Hewlett-Packard Co. has extended a services and maintenance contract worth tens of millions of dollars with America Online Inc., according to Dan Socci, vice president of HP"s technology services support organization.

Under the three-year extension, which builds on a one-year deal signed last year, HP will manage support for more than 15,000 servers from multiple vendors, including 9,000 HP servers and workstations, Socci said. The existing technology is located in AOL"s Northern Virginia, Ohio and California offices.

Socci said HP will provide proactive support tools and round-the-clock call management services. In addition, it will maintain an on-site support team and an on-site inventory of HP spare parts.

HP is taking over these tasks because AOL wants to consolidate support deals with different vendors and manage its IT environment under one contract to better align IT services with business needs, Socci said.

"This relationship with HP will give AOL more-streamlined service delivery while providing clear savings and achieving simplification, standardization and modularity in its IT environment," Mike Rigodanzo, HP"s senior vice president for technology services, said in the statement. "These are the building blocks of an adaptive enterprise."