EDS Finds Partners In Akamai and FreeDrive
EDS is strengthening its Internet-storage services through a partnership and a new contract. The partnership, between EDS and Akamai Technologies Inc., will see the companies' services bundled for Web-hosting and data-storage customers.
In a separate move, FreeDrive Inc., a storage-service company that gives free storage to consumers via the Internet, hired EDS to provide and manage its Web- and application-hosting and data-storage services, on an as-needed basis.
Through its partnership with Akamai, EDS will sell to its clients Akamai's Free Flow Internet products, which include services for content delivery, streaming media delivery, and global traffic management. In return, Akamai will push EDS's managed-content-storage services to Akamai's content clients.
According to EDS, the bundled services will streamline content delivery and reduce network traffic pileups. The deal will allow more efficient distribution of rich media content, says Tom Arment, EDS VP of direct channels and alliances.
"It's another value-add service to [EDS] customers," Yankee Group analyst Alex Benik says of the Akamai deal. "Especially for customers concerned with front-end performance. This is the first time EDS and Akamai are working together on their data repository strategies. It will be a major benefit to the customer."
The twin moves are a result of EDS's recent alliance with storage company EMC Corp., according to Arment. That deal, completed in May, was made in part to offer more services to companies moving into E-business. Says Arment, "These are the first deals that have resulted from our alliance."
-- Elisabeth Goodridge
informationweek.com |
