Handheld Computing Company
European Manufacturer Transforms Supply Chain in Dynamic Market
It took nearly a decade of development before the handheld computing subsidiary was able to launch its first commercially successful handheld devices. Once those products were launched in 1996, however, the subsidiary began growing faster than it ever imagined possible. Hoping to sell 100,000 personal digital assistants (PDAs) in the first year, it ended up selling 350,000 in a few months. Within a few years, it had sold more than 6 million PDAs worldwide, and the handheld computing company, once just a tiny division of a converged networking giant, was bringing in more than 10 percent of that company’s total sales.
With a solid lead in the PDA market, it made business sense to spin off the PDA company as its own entity. And the networking company wanted to capitalize on the market demand for technology stocks. But there was one major obstacle. For many years, the handheld computing company had been a small part of a global networking business. As such, it never needed its own IT capabilities. Now the subsidiary needed its own infrastructure, applications and systems. With an IT department of fewer than a dozen people, it also needed a knowledgeable support staff.
Although the company originally considered building its own infrastructure, it became evident that the best solution was to outsource IT functions, but not in the traditional way. So, the company turned to EDS to develop a more customized, collaborative solution.
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