IBM today announced that it has signed an agreement with Sunoco, Inc. , a leading manufacturer and marketer of petroleum and petrochemical products, to provide managed business process services and application support services. Through this agreement, IBM will help Sunoco drive improvements to a number of its back office processes by leveraging IBM's experience in the oil and gas industry, and deep business and applications process expertise, existing tools, and operational knowledge, thus enabling Sunoco to focus more of its resources on critical growth initiatives.

  (Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO )
  (Logo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO )

As part of the agreement, IBM will provide services to Sunoco from its global operations centers, enabling Sunoco to better manage its Application Enhancement, Application Maintenance, Finance and Accounting, and Indirect Procurement processes. IBM's expertise in these areas is based on hundreds of client engagements, including many with oil and gas companies. This experience makes it uniquely qualified to support Sunoco's business processes and provide innovative tools and methods as well as an expanded capability to scale in support of growing service demand.

"We're pleased to partner with IBM on this initiative," said Brian MacDonald, Sunoco's chief financial officer. "This arrangement marks another important step in Sunoco's continued expense reduction program, which is critical to improving the company's competitiveness."

"IBM and Sunoco are working together to identify and implement cost-effective solutions in Corporate, Marketing, and Refining Operations functions utilizing leading practices and IBM innovation across all components of the petroleum industry," said Rick Rosso, vice president, IBM Managed Business Process Services. "Our partnership is focused on delivering business process optimization and application services on a global basis in order to help Sunoco gain improved efficiencies through a more variable-cost business model, drive market differentiation and improve their operational excellence."

  About IBM
  For more information about IBM please see www.ibm.com/services



  PRESS CONTACT:
  Bruce McConnel
  IBM Media Relations
  804.327.4644
  wmcconn@us.ibm.com

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

SOURCE: IBM