IBM extends multiyear services agreement with AmerisourceBergen

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that it has extended, by three years, its multiyear services agreement with AmerisourceBergen, one of the largest global pharmaceutical sourcing and distribution services companies in the world. IBM will manage the IT infrastructure that supports the company's 13,000 employees and operations across 25 of its distribution centers in North America.

Offering services ranging from drug distribution and niche premium logistics to reimbursement and pharmaceutical consulting services, AmerisourceBergen helps healthcare providers and pharmaceutical and biotech manufacturers improve patient access to their products. Its critical business applications and global processes – such as the timely movement of products across the supply chain – must run seamlessly and without interruption. The company turned to IBM because of its highest standards in availability, performance, reliability and security.

"Working with IBM provides us the capabilities we need to drive innovation in our business and to do so quickly and in the most cost effective way," said Dale Danilewitz, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, AmerisourceBergen. "This new agreement is an extension of our partnership with IBM, which will enable us to quickly deploy and capitalize on new technologies and IT services models."

Among the benefits of the relationship, AmerisourceBergen will have the ability to access IBM's industry-leading capabilities in areas such as cloud for new workloads and advanced analytics to address opportunities across its business.

"Looking forward, we plan to further expand our relationship by bringing together IBM's deep expertise in the healthcare industry, our global reach and innovative technologies to provide AmerisourceBergen with additional skills and capabilities that enhance its ability to run and grow its business," said Philip Guido, General Manager, Global Technology Services, IBM North America.

Gartner, Inc., a leading global IT research firm, has recognized IBM as a leader in the "Magic Quadrant for Data Center Outsourcing and Infrastructure Utility Services, North America" report. IBM was positioned the highest for ability to execute.

"We believe IBM's ability to execute is based on our cloud leadership, as well as our focused strategy on mobile, social and security – which are further fueled by extensive R&D and technology investments in analytics and automation," added Guido. "These are key differentiators that enable IBM to seamlessly integrate and orchestrate infrastructure services across hybrid IT environments spanning both traditional and cloud models."