News
Issue #2003 - 19 (June 2003)
(Updated June 12, 2003)

APPLICATION SOLUTIONS & APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT

EDS Unveils Managed Solution For Mobile Workforce 

PLANO, Texas -- EDS today announced its new, fully-managed enterprise mobility solution, EDS Extended Connected Office (ECO). Leveraging its agile infrastructure approach and experience managing 3.3 million desktops for global business, EDS ECO brings the same range of enterprise applications, high availability and security offered through a managed desktop environment to any mobile data device. 

ECO connects mobile and remote workers seamlessly through the corporate firewall to access personal information management systems, corporate data, collaboration services and enterprise applications. 

“ECO has created a true mobile extension of the enterprise that moves the managed environment from the desktop into the wireless world, but still maintains the consistency, stability and security of enterprise-wide systems.” said Bill Crawford, Global Offering Executive, EDS Mobility Services. “The benefits of managed mobility services provided by ECO can be measured in hard numbers with reduced cost of ownership and managed risk, as well as the soft benefits of improved productivity and increased collaboration enabled by linking remote and mobile workforces around the world.” 

ECO is the first managed service offering that is completely device-, technology- and service-agnostic, combining a full selection of hardware, middleware, security and software products from EDS’ industry relationships into a comprehensive service suite that leverages enterprises’ existing IT infrastructure. Migrating to a fully managed mobility service model enables companies to eliminate capital expenditures and provides a predictable, utility-based cost for mobile workforce solutions that are supported against committed service level agreements. 

“Our research shows that the enterprises are looking to the marketplace to not only identify mobility solutions but also to manage all aspects of negotiation, integration and operations,” said Eric Goodness, principal analyst at Gartner Research. “For vendors to be successful in the mobility space, they must be able to frame pragmatic solutions according to the enterprises' unique requirements for cost containment, performance and flexibility.” 

Global Carriers
EDS offers ECO as an extension to its existing customer contracts, or to new customers through channel partnerships established with mobile communications companies including Orange UK. By establishing master service agreements with mobile operators, EDS delivers global coverage and an integrated service delivery model with guaranteed, carrier-class quality of service. Carriers benefit by incorporating a complete suite of managed data services that serve as an entry point into the lucrative market for enterprise mobile workforce solutions and provide a means to increase average revenue per user. 

Pilot Programs
EDS is currently in pilots to provide mobile access to Intranets and enterprise supply chain applications for mobile communications company Orange UK and EDS’ European operations. 

“Orange is committed to delivering innovative solutions and, together with EDS, we are continuing to help make our customers’ mobile working environments simpler and easier to manage,” says Richard Hanscott, vice president, Orange Business Solutions. “The ECO solution reduces the risk associated with mobile solutions, by allowing companies to take advantage of a fully managed service. In addition, customers are able to plan and budget more accurately thanks to the fixed cost per user pricing. We have started to roll out the pilot internally and with early adopter companies, and look forward to working together with EDS on delivering tangible business benefits for our customers.” 

On average, EDS pilot users have experienced a productivity gain of two hours per working day. Overall, ECO has delivered users the ability to more efficiently manage their workday and achieve time savings that ultimately deliver cost savings. 

Furthermore, according to a recent study by industry consulting firm A.T. Kearney (that EDS owns), having secure, around-the-clock access to this information can increase employee productivity by as much as 30 percent and provides an investment pay back of less than two years. Wirelessly-enabling core business processes and enterprise applications such as Field Force Automation, Sales Force Automation and Supply Chain Automation boosts profitability through reduced cycle times, increased asset utilization and increased service levels. 

About EDS
EDS, a large global services company, provides strategy, implementation, business transformation and operational solutions for clients managing the business and technology complexities of the digital economy.  

About Orange
Orange is the largest service provider in UK where it has over 13.3 million active customers.  

Source: EDS press release

For more information: http://www.eds.com and http://www.orange.co.uk

MobileInfo Comments and Advisory: EDS is essentially a systems integration and implementation company. Enterprises should evaluate mobile management solutions in the context of their existing infrastructure and ensure that EDS advice and proposed solution is given after evaluating all available vendor solutions (XcelleNet, Synchrologic, Mobile automation, Extended Systems and others who provide the underpinnings of mobile device management) and not biased by in-house expertise of EDS consultants. As far as we know, EDS does not have a unique software product capable of mobile management. If they are proposing a custom solution, stay away from it. There is no doubt that EDS has the overall expertise to provide this service. Trick is for enterprise IT professionals to figure out how unbiased it is and how EDS can utilize one of the several packaged solutions mentioned above. If carriers want a special custom solution, then that is not applicable to non-carrier enterprises.

Note: This news release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and section 21E of Securities Exchange act of 1934 in USA. Similar provisions exist in other countries. There is no assurance that the stipulated plans of vendors will be implemented. MobileInfo does not warrant the authenticity of the information. Readers should take appropriate caution in developing plans utilizing these products, services and technology architectures.  All trademarks used in this summary are the property of their respective owners.