EDS today announced it has signed a five-year, US $1 billion IT Master Services Agreement (MSA) with Royal Dutch Shell. Today’s agreement with EDS is one of three IT outsourcing agreements between Shell and three key suppliers and is expected to deliver Shell a substantial business improvement over the five-year initial term of the contract.


Under the terms of the agreement, EDS will manage Shell’s end-user computing services including desktop, service desk, on-site services, back-up and disaster recovery, mobile information protection, and managed messaging services, for 150,000 users in more than 100 countries across its global operations. To reduce management complexity for Shell, EDS will also act as operational integrator, collaborating closely with Shell’s other key IT suppliers. Approximately 1,500 IT professionals, including Shell full-time employees and contractors currently working for Shell, will join EDS in 65 countries globally. Services in some joint ventures remain outside the scope of this agreement.


“EDS has a significant global presence and proven experience in large-scale IT outsourcing. We have asked them to apply their broad experience and act as operational integrator toward our other key partners,” said Alan Matula, executive vice president and chief information officer, Shell. “Shell demands consistent and agile IT support to operate in a competitive global industry. We expect our sourcing approach with EDS and our other key suppliers to deliver significant value to our businesses.”


“The new agreement is designed to significantly enhance Shell’s operational flexibility by establishing global technology and operational standards for its businesses, thereby enabling Shell to focus on information technology that supports its strategic objectives of ‘more upstream, profitable downstream,’” said Bill Thomas, executive vice president for EDS Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).


Aspects of the agreement are supportive of Shell’s goal to lead its industry in technology and business functionality. EDS will support Shell’s business by enabling high-speed desktop deployments using Microsoft Windows Vista operating system to existing, remote and new locations. EDS will work closely with its EDS Agility Alliance partners Microsoft, SAP, Xerox, Sun and EMC to deliver products and services to Shell.


Today’s signing of the MSA with Shell will extend globally with supporting agreements being signed concurrently in Shell’s four IT delivery hubs – the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Malaysia and the United States.

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