Len Findlay - VMtech CEO (VMtech)
Local hybrid cloud solutions provider, Virtual Machine Technology (VMtech), has struck a multi-year strategic deal to deliver a comprehensive managed security service to industry super fund-owned ME Bank.
“This is an exciting milestone in our relationship with ME,” VMtech CEO, Len Findlay, said. “We look forward to continuing our partnership, supporting the bank through their market leading transformation with VMtech’s innovative and agile approach to delivering managed security services."
The deal comes with an initial three-year duration, with the option of two one-year extensions, Findlay told ARN.
Findlay also stressed that the new project win represented some valuable public recognition by a well-known - and key - customer for VMtech’s managed security services and its security-as-a-service platform.
For ME Bank’s general manager of cyber security, Samantha Macleod, the partnership with VMtech has helped the financial institution establish a security-as-a-service model that provides depth and breadth in security operations, as well as intelligence and response activities.
“In partnering with VMtech, we Built into the security service model is the agility and innovation ME needs to support its strategic vision,” Macleod said.
“ME aims to be a digital disruptor in banking, and we’ve adopted a digital ecosystem and the technology to manage and capitalise on ever-changing consumer requirements. It makes sense for our security services and our approach to protecting customers to also be adaptive,” she said.
This is not the first time VMtech has worked with ME Bank, but rather the most recent chapter in an ongoing relationship between the two companies.
The service provider previously partnered with disaster recovery (DR) software vendor, Zerto, on a project aimed at boosting the financial institution’s DR and replication capabilities.
“ME Bank was looking for a platform to protect their entire virtual environment, delivering an SLA that would meet their stringent business-mandated requirements for recovery and testing,” Zerto managing director for Asia-Pacific and Japan, Andrew Martin, said.
"Not only did Zerto enable ME and VMtech to exceed these SLAs, but provided significant automation improvements to reduce operational expenditure."
According to Findlay, VMtech is already working on future elements of its latest contract with ME Bank, as it looks at potential extensions, and explores the possibility of bringing new technology into the arrangement further down the track.
VMtech’s latest project win follows its inclusion in the BRW Fast 100, published in November 2016 by the The Australian Financial Review, with the hybrid cloud solutions player coming in at 79, just below hosting firm, VentraIP (64th) and above Symantec partner, Insentra, which came in at 93 on the list.
