February 26, 2005 – (HOSTSEARCH.COM) – ZDnet reported earlier today that Electronic Data Systems is planning to close 21 data centers in the United States and Europe and shift some of the work offshore to India in an effort to cut costs.
EDS did not say how many jobs would be affected by the move.
The decision could eliminate a sixth of EDS’s 120,000 employee work force.
"The suggested 20 percent reduction in costs over the next period--helped by the movement of application management staff to offshore locations--will enable an increased investment in branding and marketing (already under way)," Ovum Holway analyst Georgina O'Toole said in a research note. "However, this investment will need to bear fruit quickly if EDS is to achieve the turnaround that it is so optimistically suggesting."
