Dress Barn Inc., the Montebello-based retailer, said that it has signed an agreement to receive electronic commerce technology and design services from GSI Commerce Inc., an e-commerce company in King of Prussia, Pa. Under the contract, GSI will launch an online store for Dress Barn’s maurices brand this fall.

IBM Corp. said it has signed a contract extension to provide information technology services to Primagaz, an energy company in France. Under the five-year extension, Armonk-based IBM will manage data processing systems for Primagaz. Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Vemics Inc., a Nanuet-based Internet services company, announced an agreement to provide access to its online medical portal to Medical Protective, a medical malpractice insurance company owned by Berkshire Hathaway.

The portal contains information on 700,000 physicians and staff personnel nationally. Under this agreement, Medical Protective will use the portal to market medical malpractice liability insurance to doctors and their staff. Berkshire Hathaway is controlled by billionaire investor Warren Buffett of Omaha, Neb.

IBM Corp. agreed to extend a six-year-old contract with Rheinmetall AG and its automotive division, Kolbenschmidt Pierburg AG, in Germany. Under the contract, Armonk-based IBM will provide information technology services to the company. Financial details of the contract were not disclosed.

ITT Corp., a White Plains-based defense contractor, has been awarded a $99.9 million U.S. Air Force contract to support foreign military sales to Turkey, according to the U.S. Defense Department Web site. No additional details about the 36-month contract were immediately available. ITT’s sizable defense business includes night-vision goggles and combat radios used by U.S. soldiers.

IBM Corp. said that it has signed a $3.1 million contract to install three energy-efficient data centers for Religare Enterprises Limited, one of the largest financial services groups in India. Armonk-based IBM said that the data centers will reduce Religare’s annual power costs by more than 30 percent and allow the company to meet the technology needs of its expanding business.

IBM Corp. said that it has renewed a technology services contract with the Korea Exchange, which was created in 2005 through the merger of three Korean spot and futures exchanges. Under the contract, Armonk-based IBM will provide maintenance and contract management services for hardware, software and other computer equipment. Terms of the contract were not disclosed.

IBM Corp. has signed a $472 million contract to supply technology services to Endesa, a giant electric utility in Spain and Latin America. Under the seven-year contract, Armonk-based IBM will manage Endesa’s central technology network and systems used by 30,000 Endesa employees. Endesa is expected to cut its costs by 20 percent as a result of the agreement, according to IBM.

IBM Corp. said that it has signed a technology services contract with Whirlpool Corp., the nation’s biggest home appliance manufacturer. Under the contract, Armonk-based IBM will provide Whirlpool with infrastructure services in more than 40 countries. Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.

A Valhalla-based startup that produces highly efficient oil filters is hoping that a deal with New York state will lift its profile.
SOMS Technologies Inc. said the state’s Office of General Services has added its filters to the state’s preferred buying list. This means that purchasing agents for state agencies and local governments can get discounted prices for the filters by buying them through the OGS.
SOMS may be in the right place at the right time. Last year Gov. Paterson issued an executive order that directed state agencies to adopt “sustainability initiatives,” or steps that the agencies could take to curb the risks of toxic materials, maximize recycling, manage renewable resources, and other methods.
Miles Flamenbaum, SOMS’ chief executive, said that using the company’s oil filters would help agencies achieve some of those mandated goals. The oil filters can extend the length of time between oil changes.
There are about 17,000 vehicles in the state fleet, he said. Flamenbaum couldn’t say what impact the listing with OGS would have on his sales; SOMS just started selling the filters last fall.
The listing could give the company some credibility with other governments or operators of private fleets, such as taxis and truck companies, he said.
SOMS bid to get onto the OGS list through the New York State Industries for the Disabled, a not-for-profit group of businesses that promotes employment of people with disabilities. One of its member companies, Pine Ridge Industries, an affiliate of the Schenectady ARC, has contracts with SOMS.

IBM Corp. has signed a five-year contract to provide technology services to Grupo Nacional Provincial, one of the largest insurance companies in Mexico. Under the contract, Armonk-based IBM will simplify Grupo Nacional’s information technology systems and make them easier to manage. Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.

IBM Corp. said it has renewed a 10-year outsourcing contract with Korean Air, one of the biggest airlines in Asia. Under the contract, Armonk-based IBM will manage the data center for the airline. Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.

IBM Corp. said that it has signed a seven-year contract to manage part of the back office operations for Sara Lee Corp., a consumer products giant whose brands include Jimmy Dean sausages and Ball Park franks. Under the contract, IBM will manage a portion of Sara Lee’s North American and European transaction processing, global information services and procurement activities. Financial terms of the contract were not disclosed.

The Westchester County Clerk’s office recently awarded a one-year contract to eDocNY, a White Plains-based document management company. Starting in January, eDocNY will scan and digitize a high volume of records for the office’s legal division using equipment at its headquarters at 388 Tarrytown Road. eDocNY was created by Westchester Arc, the largest agency in the county serving children and adults with developmental disabilities.

IBM Corp. will provide information technology services to the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic under a $100 million contract.

The Armonk-based company said that the contract calls for it to implement an information system that allows for the Czech government to efficiently handle state budget resources and public finance. The system is already deployed by many European Union member countries.

The new contract with the Czech government is the latest example of how IBM has continued to land new businesses despite a softening economy.

During the third quarter, IBM earned $2.05 a share from continuing operations, an increase of 22 percent over the $1.68 a share reported for the third quarter of 2007.

“We believe IBM is as strong as ever and is well-positioned to continue to deliver superior customer solutions through its globally integrated services, software, and hardware offerings,” Morningstar analyst Rick Hanna wrote in a research report.

During the third quarter, IBM was the leading vendor of servers costing more than $250,000 with 57.7 percent share of that market worldwide, according to Gartner. IBM gained 5.1 points of market share in this category.

Mount Kisco Medical Group has extended its contract with MVP Health Care for three years effective the start of 2009, both sides said today. MVP is the third insurer with whom the medical group has renewed contracts. Cigna and Healthnet signed deals earlier, said Dr. Scott Hayworth, the practice’s chief executive officer. Talks are continuing with a fourth insurer, whom Hayworth declined to identify. The practice will continue to see patients covered by that insurer while talks continue, he said. Mount Kisco Medical Group has 11 offices in Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties, and 170 primary care and specialty physicians in MVP’s network. The extension covers all MVP plans except its Medicaid managed care and Medicare Advantage programs.

Blue Monkey Planet, a locally produced television channel that is broadcast in hospital waiting rooms, treatment suites and patient rooms to relax sick children and their families, will soon be available at some of the nation’s best-known medical centers.

Medcalm Corp., the Chappaqua-based company that produces the channel, will distribute the programming to more than 400 locations in such top hospitals such as Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Cleveland Clinic and Children’s Hospital of Atlanta. The new outlets for the channel are the result of an agreement between Medcalm and TeleHealth Services, a Raleigh, N.C.-based provider of health-care education services.

Programs on Blue Monkey Planet feature best-selling authors, musicians and pediatric psychologists and help children and their families prepare for surgery, lessen pain and support their recovery, Medcalm said.

“This partnership will strengthen our offering in pediatric patient education efforts in order to facilitate a safe and comfortable hospital stay for the children and their families,” said George Fleming, president and chief executive officer of TeleHealth Services.

IBM Corp. will provide technology services to the British financial services company Friends Provident under a $295 million contract announced today.

The 10-year agreement calls for Armonk-based IBM to help with software, hardware, services and other details of the Friends Provident technology infrastructure. IBM said the contract will result in major cost savings for Friends Provident through increased efficiency and standardization of processes.

About 200 Friends Provident employees will transfer to IBM as part of the deal.

In a separate announcement, IBM said it has signed a five-year outsourcing contract with Media-Saturn IT Services GmbH, a consumer electronics retailer in Europe. IBM will move Media-Saturn’s applications to an IBM data center in Frankfurt, Germany, as part of the contract. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

IBM Corp. of Armonk recently signed a three-year contract to provide techology services to ABB Ltd. in Russia. ABB, a power equipment manufacturer, will use IBM services to help keep its information system in Russia running. Financial details of the contract were not disclosed.

White Plains-based ITT Corp. is joining Lockheed Martin Corp. to compete for an electronic warfare contract from the U.S. Navy.

The program will lay the groundwork for an upcoming competition to build the Navy’s next-generation electronic warfare system. In sea demonstrations this summer, the companies said that their electronics warfare system performed sucessfuly. The program is designed for use across all ship classes in the U.S. Navy’s surface fleet.