Electronic Data Systems
Last known EDS logo
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| Division of HP | |
| Industry | Information technology services |
| Fate | Acquired by HP |
| Founded | June 27, 1962 as Electronic Data Systems |
| Founder | H. Ross Perot |
| Defunct | September 23, 2009 |
| Headquarters | Plano, Texas, USA |
| Products | Computer Services |
| Revenue | US$22.1 billion (2007) |
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Number of employees
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136,000 |
| Parent |
General Motors 1984–1996 Hewlett-Packard 2008–2015 Hewlett-Packard Enterprise 2015–present |
| Website | eds.com |
Electronic Data Systems (EDS) was an American multinational information technology equipment and services company headquartered in Plano, Texas.
Electronic Data Systems was founded in 1962 by H. Ross Perot.
In its early years, it was a pioneer in facilities management (becoming the IT department for many companies) as well as beginning to service banks and provide early support for both Medicaid and Medicare in its home state of Texas. Leading the effort internally was Morton H. Meyerson, who joined the company in 1966 as the company's 54th employee. In 1967, he proposed the business model that eventually became known as "outsourcing" and which led to exponential growth for EDS.
In the 1970s, EDS expanded initially into more insurance services and later credit unions, and by 1975 revenue topped $100 million and the company began bidding for work internationally. In 1978 EDS expanded into financial markets with the arrival of ATMs, electronic funds transfers and real-time point-of-sale terminals. Meyerson was named president in 1979, at which point EDS had revenue of $270 million, was free of debt, and had 8,000 employees.
In the 1980s, they expanded into travel services supporting payment services between travel agents and airlines represented by the Air Transport Association of America and provided large scale contracts for the US military.
In 1984, the company was acquired by General Motors for $2.5 billion, with EDS becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of GM. Meyerson remained president and in 1985, the company had a presence in 21 countries with 40,000 employees. Meyerson retired in 1987. During his years of executive leadership, EDS revenue grew to $4 billion a year, and the company went to 45,000 employees. By the end of the decade, revenue was $5 billion.
In the 1990s, in addition to its existing markets, EDS was entering the telecommunications industry and was providing IT systems in many foreign countries. They were providing information systems for global sporting events including the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the 1994 FIFA World Cup, and the 1998 FIFA World Cup. In 1994, they signed what was at the time the largest information technology contract with Xerox for $3.2 billion and also bought the New Zealand banking processing company Databank Systems. In 1995 they purchased A.T. Kearney, the world's 4th largest private management consulting firm. In 1996, they became an independent company again and relisted on the . Before the turn of the century they took part in over 1,300 Year 2000 projects.
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