IBM announced today that it is consolidating data center operations worldwide for Elizabeth Arden, Inc., which is expected to provide the fragrance an...

IBM announced today that it is consolidating data center operations worldwide for Elizabeth Arden, Inc., which is expected to provide the fragrance and beauty products company with several million dollars in cost savings from information technology over the course of the six-year agreement, along with improved flexibility to facilitate growth.

"Integrating complex IT systems is not Elizabeth Arden's core competency," said Bob Donohue, Elizabeth Arden chief information officer. "Leaving the work to IBM provides us with more time to focus on our growing business and has helped our company achieve 'top supplier' recognition by key customers. We are now able to direct technology expenditures to other IT investments, improving productivity in our core business, and allowing us to meet anticipated business growth."

The agreement provides 24x7 operations and technical support, disaster recovery, hardware and software maintenance, security management and hosting for IBM eServer systems.

The new technology plan allows Elizabeth Arden's supply chain operations to:

• Enable real-time access to the supply chain, enhancing response to customer orders and required shipping volumes
• Cut inventory management processing time by approximately 75 percent
• Boost employee productivity by cutting response times

"Elizabeth Arden is using information technology to transform its business," said Rick Ruiz, vice president of IBM Global Services small and medium business. "This is an exciting project that is taking advantage of IBM's long history of the distribution industry and services expertise."

Elizabeth Arden's new global computing model consolidates its global supply chain and data warehouse systems into a single IBM Global Services data center supporting business operations in New York, Stamford, Conn., Roanoke, Va., Miami Lakes, Fla., Puerto Rico, Toronto, Geneva, Singapore, Sydney and other sites worldwide.


About Elizabeth Arden
Elizabeth Arden is a global prestige fragrance and beauty products company. Elizabeth Arden's products are sold in more than 90 countries in some 50,000 retail locations worldwide. The company's portfolio of leading brands includes the fragrance brands Red Door, Elizabeth Arden green tea, 5th Avenue, Arden beauty, Elizabeth Taylor's White Diamonds, Passion and Forever Elizabeth.


About IBM Global Services
IBM Global Services is the world's largest information technology services and consulting provider, generating over US $36 billion in 2002. Approximately 180,000 professionals serve customers in more than 160 countries, providing the entire spectrum of customers' e-business needs -- from the business transformation and industry expertise of IBM Business Consulting Services to hosting, infrastructure, technology design and training services. IBM Global Services delivers integrated, flexible and resilient processes -- across companies and through business partners -- that enable customers to maximize the opportunities of an on-demand business environment.

For more information on IBM, please visit www.ibm.com