Published on the 15/02/2013 | Written by Newsdesk

Prime Minister, Rt Hon John Key, has opened the first IBM Delivery Centre in New Zealand, with the aim to help students earn as they learn…

IBM has chosen New Zealand to join its network of international Delivery Centres, designed to provide valuable experience for students studying IT as well as leveraging IBM’s global expertise.

The new Delivery Centre is a partnership between IBM and Auckland’s Unitec Institute of Technology and will prepare students to work in the digital economy as well as provide businesses with access to new skills in mobile and analytics, and advanced technology.

A central feature of the IBM-Unitec collaboration is extended industry-based ‘Earn As You Learn’ placements which provide valuable experience for students studying IT, business management and communications degrees.

Rick Ede, Unitec’s chief executive, says “This initiative is an excellent example of collaboration between business and tertiary education and will make a positive contribution to the economic prosperity of our county.

“Unitec students can now look forward to the opportunity of working with IBM, one of the world’s leading business solutions companies, and other premier brands before they graduate. Companies like Westpac [also partnering with IBM] will benefit from access to a highly skilled and motivated workforce, and the broader NZ business community will ultimately benefit by being able to access job-ready graduates.”

The Delivery Centre initiative is based on IBM’s successful model at the Ballarat Delivery Centre in Australia, which was established in 2005 and now occupies three buildings within Technology Park, with total seating capacity for more than 1000 people. The Australian centre continues to create employment and economic benefits in Victoria and it is hoped that the New Zealand centre will do likewise locally.

IBM anticipates that the New Zealand Delivery Centre, based at Unitec’s Mount Albert campus, will employ up to 400 people within the next two years including full-time and part-time professionals, as well as Unitec graduates and current students. IBM’s investment in the Unitec collaboration will also enable annual scholarship programmes and jointly developed guest lectures, mentoring, internship and graduate hire programmes.

The services provided through the Delivery Centres include human resources, finance and administration and customer relationship management as well as supply chain management and remote technical support. They will use advanced analytics to maximise operations, cut costs and provide continuous innovation for IBM’s clients, leading to enhanced customer service outcomes, improved recruitment and decision making processes, increased visibility and control of working capital, and more cost effective supply chain systems.

IBM is partnering with Westpac to deliver application development and management services including data management, JAVA development and business process modelling.

Jennifer Moxon, managing director, IBM New Zealand, says “This investment adds to IBM’s long history of collaborating with the tertiary sector to develop graduates with the right skills to work in today’s services oriented economy. I am delighted that Westpac, a longstanding client, will be the first to experience the business benefits of the Delivery Centre at Unitec, while contributing to building new skills for New Zealand.”

The team, comprised of post-graduate and under-graduate computer science students and supervised by experienced IBM developers and managers, will be located in a secure facility at Unitec. The five year contract represents additional IT capability for Westpac in New Zealand.

Jim Stabback, chief operating officer, Westpac New Zealand, says “The new centre will create invaluable opportunities for talented students transitioning into their careers and we are pleased to be able to support it.

“The centre fits ideally with our Grow NZ programme, focused on encouraging investment for growth. This is a significant investment by Westpac that will help create jobs and grow the economy.”