Armonk,N.Y., Nov.10, 2003 --ZurichFinancial Services (Zurich) announced today that IBM will consolidate and manage all of its employees' electronic workplace technology across five European countries, the United States and Canada. IBM will provide Zurich with a number of on demand activities and processes relating to electronic workplaces comprised of laptops, desktops, printers, software and related services. The agreement also proposes the transfer of approximately 470 Zurich employees worldwide to IBM. All transfers are subject to the prior completion of consultation with employee representatives in the respective countries and of filing requirements with the competent authorities. "This agreement will grantZurichaccess to state of the art technology and services," said Michael Paravicini, chief information technology officer, Zurich Financial Services.  "In addition, we expect sizeable efficiency gains through standardized processes and a significant improvement in cost transparency." "IBM will standardize Zurich's workplace environment using our worldwide services expertise to manage many disparate systems, across many different countries," added Ernst Koller, managing director for Zurich Financial Services, IBM Global Services. "We anticipate efficiency gains for Zurich through lower total cost of ownership, while increasing end user productivity." The agreement is an important part of Zurich's global IT strategy announced on May 9, 2003, which aims to consolidate and streamline IT services throughout the Group and to manage them in a centralized and cost efficient way.