SAVVIS Communications (NASDAQ:SVVS), a leading global IT utility, today announced the adoption of its virtualized IT services delivery platform by Innovest Systems, LLC, a New York-based financial technology firm specializing in trust accounting and reporting services.
Under the terms of the deal, Innovest will use SAVVIS' managed utility services to deliver a real-time trust accounting and reporting platform to its roster of clients, who administer over $70 billion in trust assets and on peak days process more than 65,000 financial transactions. This includes utilization of SAVVIS' global IP network, flexible on-demand storage allocations, and a virtualized hosting environment.
Innovest's suite of powerful software for trust banks, wealth management firms and retirement plan administrators was previously delivered via the support of five separate IT vendors. SAVVIS' virtualized utility services platform, which integrates virtualized network, hosting, storage, and server architectures, now provides the company with one end-to-end solution, cutting costs by as much as 50%. The integrated security and greater reliability of the new network assists Innovest in providing financial services firms, and their respective clients, increased confidence when performing such critical actions as processing trades, managing cash, and analyzing account performance.
"This is an incredibly active transaction environment, one that demands great security, reliability, and scalability. SAVVIS' virtualized services platform provides increased flexibility and scalability in the allocation of our IT resources, superior network availability and reliability, 24/7 monitoring, and is a name that our clients immediately recognize as the most trusted in the financial industry," said William J. Thomas, President and CEO, Innovest Systems. "Further, the decrease in our IT infrastructure costs allows us to focus our resources on activities that provide direct, tangible benefit to our clients."
Innovest leads the financial services sector in a global trend away from hardware-intensive infrastructure and traditional outsourcing models, and toward virtualized services for network, applications, servers, and storage. IDC forecasts that the market for utility-based, virtualized services is growing rapidly and will increase from $800 million in 2003 to $3.6 billion in 2007. This growth is due in part to the rapid payback that virtualized services delivers, while protecting previous IT investments. Existing hardware and network infrastructure is complemented and enhanced without forcing companies to make additional capital expenditures.
"Trust accounting applications are required to meet the highest levels of reliability, security, and performance," said SAVVIS President & COO Jack Finlayson. "The combination of Innovest applications and SAVVIS IT services deliver on these requirements and reduce costs for clients."
Unlike the traditional service provider model, in which companies must pay for excess and unused capacity, SAVVIS' virtualized delivery platform allows companies to pay only for the services they need. This on-demand services platform, in conjunction with SAVVIS' integration of carrier class hardware and automated management systems, is particularly well-suited for the intensive server and storage requirements of the financial services industry. The platform increases Innovest's flexibility and agility, making it possible to quickly respond to changing network requirements and customers' needs.
Innovest Systems was formed to provide technology-driven solutions to financial services firms. Their flagship product, InnoTrust, provides real-time, highly secure trust accounting and reporting that is readily tailored to clients' needs. Innovest's customers benefit from the speed and reliability of this new platform to achieve growth and sustain profitability. With SAVVIS, Innovest can easily roll out its application suite since the SAVVIS network is already connected to over 4,700 financial institutions around the world.
SAVVIS' virtualized utility services are made possible in part through technology partnerships with Egenera, Inkra Networks, 3PAR, and Nortel Networks who contribute key virtualization technologies that power the end-to-end platform.