EDS: A Return to Glory?
23 Jan 2006
Electronic Data Systems CEO Michael Jordan has rehung the portrait of founder Ross Perot outside his offices in EDS' Plano, Texas, headquarters. Perot has been absent from the company since 1984, as has the spirit of excellence that Perot embodied, CEO Michael Jordan reasoned, and his presence may inspire EDS to a return to glory. After 1996, when EDS was spun out of General Motors, EDS slid into mediocrity and its finances into junk status.
The lessons EDS has learned since: Try not to be all things to all customers and be willing to accept smaller deals instead of only shooting for the largest ones. That said, EDS still is trying to be flexible, within reason, and wants to take on IBM Global Services when the opportunity presents itself, as it did when EDS beat out IGS for a $500 million deal with Royal Ahold last year.
Through a Q&A with CEO Michael Jordan and stories on the turnaround of the NMCI account and EDS’ enhanced competitiveness, eWeek explores the rebuilding of EDS.