OUTSOURCING powerhouse Electronic Data Systems (EDS) has won a $100 million agreement with Rank Xerox to provide the firm with all its information technology services needs for the next nine years.
As a part of the contract, all 16 of Rank Xerox's data processing staff have been transferred to the EDS payroll, making them full-time EDS employees.
The agreement in Hong Kong follows a 10-year global outsourcing deal signed in mid-1994 worth US$3.2 billion. As part of the deal, EDS undertook to provide Xerox with full information technology services on a worldwide basis.
The Hong Kong outsourcing arrangement entered with the local Xerox subsidiary - Rank Xerox - has now been written into that global contract as an addendum.
In Hong Kong, EDS will provide Rank Xerox with full information technology (IT) services, from the running of its data centre, to providing 'help-desk' services to designing, developing and implementing future information systems applications for the next nine years.
EDS Hong Kong managing director Stephen Lau said the contract with Rank Xerox differed from standard outsourcing agreements in that the two companies would use their information systems partnership as a platform from which to generate new business for both companies outside of that agreement.
'We are looking at this as not just an IT partnership - in that we are not just providing IT services - but both companies will be looking for opportunities to leverage the core competencies of the companies to actually generate new business,' Mr Lau said.