50 2016 ranking of private technology businesses in the UK.
Blue Chip has over 700 customers in the UK and around the world from sectors including FinTech, Pharmaceutical, IT Services and Retail, among others.
The company holds a wealth of accreditations, demonstrating its commitment to delivering high quality services. These include: SOC2 (data protection controls), ISO 14001 (measuring environmental impact), ISO 27001 (security controls for protection of information), IBM MSP (verification by IBM of Blue Chip’s Power Cloud), PCI Level 1 (payment card industry standard) and ISO 9001 (quality assurance).
By design, Blue Chip data centres have a low carbon footprint. Power usage effectiveness (PUE) is a measure of how efficiently a computer data centre uses energy. It is expressed at the ratio of total amount of energy used by a computer data centre facility to the energy delivered to computing equipment. Blue Chip’s PUE of 1.1 classes its data centres among the greenest in Europe.
Blue Chip believes in sustainable solutions and has pledged to plant 750,000 trees as part of an environmental policy recognised by the Carbon Trust. In 2016, 250,000 trees were planted as part of the initiative.
Blue Chip employs c. 250 people within the UK.
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