Although manufacturing, a strong client sector here, is under threat from lower- cost countries, EDS executives believe future is bright and full of opportunities. A constant challenge is to make an immense global company fit into the local landscape. Karlin Lillington reports

Electronic Data Systems (EDS), the huge US computer services company with a prominent profile, is one of the quieter US imports to the Republic. The Plano, Texas firm, founded in the 1960s by business maverick Mr Ross Perot, employs 400 of its 120,000 workforce here. It established its first operations centre outside the US in 1989 in Dublin, and then franchised the model across Europe. But EDS rarely graces the list of glamour information technology companies waved about by the Government.

That's most likely because the company, like many of the longer-lived industry stalwarts, for years never sought a sexy image. Being known as a reliable workhorse that managed computer systems and offered advice to big corporate clients seemed to suit it fine.

That all changed in January 1999 with new chief executive Mr Dick Brown, an American who had worked for Cable & Wireless in London. EDS had begun to ossify and was distinctly out of sync with developing trends in services, particularly the internet.

Mr Brown streamlined the company, aggressively went after internet-oriented business, began an image remake to create a cooler profile for the Texas giant, and turned a lazy corporate culture into something leaner and goal-oriented.

A very witty EDS advertisement based on the theme of herding cats - e.g., organising complexity - ran widely in the US during 2000 and almost single-handedly revived the company's image.

"EDS did not have a culture of continuous improvement," said Mr Bill Thomas, EDS Britain and Ireland president. "It's not an understatement to say Dick Brown has reinvented EDS."

Mr Peter Donnelly, EDS's managing director in the Republic, nods in agreement.

The reinvention came just in time. Mr Thomas has no doubts that the remake enabled the company's performance to remain fairly stable throughout 2001's dire business climate. Ahead of February results, analysts seem happy with EDS and Lehman Brothers recently upgraded the shares to a strong buy.

In Britain and the Republic, Mr Donnelly and Mr Thomas seem satisfied for EDS to retain a more low-key face.

EDS, second only to IBM in services worldwide, is now first in market share in Britain, according to Mr Thomas. In the Republic, the company handily picked up the largest Government services contract ever last year, to run the Land Registry website.

"The biggest opportunity for us in Ireland is the Government sector," said Mr Donnelly. "If we just focused on that, I think we'd have a very happy business."

But given the growth of the financial services and international business sector here, Mr Donnelly feels there is much opportunity to pick up new clients among the State's top 200 or 300 corporates.

However, one of EDS's stronger client sectors here is in manufacturing, an area he acknowledges is threatened by lower-cost countries. If those companies relocate, a new source of revenue could be e-commerce-oriented companies the Government would like to attract, he said.

A constant challenge is to make an immense global company fit into the local landscape, while making sure it doesn't fracture into isolated offices.

"We're not EDS Germany or EDS Italy anymore but EDS in Germany, EDS in Italy," said Mr Thomas.

Mr Brown insists on collaboration among, rather than competition between global offices, he said.

Given EDS's strong ties to the US government - it won a multi-billion dollar Navy contract in 2000 - the company seems to be in a position to benefit from post-September 11th government spend.

Certainly, one growth area for EDS is "business continuity" services - enabling a company to continue to operate even if catastrophe strikes and records are destroyed.

EDS may face a major new competitor for such contracts if the proposed Hewlett-Packard/Compaq merger goes through, creating a new giant that would automatically take the number three spot in global services behind EDS.

Unsurprisingly, Mr Thomas is dismissive. Both are good companies alone but Hewlett-Packard would add on a hardware supplier that adds little value for services.

Merging with a consultancy such as PricewaterhouseCoopers would have been a better move, he said. But they'll worry about the new competitor if and when the merger happens. In the meantime, he'll stick to one focus. "We win business on the basis of our execution," he said.