Business challenge

To provide online services, Saskatchewan Blue Cross needed a highly reliable web hosting environment. They tried partnering with several other hosting providers but suffered from outages and downtime.

Transformation

Impressed by the IBM Cloud platform’s international reach, Saskatchewan Blue Cross migrated its site to a cloud hosting infrastructure provisioned in the IBM Cloud Toronto data center.

Results

Eliminates downtime

with a IBM Cloud hosting solution for the organization’s website

Enhances customer service

by improving website availability

Drives growth

with a hosting infrastructure the company can count on to support new services

Business challenge story

Online services requiring 24x7 availability

For Saskatchewan Blue Cross, web presence is a critical component of customer service. “We have a service delivery model for our website,” says Val Yuzik, Director of IT. “Members use it for submitting and checking claims, and brokers use it to engage in business activities with us. It has to be available 24x7.”



The organization tried teaming with several different website hosting providers but found performance lacking. “We had prime-time outages of up to six hours,” says Yuzik. “We cannot afford that kind of downtime.”
 

“ We needed to know that we’re working with the right people as we grow the business, and with SoftLayer, we’re sure that we are. ”

— Val Yuzik, Director of IT, Saskatchewan Blue Cross

Transformation story

Migrating to a SoftLayer hosting platform

To host its website, Saskatchewan Blue Cross sought a trusted cloud services provider with data center facilities in Canada. “Amazon and Microsoft don’t provide anything in Canada,” says Yuzik. “But SoftLayer is embracing the challenge of being a global provider.”



Working through its website development company, Saskatchewan Blue Cross migrated its site to a cloud hosting infrastructure provisioned in the SoftLayer Toronto data center. “Our web developer speaks very highly of the SoftLayer team’s professionalism, speed and ability to address any problem presented,” says Yuzik.
 

Results story

Rock-solid performance and enhanced service

With the SoftLayer hosting solution, Saskatchewan Blue Cross eliminated outages and unwanted downtime. “We haven’t had a blip,” says Yuzik. “SoftLayer has been rock solid.”



Better website performance means enhanced customer service and less impact on the organization’s contact center. “When users went to our website and it wasn’t available, they called our contact center,” says Yuzik. “Now our contact center doesn’t bear the brunt of poor web availability.”



Finally, Saskatchewan Blue Cross has established a hosting infrastructure it can build on. “We’re expanding our services and have a lot of new initiatives to move forward,” says Yuzik. “We needed to know that we’re working with the right people as we grow the business, and with SoftLayer, we’re sure that we are.”
 

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About Saskatchewan Blue Cross

Founded in 1946 and located in Saskatchewan, Canada, Saskatchewan Blue Cross offers personal healthcare plans, travel insurance and group benefits plans that include disability management. The nonprofit organization is a member of the Canadian Association of Blue Cross Plans and has approximately 200 employees.
 

Solution components

  • IBM Cloud Virtual Servers
  • IBM Services for Managed Applications

Take the next step

To learn more about IBM Cloud solutions please contact your IBM representative or IBM Business Partner, or visit the following website: ibm.com/cloud-computing

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