Sierra Wireless reportedly has signed a services contract with IBM to host a new services platform dedicated to its software as a service Machine-to-Machine offering.

IBM (News - Alert), as part of the agreement, will provide data center collocation facilities and services to Sierra Wireless.

Sierra Wireless in 2008 deployed its first platform in France to service the European market. The company now is expanding to support its growth in North America and guarantee stable, secure and worldwide service coverage to its Machine-to-Machine customer base.

In a release, company officials said Sierra Wireless (News - Alert) selected IBM and Rackforce to host the offering at the recently built GigaCenter in Kelowna, British Columbia, a new generation of data center which guarantees security, scalability and high availability required by Machine-to-Machine customers to manage more and more wireless-connected devices in the field.

'We have been looking for a North American hosting service to grow with our business and provide the highest level of services to our M2M customers,' said Emmanuel Walckenaer senior vice president and general manager of Sierra Wireless Solutions & Services, in the release.

Walckenaer said that the GigaCenter provides flexible space options, metered scalable power, 24/7 remote support, custom security and remote backup.

He said that it is perfectly adapted to cover large-scale deployments of machine-to-machine applications and exponential growth of wireless connected devices.

Company officials claim that the state-of-the-art GigaCenter is among the greenest and most advanced data centers in the world, using a scalable and highly efficient modular design.

Sierra Wireless products connect people and machines to wireless networks around the world. The company offers an advanced, comprehensive product line, addressing consumer, enterprise, original equipment manufacturer, and specialized vertical industry markets.

In October Atos Worldline, which brings together Atos Origin's core expertise in hi-tech transactional services, and Sierra Wireless had announced their collaboration in the Machine-to-Machine (M2M) market.

This association reflects the desire on the part of the two companies to deliver solutions that match with the variety of challenges facing vertical markets such as the power, facilities management, retail, health, transport and manufacturing industry sectors. This collaboration makes it possible to provide effective ongoing and global support for business specific issues whilst cutting implementation time.