Jones Lang LaSalle Outsources To IBM

IBM will provide a range of tech services for Chicago-based financial services provider Jones Lang LaSalle under a seven-year agreement signed in the fourth quarter and disclosed Tuesday.

Financial terms were not released.

The plan calls for IBM to provide infrastructure support for JLL offices in 19 countries throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. IBM already provides such services for JLL in the U.S. and the Asia-Pacific region.

The deal covers numerous services, including desktop, server, application, and helpdesk support, as well as asset management, IT procurement, and system security.

Officials at JLL said the deal will bring innovation and flexibility to their IT operations.

"It is flexibility and adaptability that IBM provides in its infrastructure support solution and that is critical to the success of our IT services," said JLL chief information officer Andy Palmer.

"Jones Lang LaSalle has a long-standing business relationship with IBM, which understands the specific IT requirements in the real estate sector. The relationship is vital for us in continuing to adopt new technologies to service our worldwide operations," Palmer added.

For their part, IBM officials said the company plans to help JLL build an IT footprint that is globally consistent.

"Proven IBM tools using a similar architectural footprint and the centralized data center operations for Jones Lang LaSalle, as in the U.S. and Asia-Pacific, will deliver a more integrated IT solution," said Andrew Brierley, head of outsourcing business development for IBM in the UK and Ireland.

IBM shares were up .40%, to $125, in mid-afternoon trading Tuesday.

Network Computing has published an in-depth report on the state of enterprise storage. Download it here (registration required).