Belk Renews IT Agreement with EDS, an HP Company

PLANO, Texas #8211; EDS, an HP company, announced today that Belk (www.belk.com), the nation’s largest privately owned department store chain, has renewed its agreement with EDS.

With the seven-year information technology (IT) services contract, EDS will continue to manage the voice and data network that connects employees at Belk’s 307 retail stores, five warehouses and five offices across the southern United States, as well as to Belk vendors located worldwide. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“This network allows communication ” data and voice ” among all of our sites, which is critical in the highly competitive retail apparel industry,” said Roddy Kerr, chief information officer, Belk. “Since 2002, the EDS team has proven its value by helping us lower costs, improve our communications and effectively support our expansion, allowing us to focus on our growing customer base.”

The agreement also includes managing implementations at new locations and ensuring that networks are reliable and perform at consistent levels. Belk’s networks handle customer purchase processing and approvals, provide product information and perform inventory transactions for the retailer.

“As Belk’s trusted business ally, the EDS team’s focus is on seamlessly and cost-effectively managing this critical network so that Belk can manage its day-to-day business operations and growth strategy,” said Mike Klaus, vice president, Global Consumer and Retail Industries, EDS, an HP company. “We take a personal stake in Belk’s operational success and will continue to provide the flexible and scalable technology foundation that can grow and change with Belk’s needs.”

EDS serves more than 200 consumer and retail industry clients. As a leading provider in the consumer and retail industries, EDS focuses on a variety of market segments including food and beverage, apparel and footwear, consumer products, and retail outlets including restaurants, mass and department, grocery, drug, convenience, online and catalog, and specialty.