IBM Cuts Deals with Cancer Society, Shanghai TelecomIBM Cuts Deals with Cancer Society, Shanghai Telecom

IBM Global Services continues to knock down deals. The system integration and IT outsourcing unit of IBM said this week it has inked a $50 million contract with The American Cancer Society that will give it responsibility for running the non-profit's data center in Austin, Texas, helping implement an enterprise-resource-planning system, and installing a client/server computing environment that would replace the organization's mainframe computers. IBM Global Services also announced a strategic alliance with Shanghai Telecom.

The five-year contract with the American Cancer Society includes deployment of a Windows operating environment on IBM PCs and providing IT help-desk support to the Society's more than 6,000 employees. IBM will also help the organization establish high-speed network connectivity, and eventually develop Internet applications to improve relationships with donors.

The American Cancer Society believes IBM's services will help it make better use of donor contributions. "They don't view themselves as in the business of IT; they're in the business of fighting cancer," says Andre Peek, segment executive in IBM's global mid-market business.

Several employees in the American Cancer Society's data center in Austin have joined IBM Global Services as a result of this agreement.

And IBM continues to expand its services infrastructure globally. The company announced the opening of a new data center in Shanghai yesterday, the result of an alliance with Shanghai Telecom. The center offers E-business hosting services to international and Chinese customers, including Web hosting, systems and application management, and collocation services.

Business is booming for IBM Global Services this year. The division booked $16 billion in new business in the second quarter and grew revenues to $8.7 billion, a 7% increase from a year ago.