W.R. Grace Taps IBM For IT Support

IBM said Thursday that it won a contract to provide a range of IT services to chemical and materials giant W.R. Grace & Co. Financial terms and other details were not disclosed.

Under the deal, IBM's Global Business Services unit will create a technology platform for Grace with an eye to unifying the company's various information technology assets and resources.

The system will also allow Grace to standardize its application delivery services and adjust computing resources on the fly to meet changing requirements.

"Our work with IBM will create an IT organization for Grace that has the scalability and flexibility to meet the business' future needs, whether supporting customers, integrating acquisitions or supporting new offices," said Grace CIO Gloria Keesee, in a statement.

"Being able to efficiently and quickly deploy the most advanced technology solutions across diverse geographies will be essential to our company's future," said Keesee.

IBM will also provide Grace with on-site IT support and access to its network of Global Delivery Centers. The service includes Level One Help Desk access, which offers support in multiple languages. Grace employs about 6,000 workers in more than 40 countries.

The deal was formally signed on June 2.

"Grace selected IBM due to our commitment and our ability to support their application environment worldwide," said IBM Global Services VP Russell Doby, in a statement. "This implementation will help transform Grace to further integrate their IT processes and systems, leading to continued success and growth," said Doby.

IBM shares were up .27% to $118.89 in early trading Thursday.