Ameritech and IBM Form Historic Alliance in $30 Billion Desktop Computing and Communications Market

Strategic Insights -

Ameritech, one of the world's largest communications companies, and IBM, a leading technology provider, have announced a groundbreaking alliance to establish themselves as leaders in the $30 billion desktop computing and communications market. This strategic partnership brings together the strengths of both companies to offer businesses a single point of contact for managing desktop-based communications and computing systems, including personal computers, software, telephones, videoconferencing, PBXs, local area networks, and more.

Key Takeaways:

  • The alliance will provide a combined total of approximately $400 million over seven years in desktop services to each other, with IBM's ISSC subsidiary managing most of Ameritech's desktop computing and LAN requirements.
  • The companies will jointly market integrated voice, data, and video managed desktop services for businesses, offering a single point of contact for managing desktop-based communications and computing systems.
  • The partnership will create a one-stop, 24-hour customer support center, believed to be the only one in the industry that will support an integrated voice, data, and video service line with a single phone call.
  • Ameritech will provide a substantial portion of IBM's and ISSC's voice and video desktop support services at sites nationwide.
  • The alliance will offer businesses a broad range of services, including telephones, printers, personal computers, software, wiring, local area networks, servers, videoconferencing equipment, fax equipment, voice mail, paging, and wireless equipment, and technical and consulting support.
  • The agreement is among the largest ever in the desktop outsourcing area, addressing every aspect of the complete desktop.
  • The companies are positioning themselves to be at the forefront of helping customers benefit from changes in technology, with Ameritech's traditional strengths in voice and video managed services augmented by ISSC's strength with desktop data.
  • The alliance is expected to grow as part of IBM's network-centric computing strategy, providing customers with innovative voice and data services that help them compete in the emerging networked world.

Statistics:

  • The market for desktop voice, data, and video services and local networks is approximately $30 billion and growing at about 15 percent a year.
  • The costs for systems and equipment are estimated to range up to $8,000 per year for each employee, with 70 percent of these costs not obvious to companies.
  • Ameritech serves more than 13 million customers, providing a wide array of local phone, data, and video services in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
  • Ameritech has interests in telephone companies in China, Norway, Poland, New Zealand, Hungary, and Belgium, as well as in business directories in Germany and other countries.
  • Nearly 1 million investors hold Ameritech (NYSE: AIT) shares.

Sources:

  • Ameritech Corporation; IBM Corporation; PR Newswire; Rick Aspan of Ameritech; Ken Neal of ISSC; Colleen Brathwaite of IBM.