In mid-2008, Palo Alto, California-based Hewlett-Packard announced that it had reached a definitive agreement that would enable the company to acquire EDS (Electronic Data Systems) for a price tag of US$13.9 billion. Since then, a number of changes have been made, but the company has just announced one of the most significant ones since the acquisition. In a recent press statement, HP has announced that EDS will become HP Enterprise Services. The move represents another step in the year-long integration of EDS into HP and underlines the growing global role of the enterprise technology services in HP's portfolio.

“Our clients expect us to harness the full power of HP’s portfolio to solve their business challenges,” said Joe Eazor, senior vice president and general manager, HP Enterprise Services. “Today we are combining the strong services brand equity that EDS has built over the last 47 years with HP’s technology leadership to become the leading IT services provider. We will continue to deliver the same service excellence that our clients have come to expect.”

To further emphasize on the impact that the EDS acquisition has had on the company, HP has announced that the Technology Solutions Group will be renamed HP Enterprise Business, a group that is focused on business and government organizations of all sizes. According to HP, the group portfolio expands to servers, storage, software, networking and technology services, beyond that of enterprise services.

The company has also said that the aforementioned HP Enterprise Business accounted for 47 percent of its revenue in the third quarter of the fiscal year 2009, and 60 percent of its non-GAAP operating profit.

“Customers are facing tough challenges in their technology environments,” said Ann Livermore, executive vice president of HP. “Challenges such as a rigid infrastructure, increasing applications and information complexity are restricting the speed in which IT can add value to the business. HP is the best at helping customers manage and transform their technology environments to deliver better business outcomes.”