Bangalore: IBM India and ABB India signed a major contract on April 29 for information technology services partnership.

Under the agreement inked between top executives of the two companies, IBM would take responsibility for the quality, performance and delivery of ABB India's information technology services.

The partnership provides an impetus to IBM's strategic outsourcing business initiative and would enhance the performance and efficiency of ABB's IT infrastructure across its locations in India, they told a news conference.

They declined to specify the worth of the contract, saying they were bound by confidentiality.

"The contract worth is very significant. But we can't disclose the exact amount," Abraham Thomas, Managing Director, IBM India Ltd, said. "It is now like IBM becoming the IT department of ABB."

He said the ABB IT employees (numbering 45) would be taken by the IBM. The contract, Thomas said, would be for more than five years.

The deal includes handling of ABB's sophisticated IT infrastructure, managing and operating the data centre, providing end user support, overall network management, disaster recovery services and technical support for business applications.

ABB India managing director and country manager Ravi Uppal said through the outsourcing partnership with IBM India, ABB could concentrate more on its core businesses and pursue its overall mission. Uppal and Thomas signed the contract.

PTI