EDS and Orange work on mobile ECO system

NEWS Orange has teamed up with EDS as part of a far-reaching effort to make integrating mobile devices easier for enterprise telecoms and IT departments. The idea is that the two companies offer the EDS Extended Connected Office (ECO) service to user organisations worried about the risk of taking their business mobile. There will also be joint product launches and consulting. Cynthia Gordon, marketing director at Orange Business Solutions, said: "Orange customers almost always want a systems integrator approach to devices. They want managed availability and managed service environment." EDS currently manages around 3.3 million desktop PCs, which can involve making sure they enter a customer premise with the right software, and the aim is to follow the same approach for mobile devices and their software. Orange's Gordon added that though the companies have formed a Wireless Centre of Excellence, made up of joint virtual teams, there are no plans for a separate joint venture unit or brand, saying there is "real value in having the two brand names together side by side". Bill Crawford, global offering executive, EDS Mobility Services, said in a statement that ECO "maintains the consistency, stability and security of enterprise-wide systems". The deal is technology agnostic, tying in with Orange's use of a wide range of devices and software. Various analyst houses have pointed out over the past year that enterprise roll outs of wireless and mobile devices - especially PDAs and smart phones - will depend on vendors and their partners tailoring solutions and managing them. EDS, though known for outsourcing and IT services deals around the world, has been making mobile inroads of late. Earlier this week it announced its Mobile Information Protection initiative, aimed at backing up data on all types of devices. The arrangement is non-exclusive, meaning it is quite possible Orange will work with other partner in a similar way as well as continue to go into corporate sites themselves. EDS is working on a similar set up with a North American operator.