IBM said it had agreed to strategic pacts with Santa Cruz Operation Inc. (SCO), the largest supplier of Unix software operating on Intel-based computers, and Sequent, a supplier of technology that allows computers to be strung together to give them supercomputer-like performance.

The three partners agreed to develop a single software operating system, initially code-named Monetery, that will control computers running both Intel Corp. computer chips and International Business Machines Corp.'s own non-Intel based microprocessors.

In addition, the partners said a variety of other computer makers will use the new Unix system in their own machines, including Unisys Corp., Groupe Bull, Thomson-CSF, Acer Inc. and FujitsuLtd.'s ICL unit.

Sequent chairman Casey Powell said in an interview that IBM, SCO and Sequent each bring specific benefits to the alliance.

"SCO is providing large volumes of customers, (Sequent) is providing technology at (the) very high end, and IBM is providing the middleware" that connects the complex software system, Powell said.

Santa Cruz Operation has roughly 80 per cent of the market for Unix software on Intel-based computers. Its software is used to run the central computer systems for many small- and medium-sized businesses and retail chain outlets.

IBM and Intel's backing should help attract a wider range of independent software suppliers to write Unix-based programmes. This might include automation and database software that links together key business operations in various parts of a company, like manufacturing, sales, and payroll, an SCO spokesman said.

The first product to result from the alliance will be a new version of SCO's UnixWare software which adds features from IBM andSequent software. The new UnixWare, designed to run on Intel's current line of Xeon high-speed computer chips, is due out in the second half of 1999.

The partners then plan to introduce a common version of the operating system designed to work on Merced-based computers as that Intel chip becomes available in 2000, the companies said.

The alliance's Unix products also will run on IBM computers running its own PowerPC and Rs./6000 microprocessors as well as IBM Net Finity servers based on Intel chips.

SCO and Sequent also will continue to offer their own computers running the integrated Unix system, they added.

An Intel spokesman said IBM was the last major holdout among major computer suppliers to pledge to make their Unix-based computer systems run on Intel-based computers.

The Armonk, N.Y.-based computer giant joins rival Sun Microsystems Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., and Compaq Computer Corp.'s Digital business, which have struck similar deals with Intel in the past year.

Traditionally, thesecomputer rivals developed their own separate flavors of Unix, which ran only on each company's own computer hardware, preventing Unix from developing a broader audience.

Unix software, while long considered a reliable system for high-volume business activities such as retail order processing, has suffered due to the computer industry's unwillingness to agree on common standards.

But the promise of the new generation of low-cost, high-power Merced chips, due to ship sometime in 2000, has enticed computer makers to refocus development efforts on software based on the Intel chips.

By running on Intel chips, Unix-based computers will be able to compete more effectively on price with Windows NT, Microsoft Corp.'s fast-growing business software system, which relies solely on Intel chips to run powerful computer systems at low cost.

IBM stock closed up $1.50 at $143.06 in composite New York Stock Exchange trading after hitting a record high earlier in the day of $144.44. SCO gained 69 cents to $4.81, andSequent rose 19 cents to $9.69, both on Nasdaq.