At a time of year when business tends to slow to a crawl, Compaq Computer Corp. showed that it’s keeping the competitive fires burning as the Houston-based firm Thursday said it had penned IT service and
technology deals with defense contractor Raytheon and mobile phone maker Ericsson to the tune of $250 million
and $200 million, respectively.
In its new, three-year deal with Lexington, Mass.’s Raytheon Co., Compaq will supply the firm with custom
configurations for desktops, notebooks, servers, and workstations, as well as enterprise and business-class storage at 196 sites in
the U.S. The deal is an extension to a previous agreement; Compaq has provided standard solutions to Raytheon since 1998.
For the Ericsson pact, an extension of an existing agreement good for the next five years, Compaq will manage Ericsson’s existing IT
resources and provide additional Compaq Computing on Demand services at a number of Ericsson sites in Sweden. Computing on Demand
combines the firm’s strengths in technology — servers, storage, wireless handheld devices, and PCs — with Compaq Global Services
and support capabilities.
Compaq’s Executive Vice President for Worldwide Sales and Services Peter Blackmore said the deals are indicative of a strategy
outlined by CEO Michael Capellas last June. Compaq isn’t going to stop making computers — it’s just going to offer a whole lot more
functions that people can perform with them.
“We are gaining tremendous momentum in the marketplace, proving that our strategy to lead with services and provide end-to-end IT
solutions is working,” Blackmore said. “The proof of the pudding is in the eating — our enterprise customers are endorsing our
strategy by voting with their business.
Blackmore noted that Compaq’s business emphasis this past fall has been steeped in the enterprise, spanning such niches as
from infrastructure to distributed computing and access.
Thursday’s contracts contain the wettest ink in what is a long trail for Compaq this year, as the firm also inked a $1 billion
Windows and Intel-based systems deal for the U.S. Postal Service; a deal with General Motors for an undisclosed sum; and a $95
million services contract with General Electric Aircraft Engines.
Compaq Picks Up 2 Contracts Worth $450 Million
