On April 26, I wrote on the shake up that was awaiting giant outsourcing suppliers.

Here we go. HP announced today that they acquired EDS for $ 13.9 Billion.

Both HP and EDS taken separately were giants; their combination is a mega-giant. That said, the acquisition might make more sense from a shareholder’s point of view than from a customer’s perspective. This impression is confirmed by the structure of the official press release, which focuses first on the benefits for the shareholders, and in terms that are much more positive than for the benefits for the customers:

“First and foremost, this is a great transaction for our stockholders, providing tremendous value in the form of a significant premium to our stock price.”

The benefits for the customers look way less tremendous:

“It’s also beneficial to our customers, as the combination of our two global companies and the collective skills of our employees will drive innovation and enhance value for them in a wide range of industries.”

This merge comes at a time where US companies are spreading mega-deals from large single contracts over multiple, smaller providers. Customers are looking for better reactivity and responsiveness, not necessarily larger size.

I am willing to bet that the real winners in today’s market are not going to be the largest suppliers, but the ones that are focusing their efforts on their customer’s satisfaction.

Remi
www.outsourcing-vsc.com

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