EDS is developing a middleware, messaging and security platform for Deutsche Lufthansa AG, an international airline, based on an application development and integration services contract awarded to EDS at the end of the second quarter of 2006.

This platform serves as the basis of the Lufthansa Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), enabling Lufthansa the ability to interface, interoperate and integrate with Lufthansa business partners and other airline systems through open standards. The development of the application is slated for the end of December and the platform will be ready for acceptance and integration by Lufthansa in January 2007.

"We awarded EDS this contract because they delivered the best value based on their experience with their own Airline SOA," Christoph Ganswindt, CIO of Lufthansa Passage Airlines, said.

EDS' Airline SOA enables a transformation of an airline client's business IT environment to an agile enterprise architecture, aligning IT operations with business objectives. This architecture allows clients to meet market demands with minimal complexity within a fraction of time, thus saving money and gaining a sustainable competitive edge.

"At IDC, we see two main challenges to successful development and deployment of SOA-based solutions. First is the connection to industry and process-specific business goals, to go beyond the technology innovation to supporting business value. Second is the ability of the solution provider to assure the performance of the architecture in a multi-vendor platform," said Bob Welch, Group vice president for IDC, a leading IT industry analyst firm. "This announcement shows that the investments that EDS and its Agility Alliance partners have made in overall service management, and the embedded industry expertise EDS' Airline SOA brings to Lufthansa, have combined into a very competitive offering."

EDS Agility Alliance partners including, Oracle, Sun, EMC, Cisco and Microsoft, and technology alliance partners, TIBCO and BEA, play key roles in developing portions of the team Airline SOA solution.

"We are helping Lufthansa reduce costs and upgrade to more innovative technology," said Pierre Klatt, leader of EDS' EMEA Transportation industry group. "With more than 9,000 EDS employees serving the transportation industry, we have proven ability to deliver high-quality support for all aspects of airline environments."

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