IBM and Orkla’s Daughter Sapa in 500 Million Kroner Deal

IBM (NYSE: IBM) has signed a comprehensive information technology (IT) services agreement providing IT services to Sapa Profiles, the world’s largest aluminium profile company, and a joint venture between Alcoa and Orkla’s subsidiary Sapa.
Under the seven-year agreement, IBM will provide infrastructure services and application maintenance services for about 2,500 users in Sapa Profiles, using IBM’s Nordic and global delivery capabilities.

The main focus of the contract is on cost reduction through an improved price-to-performance ratio to reduce costs while improving service quality, and on flexibility in scope when integrating or divesting companies in the future.

After the joint venture was established in June 2007, a new infrastructure had to be established for Sapa Profiles’ operations in the Americas and Europe. Countries currently involved are USA and Mexico in the Americas, and Spain, UK, Italy, Hungary, Romania, and the Netherlands in Europe.

“Sapa and the Orkla Group are in a prime position to take advantage of IBM’s extensive portfolio of products, solutions and services and tailor them to fit their specific business needs,” said Morten Thorkildsen, General Manager of IBM Norway. “We are looking forward to helping Sapa and Orkla realize their ambitions,” he says.

“This is an important agreement for Sapa. We are on the way to establishing a common infrastructure taking care of the needs of the joined units from Alcoa and Sapa,” says Espen Falla, Director of Sapa Shared Services.

The deal was signed in Oslo on October 4, 2007.