The German business weekly Wirtschaftswoche would have us believe Daimler is considering selling off its IT subsidiary Debis Systemhaus. It all began with a supposed sighting of Daimler boss Jurgen Schrempp and EDS VP Gary Fernandes, holding a meeting in Frankfurt airport. With nothing more substantial than that, the magazine hypothesized about the subject of their supposed conversation: the sale of Daimler’s subsidiary in IT, Debis Systemhaus to the systems integration and management giant from Texas. This, the magazine went on, would be the beginning of a worldwide link-up, in which EDS would handle the industrial conglomerate’s IT requirements on an outsourcing basis, while Daimler would open the doors for EDS to the number three passenger car maker in the States, Chrysler, with which it is currently in the process of merging. Wirtschaftswoche goes further, saying that the head of Debis, Klaus Mangold, has been waiting for several weeks for the green light to take over Chrysler’s IT network. The Daimler group dismissed the story, denying that any meeting between Schrempp and Fernandes took place. But if indeed the two men were indeed together in the airport and talks did take place, it would not be EDS’s first venture which combines an outsourcing contract with a strategic alliance with the client. Earlier this year the company announced a similar arrangement with Italian finance house, the Banco di Roma (CI, No 3,397). There is one final reason to doubt that EDS would take over Chrysler’s IT network – it has an agreement to be sole provider of IT services to General Motors until 2006.
