IBM Global Financing to Help Enterprises Embrace IBM’s New Line of Dynamic Infrastructure Products and Services

ARMONK, N.Y .- IBM Global Financing, the lending and leasing business segment of IBM, today announced a set of financing programs to help enterprises specifically acquire IBM’s new line of dynamic infrastructure products and services.

Today, IBM announced new products and services designed to help clients create a more dynamic infrastructure. These solutions would enable clients to better manage their increasingly intelligent physical infrastructure assets and services, as well as reduce inefficiencies and provide for business resilience.

Financing Programs from IBM Global Financing for a Dynamic Infrastructure will allow clients to implement infrastructure solutions quicker and in a way that conserves capital in a cash-strapped environment while delivering a faster return on investment (ROI).

“Our aim is to help our clients manage their IT acquisitions and operational costs, allowing them to invest for growth,” said John Callies, general manager of IBM Global Financing. “We can help clients accelerate their Dynamic Infrastructure projects without adversely impacting their budgets, while reducing risks.”

Financing from IBM Global Financing can help address clients’ funding needs by:

Providing access to capital:Flexible leases and loans allow credit qualified clients to conserve cash, overcoming today’s economic challenges with fixed rate financing.

Reducing costs: Lower upfront costs to acquire technology solutions minimize impacts to a client’s budget. IBM Global Financing leasing solutions can help improve Total Cost of Ownership measures, reducing acquisition costs as well as ongoing maintenance and service costs for equipment over the life of the lease. Establishing an IT refresh strategy based on leasing can lower ongoing operational costs even further.

Managing risk: Through flexible leasing options made available as part of the Financing Programs for a Dynamic Infrastructure, clients can reduce project or financial risk and minimize IT obsolescence. Additionally, IBM Global Asset Recovery Services can help protect sensitive data and ensure the safe and secure disposal of assets at lease end.

Accelerating Implementation: Financing Programs for a Dynamic Infrastructure can help accelerate project implementation as IBM Global Financing provides the up-front financing. Ideally, clients can obtain capacity without impacting their current budget while consolidating all of their other funding needs from other vendors into one project financing agreement and one monthly payment.

Here is one financing scenario adapted from a real client. It outlines how one can benefit from the financing programs developed by IBM Global Financing for a Dynamic Infrastructure:

Financing Scenario:

A client in the Wholesale Industry needed to simplify their IT infrastructure to drive down costs for their Supply Chain Management solution and gain better control of server sprawl. The IBM team suggested a consolidation/virtualization solution that would improve server utilization from 10 percent to over 70 percent and a system management solution based on IBM Systems Director to help lower systems management cost.

The financing solution was based on a customized Project Financing solution for all components including hardware, software and services identified in the planning phase, replacement/upgrades of hardware, professional services, implementation, rebuild of data center and the retirement of old equipment. It also included a strategy for a programmatic IT refresh for the following years in order to further improve TCO.

The solution from IBM Global Financing included Fair Market Value leases and software/services financing that provided a zero up-front cost structure and payment streams aligned to anticipated benefits over a 3 year period, thereby turning an upfront capital investment into an operating expenditure for the client.

Because of IBM Global Financing’s strong residual value positions on the equipment, the proposal provided a lower cumulative hardware investment. The financing structure also delivered an improved ROI and NPV (Net Present Value) savings over outright purchase.

In presenting an integrated technology and financial solution to both the CIO and the CFO, the project was approved.