Sara Lee and IBM sign seven-year services agreement

IBM will now manage much of Sara Lee’s North American and European Finance (transaction processing) and Global Information Services (applications development and maintenance) groups, as well as its indirect procurement worldwide. Theo de Kool, Sara Lee’s executive vice president and chief financial and administrative officer, says that the transfer of activities will happen in a phased manner. “IBM is a trusted and long-standing partner of Sara Lee, with deep experience in large, global programmes. Through their worldwide Centres of Excellence, IBM has industry-specific competencies on a global scale and capabilities to secure qualified resources.” On the application development and maintenance service side, Sara Lee will get online support from IBM worldwide, with the computer giant setting up a Sara Lee Centre of Excellence in India for the company’s global operations. “Sara Lee’s move to globally integrated, back office shared services will be accelerated by their work with IBM,” comments Bill Gilmour, general manager for IBM Consumer Products. “Working with IBM, Sara Lee will quickly establish an efficient and effective infrastructure utilising proven transition methodologies and skilled and dedicated project management resources.”