Sony Pictures inks $3.8-m deal with IBM

BANGALORE: Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) today announced that it has signed a five-year, $3.8 million contract with IBM to support its global financial system.

The agreement, signed in Q1 2007, expands on a $4.3 million Q4 2006 contract between the two companies that was based on a competitive evaluation, SPE said in a statement.

IBM Global Business Services will provide application management services for SPE's SAP global financial applications, leveraging IBM’s India-based global delivery capabilities. The agreement, which includes application, system development and security support responsibilities, will allow SPE’s own IT staff to focus on other high-priority new project and improvement initiatives, the statement added.

David Hendler, chief financial officer for Sony Pictures Entertainment, said, “IBM offers us a low-cost and high quality support model for the global SAP skills that we require. We’ve brought in global reinforcements to augment our SPE staff, have substantially reduced our support costs, and redeployed our IT and finance staff on high-value activities.”

The single financial system provides more than 2300 users real-time access to SPE financial information globally. IBM will provide operations and support services, both on site at SPE’s Culver City headquarters and remotely from the IBM support centers in India.

“SPE has been an entertainment industry leader in modernizing its enterprise financial systems, and the agreement to outsource global SAP financial applications support services to IBM continues that tradition of leadership,” said Steven Abraham, Global Industry leader, IBM Media and Entertainment. “IBM Global Business Services’ cost effective approach to infrastructure support enables SPE to focus its resources on core business priorities.”

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