IBM to Offer Services to Lloyds TSB Group

LONDON – International Business Machines Corp. said Monday it will provide voice and data services to British financial-services company Lloyds TSB Group PLC for seven years in a deal worth $971.6 million.

IBM, the computer giant based in Armonk, N.Y., will act as the strategic technology partner for Lloyds TSB as the bank moves to a national network supporting both voice and data communications, IBM said.

The new infrastructure, which will be rolled out over the next 20 months, will feature a single network for voice, data and video with direct links to mobile devices and call center services.

The deal includes almost 70,000 Voice over Internet Protocol telephones, and will reduce Lloyds’ network costs, IBM said.

The announcement comes on the heels of reports that IBM, which reported sales of $89 billion last year, is exiting the personal-computer business.

The New York Times reported on Friday that IBM is in discussions with the Lenovo Group, China’s largest PC maker, and at least one other potential buyer to sell its PC business for as much as $2 billion.

The company’s new focus is its services and outsourcing businesses, which it calls Business Transformation Services, a market IBM CEO Sam Palmisano says is worth $500 billion a year.

Shares of IBM closed Monday at $97.67, up 59 cents, on the New York Stock Exchange.