IBM announces smart infrastructure initiatives

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} IBM announced today that it will make up to $3 billion available to finance IT initiatives in key economic stimulus projects in Europe and Asia-Pacific, through its lending and leasing business segment IBM Global Financing.   Today's announcement follows the availability of up to $2 billion announced by IBM on 30 April to help jump start US economic stimulus programs.   IBM said it will make available up to $2 billion in financing in Europe and up to approximately $1 billion in the Asia-Pacific region.   IBM Global Financing will also extend its North American coverage to include financing for smart technology projects in Canada.   The financing will help organizations move ahead with IT projects in 2009, while awaiting government funding, to build the technological and environmental infrastructure of the 21st century.   "There is a great connectivity among nations," said John Callies, general manager of IBM Global Financing. "While the various stimulus packages in different countries were designed to keep their own economies on track, it is as joined economies that we can rise from this global downturn together. In this context, IBM Global Financing is extending its stimulus financing program to countries in Europe and Asia-Pacific to help global recovery."   The financing will be targeted to companies and organizations in countries with government funding committed to help economic stimulus, create new industries and enable infrastructure improvements, and who are looking to implement technology projects consisting of a majority portion of IBM hardware, software and technology services components.   The financing could be in the form of: ┬À┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á Low rates and flexible financing options. ┬À┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á Deferred payment plans. ┬À┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á Enterprise financing facilities that offer structured lines of credit. ┬À┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á Specialized project financing packages that allow clients to align payment streams to anticipated benefits throughout the project.   Financing can also be applied to non-IBM technology as part of a larger IBM solution.     *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *