ALPHARETTA, Ga. -- Certegy Inc. announced a ten-year, $150 million agreement with IBM to provide on demand technology services for its United States operations. IBM currently provides IT services to Certegy's United Kingdom and Australia operations. The agreement, which replaces an existing arrangement with EDS, can provide Certegy significant cost savings and future operational flexibility through IBM's on demand technology services. IBM will improve Certegy's IT operations by consolidating, automating and managing a large portion of its mainframe operating systems and hardware operations in the U.S. With the IBM on demand services model, Certegy will pay IBM according to the volume of services it consumes. "We are very pleased to announce this agreement with IBM," stated Lee Kennedy, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Certegy. "IBM offers best-in-class computer operations support and has a proven track record with Certegy as a trustworthy business partner. The early exit costs to be recognized in connection with terminating the EDS agreement represent an investment in our future that is projected to generate an internal rate of return of more than 20% over the next ten years," he concluded.