Deliver Your News to the World

European Space Agency Signs $97 Million Agreement with EDS for Management of IT Infrastructure and Services


WEBWIRE

24 Jan 2007 - PLANO, Texas and PARIS – EDS today announced a new, five-year, $97 million contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) that calls for EDS to manage the ESA’s Corporate Information Technology (IT) Services and related infrastructure.

ESA’s job is to draw up the European space programme and carry it through. The Agency’s projects are designed to find out more about the Earth, its immediate space environment, the solar system and the Universe, as well as to develop satellite-based technologies and services and to promote European industry. ESA also works closely with all major space organisations inside and outside Europe.

“To meet this challenge, our goal is to continue to serve our customers effectively, while increasing efficiency and lowering costs. A solid IT foundation will play a significant role,” said Gaele Winters, ESA’s Director of Operations and Infrastructure. “EDS and this top-notch team will work with us to build a scalable foundation that will adapt alongside our business and support future growth.”

As the prime contractor, EDS will manage a group of leading European vendors, each with significant business presence in ESA member states, to deliver an end-to-end IT services model that will improve service, decrease costs and enable synergies across the ESA. The vendor team includes Orange Business Services, Atos Origin, Elsag/Finmeccanica Group, Vitrociset, Telindus, and Terma.

Collectively, the team will manage the agency’s desktop, messaging and mobile computing environment for more than 4,000 internal users of the Agency, servers and applications infrastructure, and local and wide-area networks. The service solution has been designed together with the following EDS Agility Alliance partners: Sun Microsystems, Cisco Systems, Xerox, EMC, Dell, Oracle and Microsoft.

The group will also provide information and communication technology (ICT) security, including firewall management, authentication and antivirus services, and helpdesk services for all internal users plus over 6,000 external business partners requiring access to Agency information.

“Our ability to adapt global best practices to local business and client requirements has helped establish EDS as a major IT services provider for many international organizations, public sector and government clients around the world,” said Antonio Chiveri, president of the EDS Italy region. “The EDS team is proud to have been chosen as the overall service provider for the ESA’s IT services. We look forward to collaborating with the partner team to deliver services that will result in synergy, cost reduction and service improvement–and the long-term successful development of ESA’s business.”
About the European Space Agency

The European Space Agency is an International Organisation acting as Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe.

ESA has 17 Member States. By coordinating the financial and intellectual resources of its members, it can undertake programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European country. Visit ESA for more information.
About EDS

EDS is a leading global technology services company delivering business solutions to its clients. EDS founded the information technology outsourcing industry more than 40 years ago. Today, EDS delivers a broad portfolio of information technology and business process outsourcing services to clients in the manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, communications, energy, transportation, and consumer and retail industries and to governments around the world. Learn more at eds.com.

Note: EDS news releases are archived on this Web site for historical purposes. Information in the stories is accurate at the time of release. However, service offerings and availability, relationships, contacts and other specified information may change over time. Information as stated in the release may or may not be in effect after the date on the release.



WebWireID26727





This news content was configured by WebWire editorial staff. Linking is permitted.

News Release Distribution and Press Release Distribution Services Provided by WebWire.