IBM escapes US government contract ban - News - Business

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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IBM escapes US government contract ban

By Dawn Kawamoto, CNET News.com
April 08, 2008
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/business/soa/IBM-escapes-US-government-contract-ban/0,139023166,339288012,00.htm

IBM and the US government are back in business after the lifting of a temporary suspension order which had banned IBM from being a part of new government contracts.

The company announced on Friday that the temporary suspension order has been lifted.

But while the nine-day ban has been removed, Big Blue is still busy cooperating with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the investigation that had triggered the broad suspension. The environmental agency is examining possible violations of its procurement process over IBM's bid for EPA business.

The US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia is also investigating the issue.

For Big Blue, removing the ban will bring more revenue its way. Last year, IBM generated nearly US$1.43 billion from Federal government contracts. That represented a 1.4 percent slice of its overall revenues of US$98.8 billion last year.