IBM and Petrom have entered into a 10-year, multi-million dollar data center services agreement. IBM will take over the operation of Petrom's data center infrastructure to deliver industry-leading services to Petrom; Osterreichische Mineralolverwaltung (OMV), an oil and gas exploration and production company; as well as other Romanian clients.  

IBM will offer a wide range of data center services, such as cloud computing, hosting, installation and co-location services, in addition to business continuity, on-site backup and disaster recovery capabilities.

"This collaboration with IBM reaffirms the high standards used for building and equipping the data center in Petrom City. Through this agreement, Petrom will benefit from a market leader's expertise in data center hosting as well as cost savings from the joint use of the facility," said Reinhard Pichler, Chief Financial Officer of Petrom.

The data center provides an environment to support mission critical infrastructure services with advanced cooling, power, redundancy and sustainability features. It is fully powered by the power plant in Petrom City -- one of the most modern in Europe -- allowing it to benefit from high quality and efficient power.

"This agreement will enable Petrom to reduce its data center operation costs, while enabling IBM to provide customers with a full suite of services from a robust facility in a timely and cost-effective manner," said Mihai Tudor, Country General Manager of IBM Romania. "It further illustrates IBM's focus on capturing growth in emerging markets."