DALLAS – DECEMBER, 2005---   SPI, a leading global provider of information technology services announced today that it has been named an official IBM ( www.ibm.com ) business solutions partner to provide a number of information technology services to IBM and it’s customers.

SPI was selected after successfully completing comprehensive due diligence reviews. SPI’s number of years in business, solid customer references and status as a minority/woman-owned business were key elements of this achievement.

“ IBM and SPI have complimentary offerings and both companies will benefit from this partnership ” said Reena Batra, Founder and CEO of SPI. ” We’re also the largest minority/woman-owned technology firm in Texas with a comprehensive, wholly-owned offshore operation. This helps IBM achieve its supplier diversity goals .”

The IBM partnership will enable SPI to better serve its customers currently using IBM’s products, such as DB2™, Lotus™, Rational™, Tivoli™ and Websphere™.The relationship will help SPI in delivering end-to-end solutions in the areas of Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), Host Access Transformation Server (HATS) and Business Process Modeling using Rational.

About IBM

IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. Drawing on resources from across IBM and key Business Partners, IBM offers a wide range of services, solutions and technologies that enable customers, large and small, to take full advantage of the new era of e-business. For more information about IBM, visit www.ibm.com