EDS Signs $100 Million in Contracts; Expands Leadership in $2.7 Billion Web Hosting Market

[NewsDesk]

EDS (NYSE:EDS) today announced a series of contracts including managed Web hosting services with current and new EDS clients, and a recent industry analyst report that positions EDS as one of the leading Web hosting providers. These clients will tap into EDS' agile and scalable infrastructure where their Web sites will reside. EDS also includes a 100 percent up-time guarantee with time to repair commitments that ensures clients' Web sites will not go down.

According to META Group, Inc.'s April 2003 METAspectrum(SM) Market Summary, entitled "Managed Web Hosting Outsourcing - North America" by Corey Ferengul and David Willis, EDS is among the leaders in performance and presence in this market segment.

"We estimate managed Web hosting as a $2.7 billion market with a 23 percent growth rate," said Ferengul, vice president for META Group. "We also found that few customers will look to newly established vendors, leaving established providers that have a strong commitment to hosting as a part of a broader professional services portfolio to dominate the market."

Today's announcements, financial terms of which were not disclosed, include:

• A five-year agreement with CHEMCENTRAL, the world's largest privately held distributor of industrial chemicals, for network management, Web and midrange hosting, help desk, and applications services. With the renewed Web Hosting agreement, EDS will continue to support CHEMCENTRAL's ongoing efforts to simplify communication of necessary product and service information and make the chemical buying experience as rewarding, efficient, and cost-effective as possible for its customers.


• A multiyear agreement with INTELLINEX LLC, a learning solutions enterprise of Ernst & Young, LLP, for Web hosting services. INTELLINEX has provided learning opportunities for more than two million learners within corporate organizations and government agencies. META Group also placed INTELLINEX in the leader category in mits 2003 METAspectrum(SM) "Evaluation of Learning Management System Platforms." With this new agreement, EDS will enable INTELLINEX customers to have global access to learning solutions delivered around the clock and uninterrupted for its employees, customers, partners and suppliers.


• An eight-year contract renewal with Sabre to host its Travelocity Web site. With this agreement, EDS will continue to provide stable Web hosting support for the 40 million members of Travelocity, the nation's seventh largest travel agency.

Web Hosting Focused on Scalability, Flexibility and 100% Service Level Guarantee

Featuring a Service Level Agreement (SLA) of 100 percent uptime, EDS' new hosting offering, announced earlier this year, enhances EDS' world-class Web and application hosting services. It leverages Opsware(TM) technology to improve the quality and efficiency of hosting services by automating the complete lifecycle of managing enterprise software and the industrial-strength IT infrastructure upon which these applications run.

"EDS combines the stability of a long term player with the innovation clients need to help them succeed in the ever changing hosting marketplace," said Larry Lozon, global service line executive, EDS Web and Application Hosting for EDS. "We continue to lead the hosting marketplace to new levels it's never seen before with 100 percent service level guarantees, critical tasks automation and virtually unlimited capacity, and clients are responding by awarding us new contracts."

Full Spectrum of Hosting Services

EDS is one of the only providers to offer the full continuum of hosting services that includes the technology and professional services related to Web and application hosting, mainframe and midrange applications management, intelligent storage and security and privacy to keep enterprises competitive today and in the future. These fully managed, fully scalable services offer the flexibility to adjust on-demand, as needs fluctuate, so clients only pay for what they need, when needed.

About EDS

EDS, the world's largest independent information technology services company, provides strategy, implementation, business transformation and operational solutions for clients managing the business and technology complexities of the digital economy. EDS brings together the world's best technologies to address critical client business imperatives. It helps clients eliminate boundaries, collaborate in new ways, establish their customers' trust and continuously seek improvement. EDS, with its management- consulting subsidiary, A.T. Kearney, serves the world's leading companies and governments in 60 countries. EDS reported revenues of $21.5 billion in 2002. The company's stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange. Learn more at www.eds.com .