In another sign of increasingly tight competition to win over cash-crunched corporate IT customers, International Business Machines has eased up on financing terms for Information Technology buys.
The options IBM is now offering include a 5.1 percent financing rate, plus a three-month deferral on the first payment towards hardware, software or other major purchases of between $50,000 and $1 million.
Clearly, the Armonk, NY-based technology bellwether is acting to address tight capital markets and squeezed corporate IT budgets, a situation that has only intensified in the days since September 11th.
The financing deal also comes on the heels of a $100 million contract that News Corp. awarded to IBM’s rival Sun Microsystems to provide it with servers and storage support.
In a survey IBM conducted with IT decision-makers earlier this year, an overwhelming majority of respondents said they planned on financing their IT investments in order to conserve cash for strategic investments.
IBM said the new financing terms are effective as of October 1st and apply to customers financing IBM’s eServer iSeries, pSeries systems as well as “participating” product brands that are shipped during the fourth quarter and installed by the end of January.
And, as is the usual caveat with deferred payment deals, only qualified customers need apply.