All aboard the new bandwagon - the aggregator role for outsourcers

Missed the 'Green IT' boat? Don't panic: your next bandwagon will be arriving soon...

EDS has created a lot of buzz (albeit not as much as its acquisition by HP) with its new Shell contract - where EDS will taking the lead outsourcing role managing two other key suppliers (AT&T and T-Systems).

For all the background, take a look at computer weekly - http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2008/04/09/230199/shell-offers-lessons-on-outsourcing-contracts.htm

Time to see all those people who predicted the death of outsourcing contracts on this scale rushing to praise the 'new' model? Maybe, maybe not.

Ann All at ITBusinessEdge has brought together some interesting comments on the deal - particularly one from her interview with Ovum Research Director John Madden:

"Certainly for EDS, and for some other outsourcers out there, they’d like to see more deals like this. It allows them to show their expertise in managing complex contracts, and it’s another source of revenue for them. I think the success of a global vendor like Shell is going to be important to the overall service integrator trend and help determine whether it’s going to get some traction with some other large global clients."

From a marketing hoodie standpoint, it looks like another bandwagon in the offing. EDS have put themselves in a great position - working with an innovator like Shell to try and prove the case for this kind of contract. And maybe there won't be hundreds more of these contracts - but what great potenial for some hard-hitting positioning: "if we can manage a contract like this, imagine what we could do for you?"... And although EDS have taken a lead, the market's still wide open - it just needs an innovative approach to getting the message across...

...on which note, let me introduce a group of hoodied-up dancers who have used their skills to visualise what a new outsourcing proposition might look like through the medium of dance. And spot the bit 54 seconds in where they page homage to HP's acquisition of EDS - it's a classic!