Unisys Corporation is an American global information technology company based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, that provides a portfolio of IT services, software, and technology. It is the legacy proprietor of the Burroughs and UNIVAC line of computers, formed when the former bought the latter.
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History
Unisys was formed in 1986 through the merger of mainframe corporations Sperry and Burroughs, with Burroughs buying Sperry for $4.8 billion. The name was chosen from over 31,000 submissions in an internal competition when Chuck Ayoub submitted the word "Unisys" which was composed of parts of the words united, information and systems.
The merger was the largest in the computer industry at the time and made Unisys the second largest computer company with annual revenue of $10.5 billion. At the time of the merger, Unisys had approximately 120,000 employees. Michael Blumenthal became CEO and Chairman after the merger and resigned in 1990 after several years of losses. James Unruh, (formerly Memorex and Honeywell) became the new CEO and Chairman after Blumenthal's departure and continued in that role until 1997, when Larry Weinbach of Arthur Andersen became the new CEO. By 1997, layoffs had reduced world-wide employee count to approximately 30,000.
In addition to hardware, both Burroughs and Sperry had a history of working on U.S. government contracts. Unisys continues to provide hardware, software, and services to various government agencies.
Soon after the merger, the market for proprietary mainframe-class systems--the mainstream product of Unisys and its competitors such as IBM--began a long-term decline that continues, at a lesser rate, today. In response, Unisys made the strategic decision to shift into high-end servers (e.g., 32 processor Windows Servers), as well as information technology (IT) services such as systems integration, outsourcing, and related technical services, while holding onto the profitable revenue stream from maintaining its installed base of proprietary mainframe hardware and applications.
Important events in the company's history include the development of the 2200 series in 1986, including the UNISYS 2200/500 CMOS mainframe, and the Micro A in 1989, the first desktop mainframe, the UNISYS ES7000 servers in 2000, and the Unisys blueprinting method of visualizing business rules and workflow in 2004.
In 1988 the company acquired Convergent Technologies, makers of CTOS.
Joseph McGrath served as CEO and President from January 2005, until September, 2008; he was never named chairman.
On October 7, 2008, J. Edward Coleman replaced J. McGrath as CEO and was named Chairman of the board as well.
On November 10, 2008, the company was removed from the S&P 500 index as the market capitalization of the company had fallen below the S&P 500 minimum of $4 billion.
On October 6, 2014, Unisys announced that Coleman would leave the company effective December 1, 2014. Unisys' share price immediately fell when this news became public.
On January 1, 2015, Unisys officially named Peter Altabef as its new president and CEO, replacing Edward Coleman. Paul Weaver, who was formerly Lead Independent Director, was named Chairman.
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Products, services, and clients
Products and services
Unisys promotes itself as a global information technology company that solves complex IT challenges for some of the world's largest companies and government organizations. Including the CIA, FBI, INS, ICE, and the U.S. military. The company offers outsourcing and managed services, systems integration and consulting services, high end server technology, cybersecurity and cloud management software, and maintenance and support services.
The company's products, services and technology include:
- Application Services: Advisory Services, Implementation Services, Application Managed Services, Mobile Application Services
- Cloud Solutions: Cloud Advisory Services, Data Center Planning Design and Implementation, CloudBuild Services, Choreographer, Hybrid Cloud
- High End Servers: ClearPath Forward!, ClearPath Systems, Storage Products
- Managed Services and Outsourcing: End User and Data Center Services, Service Desk, Global Field Services, Windows Migration, Workspace Services, Infrastructure Services, Application Managed Services
- Mobility/ End User Services: advisory and implementation services
- Security solutions: Stealth software, managed services, advisory services, design and implementation services, biometric-enabled and multi-factor authentication solutions
- Service Management: Unisys VantagePoint, Edge Service Management, advisory, implementation and optimization services
- Social Business: Enterprise Social Business Transformation, Ensemble Unified Communications
In line with larger trends in the information technology industry, an increasing amount of Unisys revenue comes from services rather than equipment sales; in 2014, the ratio was 86% for services, up from 65% in 1997. The company maintains a portfolio of over 1,500 U.S. and non-U.S. patents. The company's mainframe line, Clearpath, is capable of running not only mainframe software, but both the Java platform and the JBoss Java EE Application Server concurrently. The Clearpath system is available in either a UNISYS 2200-based system (Sperry) or an MCP-based system (Burroughs).
In 2014, Unisys phased out its CMOS processors, completing the migration of its ClearPath mainframes to Intel x86 chips. Clients are able to run the company's long- established OS 2200 and MCP operating systems alongside more recent Windows and Linux workloads on Intel-based systems that support cloud and virtualization. The company announced its new ClearPath Dorado 8380 and 8390 systems in May, 2015, its most powerful Dorado systems ever. These new systems culminate the company's decade-long initiative to transition its ClearPath server families from proprietary complementary metal oxide semiconductor processor technology to a software-based fabric architecture running on Intel processors.
As Windows Server 2003 nears end of support on July 14, 2015, Unisys and AppZero are collaborating with Microsoft to support public sector and commercial customers globally in migrating applications to modern Microsoft platforms.
In 2014, CRN ranked Unisys Stealth on its list of "Top 10 products for combatting advanced persistent threat". and ranked the Unisys Forward! platform among the "Top 10 coolest servers of 2014 (So Far)". The company claims that the solution is designed to diminish the risks of virtualizing mission-critical applications while uniting the cost efficiency and flexibility of virtualization with the reliable performance and storage features usually provided by dedicated servers.
Unisys VantagePointSM - an advanced user interface and service orchestration center - was honored as Website of the Year and Best Mobile Experience at the 2014 Liferay Pulse Awards. Philadelphia's Philly311 customer-relationship management (CRM) project, implemented under a contract with Unisys, was given a Government Computer News (GCN) Award, which honors public-sector IT innovation. GCN based the award on the initiative's success in improving citizen access to government services.
The company announced during the VMworld-2014 event that it was expanding its Workspace Services Platform with a new solution for desktop virtualization to provide enterprises with cloud-based access to business applications and services. The solution will combine Unisys' services with the popular VMware (VMW) Horizon architecture. Unisys also signed an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) agreement with SAP and plans to provide managed cloud services for the SAP HANA platform. These agreements strengthen Unisys' capabilities to provide clients with real-time analytics solutions based on SAP software on the Forward! by Unisys enterprise computing platform.
In September 2015 Unisys announced the launch of its modernization program and a Platform Management service to upgrade and manage the latest versions of its BMC Remedy Service Management Suite. The new services are likely to enable existing BMC Remedy users to smoothly adopt the latest versions, while also ensuring that the suite features are utilized to the maximum extent.
Clients
Unisys clients are typically large corporations or government agencies, such as the New York Clearinghouse, Dell, Lufthansa Systems, Lloyds Bank, EMC, SWIFT, state governments (e.g., for unemployment insurance, licensing), various branches of the U.S. military, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), numerous airports, the General Services Administration, U.S. Transportation Security Administration, Internal Revenue Service, Nextel, and Telefonica of Spain. Unisys systems are used for many industrial and government purposes, including banking, check processing, income tax processing, airline passenger reservations, biometric identification, newspaper content management, and shipping port management, as well as providing weather data services. In 2014, Unisys launched its Lighthouse Awards to recognize clients and partners who displayed unique vision and leadership in applying modern technologies to mission critical IT challenges. The awards were presented at the company's annual global Universe client and partner event. The 2014 winners were: CEDAE in Brazil, Elekta in Sweden, General Service Administration in the US, McDonald's Australia and New Zealand, New Zealand Transport Agency, Roma Capitale in Italy, SMS/800 in the US, and channel partners Braxton Grant Technologies and RealServeIT.
Selected projects
Unisys is building for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania one of the largest secure, cloud-based, on- demand IT computing implementations by a U.S. state government. Unisys was selected as an official IT partner for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil as a part of an IT consortium that managed IT requirements for the 12 host cities in Brazil where the soccer matches were held.
The Unisys Law Enforcement Application Framework (U-LEAF) helps law enforcement agencies organize and share case information and evidence securely across multiple jurisdictions and offices. According to the Unisys website, U-LEAF provides "tools to cope with constantly evolving crime and threat patterns and the associated deluge of crime data" produced during a crime investigation. Unisys signed a contract worth $19 Million with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in 2014 to modernize the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) systems used by the Office of Justice Programs. The upgrade is designed to enable mobile law enforcement workers to access information and services anywhere, anytime, on any device.
Unisys announced that it plans to locate a new service center in Augusta, Georgia that could create up to 700 technology jobs. This facility will provide service desk and other end user IT support services to public sector and commercial clients starting with and Enterprise Service Desk, a single point of contact for the US Army for which 250 employees are expected to be hired within the first year. The company announced in April 2015 that it would be opening a Global Innovation Center in Bogota focused on designing and delivering specialized IT services. The Bogota center complements the company's initial center in India. The New Zealand subsidiary Unisys Corporation was selected by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) in 2014 to modernize the nation's tenancy bond system into an online service. Once operational this online service will allow companies and landlords with a convenient payment method, which includes credit card and online payments, thus eliminating the need for manual paper work for and tenants and landlords.
Unisys has provided advanced mission-critical IT solutions to the aviation industry for more than 45 years. Fifteen of the top 25 airlines and more than 200 airlines use Unisys solutions. And approximately 25 percent of the world's air cargo shipments are processed by Unisys solutions. Many of these solutions, such as Cargo Portal Services, are delivered via Software-as-a-Service. TravelSky, the leading provider of information technology solutions for China's air travel and tourism industry, operates the Unisys Logistics Management System (LMS), In-transit Service Manager (ISM) and Cargo Portal Services (CPS), which it offers to China's airlines via a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model hosted in Beijing. TravelSky also recently expanded its processing capacity with the addition of advanced hardware and software including ClearPath server technology to cater for China's growing aviation industry. Unisys' Brazilian subsidiary has signed an agreement in 2014 with Modern Logistics, Brazils first air logistics supply chain company to operate its own fleet, to use the Unisys cloud-based Logistics Management System (LMS) to handle its domestic and international cargo operations. Modern Logistics will also use Unisys' Cargo Portal Services (CPS) online booking and shipment management portal. Unisys developed the software for NEXRAD, the original doppler weather radar, and continues to provide weather data .
On October 18, 2016, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) offered Unisys (UIS) a five-year task order called the Integrated Traveler Initiatives (ITI) to improve technology integration at agency-operated ports of entry and exit in the United States. The estimated value of ITI contract is $229.7 million if all options are utilized, and the award value for the initial year is $22.7 million. The Department of Homeland Security's EAGLE II contract is responsible for the initiation of the ITI contract. Currently, foreign nationals entering the U.S. are identified with fingerprints by the CBP. Unisys will play a significant role in implementing biometric checks during departures. The ITI award is the next action in Unisys' CBP's Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) and Land Border Integration (LBI) project. As regulated by the WHTI, CBP is required to validate the identity and citizenship of all foreign visitors, using the proper forms of identification. CBP granted Unisys the LBI task order "to design, deploy and maintain a number of new operational solutions that leveraged WHTI technology, processes and systems to secure the nation's ports of entry." CBP plans to implement biometric exit procurement in 2017, and requirements include the confirmation of foreign nationals' departures from the U.S. In addition, Unisys says that LBI and ITI programs will help reduce processing and wait times and provide CBP agents with mobile devices in order to give them more flexibility.
Projects
The company launched a new set of initiatives which include
Consumerization of IT
A study sponsored by Unisys and conducted by IDC revealed the gap between the activities and expectations of new generation of "iWorkers" and the ability of organizations to support their needs. The results showed that organizations continue to work with standardized command and control IT models of the past and are not able to profit from the widespread use of newer networked technologies.
Security index
A biannual global study that provides statistically relevant insights into the attitudes of consumers on a wide range of security related issues, including:
- National security: including concerns related to terrorism and health epidemics
- Financial security: regarding financial fraud and ability to meet personal financial obligations
- Internet security: related to spam, virus, and online financial transactions
- Personal security: concerning physical safety and identity theft
Cloud 20/20: Unisys Corporation launched Cloud 20/20, an annual technical paper contest for tertiary students from India in October 2009. The contest allows students to explore the possibilities and complexities of cloud computing in areas such as automation, virtualization, application development, security, consumerization of IT and airports. The contest has drawn participation from universities across India two years in a row, with over 570 institutes taking part in 2009 and more than a thousand in 2010. The contest culminates in an event where five finalists present their papers before a panel of judges that comprise academicians and technologists. Prizes include the latest technology gadgets, internship projects and career opportunities with Unisys.
Social media
Unisys was in the news for enhancing social collaboration within the organization. The company has used social media tools successfully, to become more agile, to share knowledge, and to increase the speed of innovation. Unisys was one of five companies featured in a new infographic on The Social Media Marketing blog; Unisys was noted for using social media internally for effective collaboration and a boost to company productivity.
Service quality
Unisys operates data centers around the world that are certified on global standards for service quality and excellence. Those certifications include ISO 9001:2008, ISO 20000-1:2005, and ISO 27001 standards. Unisys data centers follow Global Process Standards (GPS) for Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) processes. It also supports and manages data centers at client-owned facilities.
In addition, Unisys operates several software development centers that have achieved process maturity following the Software Engineering Institute's Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) for Development Model. The CMMI for Development model provide guidance for applying CMMI best practices in a development organization. Best practices in the model focus on activities for developing quality products and services to meet the needs of customers and end users. Published appraisal results can be found on the SEI's website.
Environmental record
Since 1996, Unisys has reduced hazardous waste generation by approximately 95%. Unisys has collected over 35 million pounds of used electronic products internally and from customers since 1997. Many parts were refurbished for future use or sold while the remaining materials were delivered to end of life electronic equipment recyclers. Unisys was recognized "for responsibly disposing of more than 1 million pounds of electronic waste during the 2013 calendar year" by SIMS Recycling Solutions, a global leader in electronics reuse and recycling.
In 1997, Unisys arranged and oversaw a pilot Electronics Products retail drop off collection program in the City of San Jose, as a member of the USEPA Common Sense Initiative. In all, 61,600 pound of equipment was collected during the five-week program, at a cost of .29/pound. Unisys received a "Gold Hammer", reinventing government award from EPA as a result of the pilot program efforts. {{Analysis of Five Consumer/Community Residential Collections of End-of-life Electronic and Electrical Equipment, April, 199, prepared for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by Ecobalance, Inc., Bethesda, MD.}}
Unisys was recognized by the City of San Diego as the 'Recycler of the Year' from 2002 to 2005 and was given the Integrated Waste Management award by the State of California in 2002-2005. Unisys was honored at the 2008 Computerworld Green IT Symposium in Washington, D.C. In 2009, Unisys was named in the Black Book of Outsourcing as one of the top 50 "green" outsourcing providers in the world.
Between 1999 and 2000, Unisys successfully certified five of its manufacturing sites in North America and Europe to the ISO 14001 EMS. Unisys participated on the Technical Advisory Group to ISO 14001 standards development Technical Committee 207 from 1992 through 2001. The Unisys manufacturing site in Irvine, California, received ISO 14001 Environmental Management System (EMS) certification. Through ongoing EMS implementation, the company continues to formulate and implement policy and objectives that incorporate legislative requirements, environment-friendly technological approaches, and new information about significant environmental impacts.
Controversies
In 1987, Unisys was sued with Rockwell Shuttle Operations Company for $5.2 million by two former employees of the Unisys Corporation, one a subcontractor responsible for the computer programs for the space shuttle. The suit filed by Sylvia Robins, a former Unisys engineer, and Ria Solomon, who worked for Robins, charges that the two were forced from their jobs and harassed after complaining about safety violations and inflated costs.
Unisys overcharged the U.S. government and in 1998 was found guilty of failure to supply adequate equipment. In 1998, Unisys Corporation agreed to pay the government $2.25 million to settle allegations that it supplied refurbished, rather than new, computer materials to several federal agencies in violation of the terms of its contract. Unisys admitted to supplying re-worked or refurbished computer components to various civilian and military agencies in the early 1990s, when the contract required the company to provide new equipment. The market price for the refurbished material was less than the price for new material which the government paid.
In 1998, Unisys was found guilty of price inflation and Government Contract Fraud with the company settling to avoid further prosecution. Lockheed Martin and Unisys paid the government $3.15 million to settle allegations that Unisys inflated the prices of spare parts sold to the U.S. Department of Commerce for its NEXRAD Doppler Radar System, in violation of the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729, et seq. "[T]he settlement resolves allegations that Unisys knew that prices it paid Concurrent Computer Corporation for the spare parts were inflated when it passed on those prices to the government. Unisys had obtained price discounts from Concurrent on other items Unisys was purchasing from Concurrent at Unisys' own expense in exchange for agreeing to pay Concurrent the inflated prices". Prior to 1993 Unisys paid Senator D'Amato's brother, Armand P. D'Amato for access to the senator. Armand P. D'Amato was convicted for mail fraud in connection with $120,500 he received from Unisys to lobby the Senator.
Unisys attracted attention in 1994 after announcing its patent on the LZW data compression algorithm, which is used in the common GIF image file format. For a more complete discussion of this issue, see Graphics Interchange Format#Unisys and LZW patent enforcement.
Unisys was the target of "Operation Ill Wind", a major corruption investigation in the mid-to-late 1980s. As part of the settlement, all Unisys employees were required to receive ethics training each year, a practice that continues today.
In 2003 and 2004, Unisys retained the influential lobbyist Jack Abramoff, paying his firm $640,000 for his services in those two years. In January 2006, Abramoff pleaded guilty to five felony counts for various crimes related to his federal lobbying activities, though none of his crimes involved work on behalf of Unisys. The lobbying activities of Abramoff and his associates were the subject of a large federal investigation.
In October 2005, the Washington Post reported that the company had allegedly overbilled on the $1-to-3-billion Transportation Security Administration contract for almost 171,000 hours of labor and overtime at up to the maximum rate of $131.13 per hour, including 24,983 hours not allowed by the contract. Unisys denied wrongdoing.
In 2006, the Washington Post reported that the FBI was investigating Unisys for alleged cybersecurity lapses under the company's contract with the United States Department of Homeland Security. A number of security lapses supposedly occurred during the contract, including incidents in which data was transmitted to Chinese servers. Unisys denies all charges and said it has documentation disproving the allegations.
In 2007, Unisys was found guilty of Misrepresentation of Retiree Benefits. A federal judge in Pennsylvania ordered Unisys Corp. to reinstate within 60 days free lifetime retiree medical benefits to 12 former employees who were employed by a Unisys predecessor, the Burroughs Corporation. The judge ruled that Unisys "misrepresented the cost and duration of retiree medical benefits" at a time "trial plaintiffs were making retirement decisions" and while it was advising them about the benefits the company would provide during retirement.
Also in 2007, Unisys was found guilty of wilful trademark infringement in Visible Systems v. Unisys (Trademark Infringement). Computer company Visible Systems prevailed over Unisys Corp. in a trademark infringement lawsuit filed in Massachusetts federal court. In November 2007, the court entered an injunction and final judgment ordering Unisys to discontinue its use of the "Visible" trademark, upholding the jury's award to Visible Systems of $250,000 in damages, and awarding an additional $17,555 in interest. Visible Systems claimed Unisys wrongfully used the name "Visible" in marketing its software and services. The jury found the infringement by Unisys was willful. Visible Systems appealed the final judgment, believing the court wrongly excluded the issues of bad faith and disgorgement of an estimated $17 billion in unjust profits from the consideration of the jury.
In 2008, Joe McGrath stepped down after a no confidence vote from the board, and was replaced by J. Edward Coleman, former CEO of Gateway Incorporated. The president of the federal sector, Greg Baroni, was also fired. Unisys announced on June 30, 2008, that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) had not selected the company for Phase 2 of procurement for the Information Technology Infrastructure Program. In July, Unisys announced its plans to file a formal protest of the TSA decision with the Government Accountability Office (GAO). On August 20, 2008, the TSA announced it was allowing bidding from all competitors including Unisys and Northrop Grumman, who both filed formal protests with the GAO and protested TSA's decision to the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Dispute Resolution, after not initially being selected.
In 2010, Unisys "jettisoned" its Medicare processing Health Information Management service to Molina Healthcare for $135 million.
Also in 2010, Unisys Hungary terminated the local Workers' Union representative Gabor Pinter's employment contract with immediate effect for raising concerns on the company's practice about the overtime payments and the non-respect of the health regulations in its local Shared Services Center. According to the verdict of the Labour Court of Budapest, Unisys' act was illegal and the Company must reimburse all damages of the Workers' Union representative.
In 2012, Unisys Netherlands censured computer security expert Chris Kubecka for an anti-censorship talk at the Hackers_on_Planet_Earth Number Nine. A conference which focused on highlighting censorship with a talk titled: The Internet is for Porn. Unisys responded to the news story by quoting a non-existent policy.
See also
References
External links
- Official Unisys website
- Unisys profile at the Center for Public Integrity
- Unisys Corp - After The Merger
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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