The EDS business unit of HP will change its name to HP Enterprise Services. The company says the name change emphasizes the business unit’s global role as the enterprise technology services component of HP’s portfolio. It supports a yearlong effort to transfer to HP the strong services brand equity that EDS has built over nearly 50 years. Additionally, it places the global power and recognition of the HP brand behind EDS’s robust technology services portfolio.

The brand update comes one year after HP announced the acquisition of EDS and is a critical milestone as the integration of EDS into HP nears completion.

“I see this as the next chapter in a long and distinguished history of IT services,” says Joe Eazor, senior vice president and general manager of HP Enterprise Services. “And we want to bring that history with us, shifting to HP the industry knowledge, IT expertise and commitment to delivering operational excellence that always defined EDS. I think the EDS legacy can also enhance the already-powerful HP brand, and take it even further.”

HP is one of the world’s leading companies – No. 9 of the Fortune 500, No. 12 on Interbrand’s top global brands, No. 7 on BusinessWeek’s Most Innovative Companies and No. 30 on [BusinessWeek’s] Most Admired Companies list.”

“As the integration with HP nears completion, we want to look to the future,” Eazor says. “We want to assure current EDS clients that they will still receive outstanding service from their trusted business ally. And at the same time, we want to introduce our current HP clients and prospects to who we are and to our vast new capabilities.

“We are the same organization that pioneered technology services and the same people who continue to lead that industry. Now we give clients enhanced value through the best-in-class innovation and cutting-edge technology of HP for seamless, end-to-end support that they can’t get from any other company.”

EDS was founded in 1962 and established the information technology outsourcing industry. It is credited with many of the practices that are central to the industry today, including systems management; systems integration; centralized transaction processing; and private digital voice, data and video networks. The company was acquired by HP in the latter half of 2008. Today, HP Enterprise Services delivers one of the industry’s broadest portfolios of infrastructure technology, applications and business process outsourcing services.