Dow Chemical to Lease PCs From IBM

Dow Chemical Co., the second-biggest U.S. chemical company, said it will lease 37,500 personal computers from IBM Corp. in a three-year contract valued at more than $90 million. Dow plans to upgrade all PCs used by its employees in 55 countries beginning in March. The contract announced Thursday with Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM, the world’s largest computer company, includes maintenance and delivery. Dow, based in Midland, Mich., began leasing computers from IBM in 1996 in an effort to standardize its computing platform. Dow said that leasing the computers will allow it to upgrade companywide relatively cheaply. IBM will install Dow’s standard software, including Microsoft Corp.’s Windows 98 and Office 97, on the computers.