IBM Helps American Express Offer Its Customers An Electronic Office.(INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY)(Q & A)

Byline: DOUG TSURUOKA

Companies can cut costs and their tax bills by tracking their expenses diligently.

Such tracking, however, is easier said than done.

IBM Corp. and American Express Co. teamed up this month to deal with the problem.

Scott Smith, an IBM executive who oversees electronic office technology, says the project lets American Express sell a service that lets small and midsize firms process worker expenses online.

American Express isn't the only one tapping this technology, which IBM calls "dynamic workplaces." On Thursday, Campbell Soup Co. said it's using a similar system from IBM. It lets workers train, hold e-meetings, sign up for health benefits and do other things from desktop PCs. Big Blue on Thursday said it's formed a dynamic workplaces unit to support the technology. It's staffed by some 2,000 IBM Global Services workers and about 300 IBM researchers.

For American Express, IBM links the company to the private networks of its corporate customers. The company's workers fill out expense reports online that zip to American Express, which reviews the information and then routs it to an IBM data center for processing.