Forum: Sadness as the sun sets on the EDS name

There's also another element that is integral to the industry: brands.

The importance of brands -- and the significance of a brand disappearing -- has been brought home by HP's decision to ditch the long-established EDS brand, following its acquisition of EDS last year, and re-name it "HP Enterprise Services".

The move has attracted plenty of commentary in the blogosphere, and no doubt in the lunch rooms and around the water coolers where former EDS staff now work at HP.

Renai LeMay, writing at ZDNet Australia, says "no IT professional in their right mind could possibly believe that the meaningless title 'HP Enterprise Services' could have more weight in the highly competitive IT services market than the enduring and powerful Electronic Data Systems brand created by the company's founder Ross Perot back in 1962."

HP clearly thinks differently, as analyst Mark Mayo of outsourcing specialist TPI told Computerworld US earlier this month.