MANILA, Philippines -- HP Philippines has closed an outsourcing deal with JG Summit Holdings Inc. (JGHSI), one of the country's largest conglomerates.

The deal was closed on September 27, 2007, but was only announced recently to the media, according to Lei Acevedo, marketing manager of HP Philippines Technology Solutions Group, in an interview.

Acevedo said there were no details given on how much the deal was worth. But she said the outsourcing deal will last for seven years.

?The [implementation] of the deal is ongoing,? added the HP Philippines executive.

Under the deal, HP Philippines will provide the information technology infrastructure management and solutions across the conglomerate's business portfolio.

?This deal will upgrade the IT infrastructure of JGSHI and enable the organization to efficiently process business transactions; communicate better internally and externally; collaborate with customers and business partners; and generate information critical in making decisions,? HP Philippines said in a statement.

HP will also consolidate and construct a new data center to centralize and standardize information technology services for the conglomerate.

?Having HP build a shared services infrastructure that is in line with JGSHI?s overall business strategy will enable the conglomerate to improve its services, and facilitate the acquisition and merging of new businesses at a technological level,? the company statement added.

The outsourcing deal will streamline operations of the conglomerate, enabling its businesses to ?divest from IT processes that can be managed by HP, thereby allowing it to centralize its efforts on developing its core competencies.?

?This partnership with HP will allow us to increase our efficiencies and focus more on the core needs of our business,? Lance Gokongwei, JGSHI President and COO, said in a statement.

David Tan, managing director of HP Philippines, on the other hand, said the vendor will provide the necessary technologies to help JGSHI become an even more competitive corporation.