Sterigenics International, Inc. Signs Deal With IBM to Help Growth Strategy

IBM Applications On Demand Services to Deliver Real-Time View of Sterigenics’ Global Operations

ARMONK, NY - 28 Sep 2006: Sterigenics International, Inc., a global leader in contract sterilization and ionization services, today announced a contract with IBM (NYSE: IBM) as part of a move to build a global IT platform to provide better connectivity and support to customers, as well as support an aggressive growth plan.

The strategy focuses on replacing a collection of legacy systems around the world with a single, global IT platform to improve links with customers and partners, as well as increasingly deliver a real-time view of worldwide operations. To support this work Sterigenics is embarking on a global roll-out of JD Edwards EnterpriseOne solution, which IBM Applications On Demand Services will host and manage.

“When we embarked on this project we asked ourselves the build or buy question, this is a big project for our company and our energies and investments are best placed on the design and support of the business processes, rather than the technology,” said Mike Smith, Vice President, Information Technology of Sterigenics International, Inc. “We needed a strategic partner focused on application hosting and support that could quickly implement a global, low risk, highly stable and scalable, solution.”

The first stage of the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) project is focused on replacing globally dispersed legacy systems with a single global IT platform. IBM Applications On Demand Services will manage and host the finance and operations modules of the JD Edwards solution, to provide a single global view that offers real-time status. The sales and marketing and human resource modules will follow later.

“We are helping Sterigenics International, Inc. to focus all its resources on growing their business and not having to divert the considerable investment in technology and people required to host and manage applications for a project of this magnitude themselves,” said George Kadifa, General Manager of Applications on Demand at IBM. “We told Sterigenics whatever ERP solution they decided on, we would be able to manage and host it.”

In response to clients grappling with the high cost and complexity of managing their enterprise applications and the increasing demand for hosted applications, IBM developed the Applications On Demand platform. This has automated many components of application hosting and management which enables the service to be more reliable and cost-effective than those applications managed “in-house,” especially for mid-sized businesses. Clients can purchase application and hosting services from IBM by choosing from a “menu” of service options that are modular and allow for flexibility in the service, depending on the clients’ needs, as well as further development services.

About Sterigenics International, Inc.
Sterigenics International, Inc. is a portfolio company of PPM Capital Limited and PPM America Capital Partners LLC. Sterigenics International Inc., headquartered in the Chicago suburb of Oak Brook, IL, is the world leader in contract sterilization and ionization services for the medical device, food safety and high performance/speciality materials industries. The company has over 1,000 employees and operates 40 service centers in North America, Europe and Asia. For more information on Sterigenics International, go to www.sterigenics.com.

About IBM
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Jenny Galitz

IBM Media Relations

IBM

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