Managed IT service provider Blue Chip, part of the GCI Group, has signed top insurance company SunLife following a competitive bid process.
SunLife is the UK's largest distributor of life insurance products to the over 50s.
Following its sale to Phoenix Group in late 2016, SunLife needed to relocate to new premises in Bristol and seek an IT partner to support both the move itself and replace their existing technology provider.
Blue Chip will be providing a cloud platform with a blend of technology solutions to deliver a high availability infrastructure and enterprise-grade business continuity capability.
Built on technologies from VMware, EMC, Citrix and Microsoft, the platform will be networked across multiple Tier 3 accredited data centres.
As part of the service, Blue Chip will provide a monitoring and reporting service alongside supporting the infrastructure and users.
SunLife is FCA-regulated and has demanding compliance requirements, which will be supported by a Managed Security Service from Blue Chip's Hampshire-based Security Operations Centre.
Justin Cole, Chief Operating Officer at SunLife, commented: "Our systems integrate numerous partners and Service Providers, allowing us to oversee Operational and Marketing campaign performance in real time.
"This creates some demanding technical requirements in terms of platform speed, scalability, resilience and security."
Richard Cook, Blue Chip's MD, stated: "SunLife's requirements are technically complex, but we were able to meet the high standards required."