IBM Receives Two Prestigious Service and Support Professionals Association Awards for Excellence in Customer Support

Industry Group Honors IBM With Lifetime Achievement Award and Induction Into SSPA Hall of Fame



ARMONK, NY.- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that it was recognized for its on-going customer service excellence by receiving the prestigious Service and Support Professionals Association (SSPA) Hall of Fame Award. In addition, IBM won the 2007 Best Practice STAR award for Best Use of Metrics and Business Intelligence from the SSPA. These awards highlight IBM’s continued leadership and success in providing a superior support experience.

The Hall of Fame induction is special recognition awarded to companies that have won five SSPA STAR Awards since the program’s inception in 1989. This prestigious Life Time Achievement Award has been presented to a small number of companies in the award’s history and demonstrates IBM’s long-standing commitment to customer success and award winning support services.

“We are very honored to receive the Hall of Fame Award and the Best Practices Award from the SSPA,” said Paul Loftus, IBM general manager, Maintenance and Technical Support. “These prestigious recognitions from our peers in the service and support community are a testament to the professionalism and dedication of IBM’s support professionals, who consistently provide excellent support to IBM’s clients. The quality and dedication of IBM’s technical support personnel is what makes receiving these awards possible.”

In addition to the Hall of Fame Award, IBM received honors for the Best Use of Metrics and Business Intelligence. This award is presented to a company whose metrics and benchmarking program gathers data on all aspects of the operation to ensure that Service Level Agreements (SLA) are met and that work flows according to internal objectives and targets. In addition to core operational metrics, business intelligence is derived from captured data, enabling decision-oriented analytics.

“The SSPA STAR Awards recognizes companies who are leading the industry in the delivery of first-class customer support services,” said Stephen Smith, Executive Director of SSPA. “The quality of IBM’s customer support was evaluated by a panel of industry experts. The selection of IBM recognizes the company as the undisputed leader in the Best Use of Metrics and Business Intelligence category. IBM’s induction to the Hall of Fame puts them in a class that few others have obtained.”