South African Breweries is a subsidiary of the world’s second largest brewer, SABMiller plc, which operates in more than 60 countries, across five continents.
The contract builds on an existing agreement between IBM and SAB Limited. IBM will establish a customer services center and manage services including hosting servers, storage and support for the SAP Enterprise Resource Planning environment. In addition, IBM will provide IT security support for these services. As part of this contract, IBM will ensure that SAB Limited has a stable, reliable and responsive service, critical to the beer distribution business.
SAB Limited and IBM have enjoyed a very strong relationship for nearly 15 years, based on the delivery of high quality services.
Tony van Kralingen, SAB Limited’s Managing Director, said, “In IBM, SAB has a long time IT partner that ensures continuity of service at all times. IBM brings the best global practice, experience and solid business processes required to run an efficient and reliable data center, helping us achieve a standardized IT environment for our business.”
“The significance of this contract is underpinned by the fact that SAB Limited, as a client, has been a crucial part of the foundation of IBM’s strategic outsourcing business in South Africa for many years. We will solidify this relationship going forward and partner SAB Limited as it continuously transforms itself to grow the business and increase shareholder value,” said Mark Harris, IBM South Africa’s Managing Director.
Harris added that IBM will be looking to share its intellectual property resources on global initiatives which address key issues in the beer industry, particularly the efficient use of water and energy.
The new contract is effective from April 1, 2007.
