Danish shoe manufacturer ECCO Sko A/S thinks IBM is a good fit. The company, known for its comfortable dress and casual footwear, has hired IBM to run its key business applications for the next five years under a contract potentially worth more than $12 million, IBM said Wednesday.

The deal calls for IBM to take over support and management of ECCO's SAP R/3 enterprise resource planning environment, as well as help the shoemaker implement new ERP modules designed to support global growth plans.

ECCO is looking to add ERP modules that will handle customer relationship management, supply chain management and supplier relationship management tasks. Consultants from IBM Global Services will implement the new modules while maintaining ECCO's existing SAP software.

ECCO officials say a robust ERP system is a necessity for a company that is among the business world's dwindling number of fully vertically integrated enterprises. "Our aim is to increase the visibility of supply chain metrics and performance," said ECCO COO Mikael Thinghuus, in a statement. ECCO owns and operates all of its own product design, development, manufacturing and tannery facilities.

The contract was officially signed on December 22, 2006, IBM said.