IBM to outsource with Dutch company

Dutch energy and cable company Essent has inked a four-year outsourcing contract with IBM, Big Blue said Wednesday. IBM will manage Essent's data centers in the Netherlands, as well as handle office automation tasks, including network management. About 200 internal and external staff will move from Essent to IBM.

IBM said the terms of employment it offered weighed heavily in Essent's decision to make IBM its information technology partner. IBM's services wing competes for IT outsourcing deals with the likes of Electronic Data Systems and Hewlett-Packard.