New Zealand App Developer Overhauls Emergency Alert System on IBM Cloud

CLOUD M migrates innovative public safety alert system to IBM Cloud for greater performance and reliability, to keep Aucklanders better informed, safe and connected

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Oct 21, 2015, 02:00 ET

ARMONK, N.Y., Oct. 21, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced that New Zealand-based application developer and emergency network provider, CLOUD M, has migrated its emergency alert tools and system to IBM Cloud for greater reliability and performance.

Auckland-based, CLOUD M, founded in 2011, develops and manages the cloud-based Alerter emergency communications system. Through an easy to use mobile app, a simple web interface and backend database and distribution system, Alerter enables government agencies, communities and families to broadcast emergency updates in real-time, to help people coordinate responses to avoid harm, and establish recovery plans. Audio and visual alerts can be sent to emails, text addresses, smartphones or social networks.

After encountering increasing reliability and performance issues with its cloud network provider, CLOUD M turned to IBM for assistance through the company's Global Entrepreneur Program. Through that partnership, CLOUD M learned of and adopted SoftLayer as its Infrastructure as a Service. Since then the company has seen a 50% increase in performance for Alerter, from hours to minutes.

Auckland's Civil Defense & Emergency Management (CDEM) deployed Alerter in 2012. Up till then, the department had used an outdated process that called for sending emergency information in press releases and emails to local civil defense groups and the media for disseminating. Those groups would alert citizens through sirens or TV and radio bulletins.

With Alerter's increased performance on IBM Cloud, CDEM can now broadcast alerts and safety information to subscribers' smartphones with unprecedented speed and efficiency.

"When you're in the emergency alert business, seconds matter," said Richard Gill, CLOUD M CEO and founder. "What we have now with the IBM Cloud infrastructure is a stable, always-on system that lets our software do its job for people in trouble."

About CLOUD M

CLOUD M is a leader in cloud-based mobile safety apps. Its Blerter system is a social-network style system used by organizations in high-risk industries to keep their workforce safe and engage their sub-contractor supply chain. Its Alerter product is used by government emergency management agencies for enhancing public safety communications.

Read more about CLOUD M's efforts in a story from Richard Gill on IBM's THINK blog.

About IBM Cloud

For more information on IBM Cloud visit: www.ibm.com/cloud-computing.

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IBM Media Relations
Mike Zimmerman
+1 (914) 766-4935
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SOURCE IBM