EDS Acquires SAP Specialist

Electronic Data Systems, the nation's second largest outsourcer, said Monday that it plans to acquire SAP specialist Global Enterprise Management Solutions for an undisclosed sum. EDS said it expects the deal to close by year's end.

GEMS, based in Irvine, Texas, provides business customers with a range of services around SAP's enterprise software, including integration, legacy migration, and hosting. Its customer list includes DHL, Samsung and Ticketmaster. GEMS also has partnered with EDS on a number of customer engagements.

As part of the deal, about 150 GEMS employees will join EDS, giving the outsourcer an immediate boost in SAP-qualified programmers, which are in hot demand in the tech industry. The median annual salary for an SAP project manager in the U.S. is $89,000, according to Salary.com.

EDS is looking to build out its workforce in part through acquisitions. Last month, it said it would pay $150 million to increase its ownership stake in Mphasis BFL, Ltd., which provides outsourced application development and business services from India. Mphasis give EDS about 11,000 employees in India, where the company wants to grow to take advantage of the country's low-cost workforce. In addition to offices in Dallas and Germany, GEMS maintains an Indian development center.