Lenovo is going all out to use the 2008 Beijing Olympics to promote its brand. Lenevo took over IBM’s personal computing division over two years ago.

Ever since the takeover of the IBM’s computer division, Lenovo has faced a difficult battle to rebrand their computers and laptops in the marketplace. The company has introduced an array of Olympics-inspired laptops. The Lenovo brand is well known in China, and has a third of the market share.

Outside of Asia Lenovo is well behind rival maker’s HP and Dell. “We are aiming to build Lenovo into a strong brand known for innovation, customer service and high quality,” said Deepak Advani, senior vice-president and chief marketing officer of Lenovo. It is not surprising that IT purchasing departments have been cautious in purchasing new IBM/Lenovo branded laptops. Until Lenovo can prove that it has the ability to build and support the latest technology, will companies decide to stick with or move to the Thinkpad brand.

IT systems are the backbone of any large event including the Olympic Games. The projected IT costs of the Beijing Olympics is set to be at around $400 million. Lenovo will be supplying laptop PCs, desktops, servers, printers and other IT equipment, with its contribution totaling around 20,000 pieces of equipment and around 400 computer techinicians.

Lenovo is oranizing and sponsoring the Olympic torch relay. Their Olympic torch design was selected from over 300 entrants and was inspired by the shape of a traditional Chinese scroll.

The sponsorship of an Olympic Games is somewhat risky for a IT provider. Any IT problems are going to be quickly blamed on the providers. A successful implementation at the games, without any major issues is going to be largely ignored by the mainstream press. Hopefully for Lenovo, IT managers and IT procurement departments across the world interested in the Olympics will be paying attention.