IBM Special Bid and Certification quarter end processing for IBM: IBM Power Systems, IBM System Storage and Point of Sale

All special bids for IBM Power Systems, IBM System Storage and Point of Sale must be submitted to IBM by December 18, 2009 to ensure they are processed before the end of the month/quarter. In anticipation of a high quarter-end special bid volume, any special bid request received by IBM after December 18, 2009 is at risk of not being processed and certified before the end of the quarter. IBM will continue to process special bid requests until the last business day of the month.

Starting on December 23, 2009, for the last 5 business days of the month (allowed December 24 and December 25 as holidays), if a Special Bid is submitted that causes a certification review for these brands because there is an approved bid already in the system prior to the last five business days, the second bid request will be denied. This applies to 4Q bids and subsequent quarter opportunities as defined in the Business Partner's bid request. The Business Partner that is denied will be allowed to resubmit a special bid 60 days later, if needed. If multiple Business Partners request a new special bid for an opportunity that is not currently approved during these last 5 days, then we will conduct a certification review but the Business Partner due date will be a 24-hour turnaround versus the normal 48 hours.

Questions should be directed to Charlotte Hansen at chansen@us.ibm.com or 561-862-3044.