(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Technology services provider Electronic Data Systems (www.eds.com) announced on Monday it has signed a 10-year, $1 billion data center services contract with UK insurance firm Aviva (www.aviva.com) to reduce Aviva’s operational costs, improve information access and increase flexibility.
Last August, HP purchased EDS for approximately $13.9 billion, making it the largest acquisition deal in the IT services sector and the second largest in the technology industry.
The agreement, which was signed last month, will see EDS transform and manage two data centers in Norwich, England.
These data centers will serve Aviva’s businesses in the United Kingdom, India, France and Ireland.
EDS will provide Aviva, which is the fifth largest insurance firm in the world, with data center modernization services as well as management for the company’s mainframe, midrange and Windows servers.
Aviva will move about 300 of its employees to EDS to deliver these services.
“The data center transformation will help Aviva increase efficiency, lower risk and reduce costs,” says Bill Thomas, senior vice president for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region at EDS, an HP company. “As a trusted business ally, EDS will draw on its years of experience to help Aviva evolve its technology environment to drive better business outcomes.”
HP and Cisco will provide select tools, technologies and resources to EDS in support of Aviva.
The contract is a significant one for EDS, especially when considering that many outsourcing deals have been decreasing in size and duration as the recession continues to worsen.
According to Gartner Research, HP-EDS won five of the largest deals in 2008.
EDS provides a range of information technology, applications and business process outsourcing services, including payments and securities processing, applications development, network and customer relationship management, and help desk services.
