Infosys Technologies Ltd. will manage Microsoft's internal IT services worldwide under a three-year deal announced by the global outsourcing company this morning. According to an Infosys news release, those services will include technical assistance for employees at their desks and from centralized help desks, in addition to management of "applications, devices and databases in 450 locations across 104 countries."

It's one of those announcements that raises as many questions as it answers. We've reached out to Microsoft and Infosys with questions about the impact on jobs in Microsoft's IT department, which employed about 5,000 people worldwide as of last year. We've also asked about the potential effect on Microsoft's practice of rolling out its own products internally prior to their widespread release. That process, traditionally known as "dogfooding," often gives Microsoft insights that it can pass along to product teams and customers.

[Update: Microsoft responds to our questions: "This is simply a consolidation of work that used to be provided by multiple vendors to a single provider, Infosys. As you know, we have had a concentrated effort to be more efficient and save money. This was a major area where we could do this. This new contract will not impact our internal resources. And it won’t affect the usual internal exercises we do."]

Infosys, headquartered in Bangalore, India, already works with Microsoft in a range of areas, but the new deal appears to significantly deepen their relationship.

Infosys said the agreement provides it with "a unique opportunity to partner with Microsoft IT and gain deep and early expertise in the implementation and management of the latest Microsoft technologies, and thus enhancing Infosys capabilities to help other customers leverage Microsoft’s innovation and adopt these technologies."

According to the news release, Infosys will tap Unisys Corp. of Blue Bell, Pa., to provide desk-side and service-desk technical support for Microsoft employees.

Financial terms of the new Microsoft-Infosys agreement weren't disclosed. Infosys shares were up in trading in India today. The company's earnings were down, but it released a stronger-than expected revenue forecast, with Reuters reporting that the news "suggests a gradual recovery for India's software services sector as global clients loosen their purse strings in an improving economy."

We'll update this post with more information as it's available. See update above.