"EDS stands alone in its ability to provide total, enterprise-wide integration of the components of a CRM program, to enable a flexible approach to growing customer relationships," said EDS Chairman and CEO Dick Brown. "These new digital CRM offerings and alliances recognize that customer intimacy is critical to establishing the trust consumers need for the digital economy to grow."

EDS digital CRM solutions consist of strategic and solutions consulting services in addition to the complete spectrum of seven turnkey and outsourced services that empower companies to plan, design, manage and operate a successful, sustained customer-centric approach to business.

They are:

1. Enterprise CRM Strategy Consulting:
   Successful CRM requires fundamental change in business model, structure, process and culture, transforming the enterprise into a customer-centric organization. A.T. Kearney provides customer touch-point assessments, enterprise CRM strategies, business cases and program plans that integrate deliverables across the full spectrum of Digital CRM services.
2. Solutions Consulting and Turnkey Solutions:
   eCRM Services: Establishment and maintenance of the relationships between businesses and their customers, providing multiple communications channel integration, automated marketing, sales and customer care while creating a unified view of the customer, and enabling the full integration of those processes with a variety of other established business procedures, technologies, and infrastructure systems.
3. Business Intelligence Services:
   Complete Business Intelligence Services for CRM programs, enabling clients to analyze customer interactions, segment the customer base, target profitable customers for up-sell and cross-sell efforts, and personalize interactions for improved customer loyalty, satisfaction, retention and profitability.
4. Knowledge Management Services:
   Web-enabled, self-service knowledge management solutions, together with implementation and integration services. Clients benefit from the increased speed to respond to customer needs and inquiries, as well as decreased operational costs through the self-service solution.
5. CRM Management Services:
   Customer Interaction Center Services: Direct and immediate communications channels (e-mail, web, text chat, VoIP, fax, phone, mail, etc.) for clients and their customers, in both the 'business-to-business' and 'business-to-consumer' market spaces. The range of Customer Interaction Center (CIC) services offered includes: Base CIC Services, Customer Relations, Roadside & Emergency Services, Technical Product Support and Lead Generation to Sales.
6. Customer Intelligence Services:
   Tracking and analysis of individual customer behavior over time and customer-interaction touchpoints using fine-tuned segmentation techniques. These services help businesses achieve mass customization and build more valuable customer relationships by aligning products and services with buyers needs and wants. Customer Intelligence Services allow companies to partner with EDS in developing customer-centric data warehouses. EDS then provides on-going support in managing data preparation and enhancement, performing analytics and data mining, and performing marketing automation functions and mailing list management.
7. Fulfillment and Distribution Services:
   Outsourced order management, payment processing/billing, letter shop, inventory and warehousing management, distribution and returns management. Companies benefit from EDS' experience, technology, facilities and capabilities to economically and efficiently get the job done.

"META Group research shows that CRM is an ongoing journey for most customers, not simply a destination," said Mark Coggin, Vice President with META Group Consulting. "Once a CRM vision is established, core components like contact management and sales force automation are implemented first, with a strategy for augmenting the solution over time. In order to cope with this stepwise lifecycle, firms looking to implement CRM must engage a strategic services partner who has strengths along the entire CRM lifecycle -- from vision and strategy, through integration and implementation, to operation and outsourcing of specific CRM-related business processes."

To address this market, EDS has aligned itself with an array of "best-of-breed" partners to provide key components of the company's digital CRM offerings. Agreements being announced today include:

• Avaya -- A provider of communications systems for enterprises. EDS will use Avaya's CentreVu® Internet Solutions and CRM Central 2000 software to streamline and intelligently manage incoming and outgoing customer contacts over multiple communications channels, including fax, phone, web and e-mail.
• McHugh Inc. -- A provider of Logistics Execution Solutions. EDS will incorporate the McHugh multi-client warehouse management system for real-time inventory tracking and reverse logistics in the company's warehousing facilities in Fairfield, Ohio; Des Moines, Iowa; and Clarion, Iowa.
• NCR Corporation -- A provider of Relationship Technologyä solutions to customers worldwide. EDS will offer NCR's data warehousing capabilities to CRM clients.
• Retek Inc. -- A provider of high capacity, full-function business infrastructure for retailers. Retek will provide EDS clients with real-time, online order management systems and web-enabled product fulfillment tools.
• Servicesoft Inc. -- A provider of intelligent eService solutions. EDS will incorporate the Servicesoft 2001 integrated suite of Internet customer service solutions into its clients' customer interaction center and CRM programs.
• ServiceWare Technologies, Inc. -- A provider of Web-based solutions for enterprise customer service and support. EDS will integrate ServiceWare's Web-based eService Suiteã into client customer interaction center and CRM programs.
• Siebel Systems Inc. -- A provider of eBusiness applications software. Siebel will provide desktop and front office CRM solutions encompassing call center, sales and field service automation, marketing automation, and applications for dot.com, e-channel, and industry-specific engagements.

EDS has previously established strategic relationships with Chordiant Software and Xchange Inc. EDS uses Chordiant software to integrate customer transactions by uniting a variety of "front office" and "back office" functions of marketing and business activities. EDS also hosts Xchange Dialogue, an eCRM solution that helps click-and-mortar businesses plan, execute and measure personalized online and offline customer communications.

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