EDS Lands $1.7 Billion IT Contract At Kraft Foods

About 670 Kraft IT employees will move to EDS as a result of the agreement. The agreement calls for EDS to provide services for Kraft data centers, IT hosting, telecommunications and workplace support services. The agreement is scheduled to begin June 1.

"World-class information technology is critical to Kraft's long-term business success," said Roger Deromedi, Kraft Foods CEO, in a statement. "Our strategy is to have the ideal mix of in-house and outsourced activities."

EDS said Dell, Microsoft, Cisco and EMC will also collaborate on the contract as partners in the EDS Agility Alliance. Responsibility for Kraft Foods' IT infrastructure will be taken over by EDS, which will oversee desktop workstations and servers for Kraft's more than 60,000 employees. Also called for in the contract is the development of a scalable platform responsive to Kraft's business needs.

EDS said the Kraft agreement is the largest consumer packaged goods contract it has signed in the consumer industries and retail sector.