IBM today announced a new services contract to transform and operate Unilever's Human Resources (HR) processes across 19 Latin American countries. The agreement provides related services to more than 27,000 Unilever employees from the IBM services centers located in Hortolandia, Sao Paulo, Brazil and San Jose, Costa Rica and extends IBM's current operation of managed payroll and benefit management services for Unilever employees in Brazil, Mexico and Chile.

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"Large, global companies such as Unilever understand that HR process transformation provides them with a competitive advantage," said Patricia Motta, IBM Managed Business Process Services Latin America. "Our mission in this case is to bring additional flexibility and the best practices of innovation to help Unilever quickly respond to business opportunities and customer demands in a secure, transparent, and standardized way."

The project is designed to help Unilever continue to streamline and accelerate the decision-making process and offer its executive staff the flexibility to be able to shift resources to focus on business critical initiatives, as necessary.

The new service agreement with Unilever will now include the following countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad & Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

The market growth expectations for Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) in Latin America, specifically in Brazil, are bold. According to recent Frost & Sullivan study on trends and future demand for these services, 40 percent of the surveyed companies plan to contract a BPO provider in the short term.

IBM is the global BPO leader

IDC's recent BPO Vendor Report* shows that the market recognizes IBM as the sole leader in the BPO segment. The survey, conducted with more than 400 customers, evaluated the companies' perception regarding vendors of these services in four categories: transformation, innovation, cost optimization and integration.

  About IBM
  For more information on IBM, visit www.ibm.com/services.

  About Unilever

Unilever's mission is to add vitality to life. We meet everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life.

Unilever is one of the world's leading suppliers of fast moving consumer goods with strong local roots in more than 100 countries across the globe. Its portfolio includes some of the world's best known and most loved brands including thirteen euro 1 billion brands and global leadership in many categories in which the company operates. The portfolio features brand icons such as: Knorr, Hellmann's, Lipton, Dove, Rexona and Omo.

Unilever has around 174,000 employees in approaching 100 countries and generated annual sales of euro 40 billion in 2008. For more information about Unilever and its brands, please visit www.unilever.com.

*From U.S. Customers Select IBM, HP-EDS, Unisys, Accenture, Infosys, ADP, and Fidelity as Top 5 Ranked BPO Vendors for Transformation, Integration, Innovation, and Cost Optimization, IDC# 216191, 2009

  Media Contact:
  Bruce McConnel
  IBM Media Relations
  914.766.4427
  wmcconn@us.ibm.com

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: gablej@us.ibm.com

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SOURCE: IBM Corporation