IBM has unveiled a series of measures designed to help stamp out grey market activity in its channel.

Big Blue announced at CeBIT last week that it has harmonised hardware pricing, boosted transparency in its supply chain and is “systematically extending” compliance programmes.

It has also joined the Alliance for Grey Market and Counterfeit Abatement (AGMA), whose existing members include Cisco and HP.

IBM said that harmonised pricing, especially for options such as storage modules or hard disks, will reduce the scope for arbitrage business in the grey market by minimising regional price differences.

The vendor also announced that supply chain control via barcodes and serial numbers has now been extended to options and accessories. This is designed to help it identify products in the grey market that originally came from other transactions.

Finally, IBM said it is systematically extending its compliance programmes to help it detect breaches of distribution agreements.

Rule-breakers could see their agreements terminated or - where necessary or appropriate - face legal action, the vendor stressed.

Stephan Wippermann, vice president, Business Partner Transformation for Europe, IBM, said in a statement: “The new measures give our partners and customers greater security and reliability in buying and selling IBM products, as well as considerably strengthening the distribution channel for our existing partners.”