EDS shuts centres to save $1bn

COMPUTER services giant Electronic Data Systems today said it will close four data centres in Europe and 17 in the US as it works to slash $1bn (£524m) in costs this year.

The company, which is on tenterhooks waiting to hear whether it has won a £4bn Ministry of Defence contract, would not name the centres that have been pinpointed for the axe, nor how many jobs would go because of the consolidation.

EDS has 42 centres in the US and 12 in Europe. It employs 117,000 workers worldwide and has said it wants to cut up to 20,000 this year.

The company has one of its 15 large-scale service management centres in Stockley Park in Middlesex.

It is also planning to reduce costs by increasing its software development workforce in India from the present 27% to about 33% of its staff.

EDS announced earlier this month that its costcutting was paying off and it recorded a profit of $53m compared with a loss of $337m a year earlier.

EDS and rival Computer Sciences Corp are waiting to see who wins the Ministry of Defence contract, which will be the world's largest single information technology contract.