In addition, the agreement with IBM reduced P&G's cost of operating the CRP system, since
the IBM service contract cost was less than the cost of operating the system using P&G's internal
staff and systems. IBM planned to run the applications using excess capacity at the Kodak
operations center that IBM was managing under an IT service contract. Thus, IBM was able to
operate the outsourced CRP operations on capacity that would otherwise be underutilized from
another outsourced MIS operations client. The outsourcing of CRP services to large manufacturers
also gave IBM an opportunity to demonstrate the potential benefits of MIS services outsourcing to
multiple potential clients, who might be interested in further outsourcing services that could be
linked with the CRP applications over time. In summary, P&G's sale of CRP systems to IBM
offered important strategic and operational benefits for both companies and provided the
credibility of a third-party platform offering to increase the attractiveness of CRP for the
industry.