The Service Bureau Corporation (SBC) was a subsidiary of IBM formed in 1957 to operate IBM's former service bureau business as an independent company.
IBM had operated service bureaus in major cities since 1932 allowing users to rent time on tabulating equipment, and later computing equipment, to solve problems which couldn't justify a full-time equipment lease. As a result of a consent decree with the United States Department of Justice IBM spun off its service bureaus to force them to operate at "arms length" from the parent company.
