eBay and IBM announced a strategic technology and marketing alliance yesterday. eBay has selected IBM's WebSphere infrastructure software to upgrade its infrastructure. The upgrade effort, referred to as "V3" within eBay, is designed to achieve several goals, including: increasing developer productivity and API integration; enhancing eBay's ability to easily add new features and user tools; allowing for greater flexibility in adding new businesses; improving site dependability; and, improving the overall user experience.

IBM said it will significantly expand its presence on eBay and will expand its sales of PCs, servers and software within its eBay storefront. It will also include a direct link to eBay on the IBM. com home page.

The two companies have also agreed to explore joint-marketing opportunities across television, print and direct marketing channels. "By increasing our presence on the site, we'll increase traffic to IBM's eBay store as well as to IBM. com," said Lou D'Ambrosio, vice president, marketing and sales, IBM Software Group. "We are excited about the marketing synergy between eBay and IBM, and believe our partnership will provide exciting opportunities for our customers, channels and our brands."