BNSF, IBM SIGN 10-YEAR MANAGEMENT CONTRACT

BNSF, IBM SIGN 10-YEAR MANAGEMENT CONTRACT    The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Co. and IBM said Wednesday they have signed a 10-year agreement under which IBM will manage a large part of BNSF’s computing infrastructure.
   The contract covers the Fort Worth, Texas-based railroad's mainframe, midrange and desktop computing environments, and operation of the railroad’s data centers in Topeka, Kan., and Fort Worth. BNSF will continue to own those data centers.
   About 120 BNSF employees whose work is covered by the agreement will be offered positions at IBM.
   Greg Fox, BNSF’s vice president for technology services and chief information officer, said IBM’s assistance would help the railroad “deliver world-class infrastructure services that go beyond those BNSF could provide on its own.”
   IBM is based in Armonk, N.Y.