The initial term of the agreement is four years, with an option for a one-year extension. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The services include service centre, desktop management and desk-side support, as well as the management of future desktop technology. A key focus for Unisys will be providing a services framework that enables Unilever employees, who use mobile and consumer technologies for business, to have access to productivity tools wherever they work or travel. Those initiatives include programs to provide Unilever employees more flexibility and choice in using and supporting the latest computing devices; self-help solutions which enable end users to fix routine problems; and access to server-based virtualized applications and other green IT initiatives to support Unilever's carbon emissions reduction plans.

"We selected Unisys as our key partner for end-user support services because of the company's proven service delivery capabilities and innovative roadmap for evolving desktop services to provide our workforce with anywhere, anytime access to tools critical to their business productivity," said Peter Opalka, vice president of Global Client Services at Unilever. "Unisys shares our vision for leveraging innovative, cost-effective IT management practices to empower our employees with greater flexibility and choice in how they perform their roles."

Unisys will support the engagement from service centres across the world, including Budapest and Bangalore among others. The Unisys centres are certified to the ISO/IEC 20000 and 27001:2005 standards for IT service management and security, respectively.

"Unilever has a clear, long-range view of how it wants to leverage IT to enable maximum employee productivity and business growth - and that makes working with Unilever a very exciting prospect for Unisys," said Ron Frankenfield, vice president, Global Sales, Unisys Global Outsourcing and Infrastructure Services. "Unisys looks forward to a long and mutually-beneficial relationship with Unilever."

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The initial term of the agreement is four years, with an option for a one-year extension. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The services include service centre, desktop management and desk-side support, as well as the management of future desktop technology. A key focus for Unisys will be providing a services framework that enables Unilever employees, who use mobile and consumer technologies for business, to have access to productivity tools wherever they work or travel. Those initiatives include programs to provide Unilever employees more flexibility and choice in using and supporting the latest computing devices; self-help solutions which enable end users to fix routine problems; and access to server-based virtualized applications and other green IT initiatives to support Unilever's carbon emissions reduction plans.

"We selected Unisys as our key partner for end-user support services because of the company's proven service delivery capabilities and innovative roadmap for evolving desktop services to provide our workforce with anywhere, anytime access to tools critical to their business productivity," said Peter Opalka, vice president of Global Client Services at Unilever. "Unisys shares our vision for leveraging innovative, cost-effective IT management practices to empower our employees with greater flexibility and choice in how they perform their roles."

Unisys will support the engagement from service centres across the world, including Budapest and Bangalore among others. The Unisys centres are certified to the ISO/IEC 20000 and 27001:2005 standards for IT service management and security, respectively.

"Unilever has a clear, long-range view of how it wants to leverage IT to enable maximum employee productivity and business growth - and that makes working with Unilever a very exciting prospect for Unisys," said Ron Frankenfield, vice president, Global Sales, Unisys Global Outsourcing and Infrastructure Services. "Unisys looks forward to a long and mutually-beneficial relationship with Unilever."

((Comments on this story may be sent to newsdesk@closeupmedia.com))

These concerns may have led to an increasing consumer acceptance of biometric technologies, such as fingerprint and eye (retinal) scans, versus more traditional methods of using passwords and PINs. Respondents in every country surveyed in the Unisys Security Index indicated a majority favored the use of advanced biometric methods.

In the UK, for example, 95 percent of those who said they would be willing to provide biometric data said they would be willing to provide fingerprint data; 90 percent said they would provide an eye scan; and 82 percent said they would agree to a facial scan. High acceptance rates for these types of biometrics were also reported in other countries.

"Consumers worldwide seem to be growing more comfortable with the idea of using advanced and sometimes unfamiliar technologies to secure their identities as a way to prevent fraud," said Mark Cohn, vice president, enterprise security, Unisys. "Given the concern about bank fraud and identity theft, it is not surprising that people would embrace new ways to protect themselves. But we were somewhat surprised by the wide acceptance of biometrics such as iris recognition and facial scans, technologies which consumers were more familiar with than we might have predicted."

The current findings of the Unisys Security Index, which complement recently released country-specific results, show an average score of 119, indicating moderate security fears overall. All four categories of security measured by the survey - financial, national, Internet and personal safety - registered the lowest recorded levels so far. The largest decline was in financial concerns, reflecting a general easing of economic concerns from the previous survey, taken at the height of the global credit crisis.

"This drop in concern may indicate a disconnect between consumers' perceptions of threats and the more dire reality of the threats that exist in business and governments globally today," said Cohn. "In some regions the general decrease may reflect a less panicked and more rational response to ongoing threats. But global trends indicate that these threats are growing and becoming more sophisticated."

((Comments on this story may be sent to health@closeupmedia.com))