EDS lands $1.7 billion outsourcing contract with Kraft Foods

EDS Friday said it signed a seven-year, $1.7 billion outsourcing services contract with food and beverage behemoth Kraft Foods.

As part of the contract, EDS said it would provide a variety of services including data centers, hosting, telecommunications, workplace support services, hardware and software. EDS said in a statement that it will manage Kraft’s IT infrastructure including desktop workstations and servers for more than 60,000 employees worldwide.

EDS has nailed a couple of big contracts in recent months. It was part of the massive General Motor five-year, multibillion-dollar systems integration plan that includes Capgemini, Compuware Covisint, HP, IBM and Wipro. The contract picks up where GM’s expiring 10-year outsourcing deal with EDS leaves off. EDS, which GM bought in 1984 and spun off in 1996, will continue to have the most business with GM out of the integrators awarded the new contracts. EDS estimates its share of the contracts will be worth $3.8 billion over five years.

The services firm also inked a multibillion-dollar outsourcing contract extension with the U.S. Department of the Navy that is worth an estimated $3 billion. That contract, known as the U.S. Navy/Marine Corps Intranet (NMCI), has been fraught with problems since its original signing in 2000.

EDS said the agreement with Kraft represents the largest consumer packaged goods contract the company has signed in its Consumer Industries & Retail sector.