Clicks and bricks: IBM does Lego deal

Replaces HP with 'on-demand' infrastructure

IBM has ousted Hewlett Packard from Danish toymaker Lego in a "significant" IT infrastructure deal. A review of Lego's technology requirements highlighted the need for flexible costs to cope with IT usage that varies according to seasonal demand for its plastic bricks. Sales peak in the run-up to Christmas. As part of the strategy for cutting IT costs Lego will consolidate its technology platform from over 2,200 HP and Compaq servers by a factor of seven to a platform based on IBM's Unix pSeries and xSeries servers and Shark storage SAN servers. The firm's SAP system will run on the pSeries boxes with office applications running on the xSeries. Lego will have spare computing capacity that can be made available for peaks in customer demand in line with IBM's 'on-demand' pricing. Hal Yarbrough, senior director of global IT at Lego, said in a statement: "We are operating in a very competitive environment and need to respond to the dynamics of our market at a moment's notice." The reduction in server and storage units is a "positive benefit" and that the flexible capacity and pricing model adapts itself to Lego's cyclical business and the rapid introduction of new products, he said. IBM and Lego would not disclose the value of the deal.