IBM Corp’s Global Services division has extended its existing outsourcing deal with credit information and transaction processing company Equifax Inc in a new agreement worth a whopping $900m. The deal, which runs through 2008, builds on an existing relationship between the two companies first forged in 1993. Under the terms of the agreement, IBM Global Services will manage a majority of Equifax’s world-wide information technology resources, including data-center management; network voice and data management and business recovery services. Equifax operations in the US, Canada, UK, Spain, Mexico and several other locations will have access to the services provided by Big Blue. The new deal follows last month’s announcement by IBM and Equifax of a strategic alliance to develop and market services to ensure more secure transactions over the internet and other networked environments. IBM said its global services division is worth roughly $26bn in yearly revenue, or roughly one-third of the company’s total for last year, making it the world’s largest computer service business.
