IBM said it has won a multi-year business process outsourcing (BPO) agreement from Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) to manage its transactional finance and accounting back office functions.

The deal includes managing of accounts payable, receivables, billing, daily and month end accounting, reporting and planning and budgeting services, said a DWTC statement.

“Today’s announcement is an exciting one that will enable us to continue to put added focus on our core business by outsourcing our transactional financial services in such a way that will enhance service quality, lower risk and provide a more efficiently streamlined work flow,” said Ahmed Al Khaja, VP Procurement and Contracts, DWTC.

“Given IBM’s strong heritage and deep expertise in F&A processes, it made sense for us to partner with an organization that could also support us in many of our initiatives,” Al Khaja pointed out.

The agreement with IBM enables DWTC to hand over the processing of accounting transactions to IBM who will provide a completely scalable solution allowing for continued growth of DWTC operations, he added.

IBM's 2010 Global CFO Study found that top-performing organizations are able to sustain positive business outcomes even during periods of market instability.

These "Value Integrators" excel in both Finance efficiency and business insight, a combination that gives them greater overall scalability, agility and responsiveness.

By using some form of enterprise-wide BPO, these companies were shown to accelerate adoption of standards, embed integrated analytics and drive end-to-end process innovation.

Many CFOs are seeing the value in this approach to BPO and shifting focus from transactional activities to higher-value activities that more effectively support the broader enterprise and deliver sustainable performance improvement beyond finance.

“The formidable challenges associated with operating in a global economy are forcing CEOs, CFOs and CIOs to evaluate new ways to deliver improved results and drive innovation across the organization," said Takreem el Tohamy, general manager, IBM Middle East and Africa.

“For many organisations, IBM's IT and Business Process Outsourcing services offer quick access to skills, process innovation, best practices methodology, flexibility and improved services," he added.-TradeArabia News Service