BANGALORE, India, Jan. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced it has signed a five-year business transformation agreement with UTV Software Communications Ltd., India's first integrated global media and entertainment company. IBM will help UTV transform its business processes to provide customers with the highest quality content and services as it continues its rapid rate of expansion.

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Under this agreement, IBM will perform various business transformation initiatives for UTV over the next few years to further sharpen UTV's focus on its core media business.

IBM will help UTV streamline the company's finance and accounts, rights management, procurement, projects, material management and other key functions with an enterprise-wide SAP solution. For UTV the objective of this deal is to provide a customer-centric operating environment that delivers quality, cost-effective information services, reducing total cost of ownership and providing security compliance while enabling the company to focus on its core business.

The contract also includes India's first cloud-enabled email system via LotusLive iNotes, a security-rich, Web-based email service. The LotusLive iNotes cloud service is well-suited for businesses of all sizes, many of which have discovered the convenience and savings of free or low-cost Web-based email services but have grown weary of service outages, distracting advertisements or security and privacy concerns that can impact employee productivity and confidence.  

"At UTV, our focus is on setting trends and not following the same," said Rajeev Wagle, chief financial officer, UTV Software Communications Ltd. "The market here is growing at a rapid pace and customers are increasingly becoming demanding, making it imperative for us to offer fresh delivery platforms and content diversity enabled by technology. Teaming with IBM not only brings domain expertise but foresight that could potentially be a game-changer in the industry."

With a focus on creating, aggregating and distributing content, UTV has witnessed rapid expansion, both in existing businesses and in new growth sectors. UTV operates across five vertical segments including broadcasting and TV content, game content, motion pictures and new media. The contract will enable UTV to manage its business processes better and help in transforming its business through the establishment of leading practices across various functions.

"Media and entertainment companies around the globe have to be leaner and smarter than ever to overcome the challenges they face as they evolve in a multi-channel marketplace," said Steve Canepa, general manager, IBM global media and entertainment industry. "UTV understands the benefits that process transformation can deliver to a company's bottom line."  

UTV also plans to expand this agreement with a selection of core media business solutions including a broadcast management system, content management system and intellectual property rights management for various lines of businesses including broadcasting and TV content production.

About UTV Software Communications Ltd.

UTV Software Communications Limited is India's only global integrated media house with business interests in television, movies, broadcasting, games content and new media. UTV India and its subsidiaries (UTV) create, aggregate and disseminate content of various genres across varied distribution platforms.

About IBM

For more information about IBM, visit www.ibm.com.

For more information about IBM LotusLive iNotes, visit www.lotuslive.com

SOURCE IBM Corporation

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