IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that it has signed a seven-year agreement with Sara Lee Corporation (NYSE: SLE) to manage and maintain pieces of the consumer products company's global back office operations.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced today it has been selected by Eaton Corporation (NYSE: ETN) to supply modeling software in support of Eaton's development of series hydraulic hybrid systems.

IBM Czech Republic (NYSE: IBM) today signed an agreement worth approximately $100 million with the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic to deliver and implement the Treasury Integrated Information System.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) was today named the top company for climate change strategy and practices, in a report released by the Ceres investor coalition.

IBM's Research Department has partnered with Samsung Electronics to develop a cutting edge solution that facilitates the reuse of embedded software using a component-based development approach. With consumer electronics software becoming increasingly complex and new variations in product lines becoming the defacto, consumer electronics companies are urgently looking for better ways to reuse the software they produce.

IBM Virtual Bridges and Canonical today announced general availability of a Linux-desktop solution designed to drive significant savings compared with Microsoft-desktop software by amplifying Lotus collaboration software and Ubuntu to a larger user base through virtualization.

IBM and leading power equipment manufacturer, ABB, have signed a three-year contract for hosting services for ABB's SAP information system in Russia.

A new video from IBM discusses the challenges -- and opportunities -- for creating a smarter utility system. The video, featured on the blog, Building a smarter planet, illustrates how adding intelligence to the utility system will help match supply with demand, and dramatically increase its efficiency.

In a move that could spur the rise of the nascent computing model known as "cloud," IBM (NYSE: IBM) today said it would introduce a program to validate the resiliency of any company delivering applications or services to clients in the cloud environment.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced new cloud computing services to help businesses of all sizes take advantage of this increasingly-attractive computing model. With today's announcements, IBM is applying its industry-specific consulting expertise and established technology record to offer secure, practical services to companies in public, private and hybrid cloud models.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that TAM Airlines (BOVESPA: TAMM4) (NYSE: TAM) has signed a contract with IBM for the management of its service desk. The solution includes installation, help desk and field support of TAM's information technology (IT) infrastructure.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced an agreement with the Japan Industrial Waste Technology Center to upgrade its "JWNET" electronic manifest system for industrial waste.