It was with some nostalgia that I read of HP’s announced acquisition of EDS. EDS had virtually defined the business of IT professional services when the company was founded in 1962 by future presidential candidate Ross Perot.
More than 20 years ago, I was advising General Motors and its Information Services and Communications Authority (GMISCA) as GM built its global telecommunications network. Part way through our consulting project, GM acquired EDS and Perot’s team took over the GMISCA part of the automaker.
EDS began hiring every new grad it could find in the state of Michigan; one of its new-employee welcome parties was held on the field of the Pontiac Silverdome. EDS brought an economic renaissance to Michigan during a tough period in the mid 80’s – the state took out full page ads thanking EDS for its contributions to a renewed prosperity.
At the time, EDS was not your average Michigan corporation. EDS was known for its conservatism, its moral code (forbidding cohabitation, for example), and a strict grooming code. It was a different time – with a lot of men and women wearing navy suits, crisp white shirts and crimson red ties. Nearly twenty five years later, like most work environments, it is a little more relaxed now.
The professional services business is enormous, as evidenced by the $14B value of HP’s acquisition. For perspective, GM had acquired EDS for $2.5B in 1984.
Sebastiano Tevarotto, who heads HP’s Communications, Media & Entertainment division, will be speaking at The 2008 Canadian Telecom Summit at lunch on June 17. The role of strategic sourcing in business transformation will be the subject of a panel on Monday June 16. In addition, Clive Seeley of BT and CP Gurnani of Tech Mahindra will be speaking on June 17 about how British Telecom has successful leveraged strategic sourcing for many of its internal operations.
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