Unisys Announces Subscription-Based Service Platform to Help Federal Agencies Jumpstart Application Modernization Initiatives

BLUE BELL, Pa., Feb. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) today announced its Application Modernization Platform as a Service (AMPS(SM)) offering, a subscription-based service to help federal government agencies reduce the cost, complexity, risk and time involved in modernizing their legacy software applications.

The platform, managed and monitored by Unisys, can be implemented via a cloud infrastructure or hosted on-site, allowing federal organizations to shorten the time associated with typical enterprise platform integration and procurement.

AMPS is the latest solution in the Unisys application modernization portfolio that includes extensive advisory, security and outsourcing solutions to help clients to keep pace with innovation while protecting their investments in existing mission-critical applications.

A recent study by MeriTalk and the Unisys Center for Innovation in Government looked at the progress of the federal government in modernizing its business applications and the cost and risk of maintaining outdated and redundant systems. The study, "Federal Application Modernization Road Trip:  Express Lane or Detour Ahead?," found that four out of five C-level federal IT executives said mission-critical government capabilities are at risk if agencies do not modernize legacy applications.

As budget-constrained federal agencies work to enhance public services while grappling with old, inflexible mission-critical applications, the new Unisys AMPS offering provides a compelling alternative to typical application modernization projects that require significant capital expenditures and take years to complete.

AMPS delivers an open, standards-based architecture to allow clients to incrementally modernize applications, using an optimized shared service application development process.

The Unisys AMPS offering, one of the first of its kind, combines services, IT infrastructure, and applications from leading providers such as EMC, Red Hat, Terremark, and SOA Software – all available via a cloud-based subscription model with full security and IT governance.

"The AMPS platform builds on Unisys' strength in mission critical computing to enable federal organizations to accelerate their application modernization initiatives by sidestepping traditional constraints that can slow progress," said Gene Zapfel, managing partner for portfolio solutions, Unisys Federal Systems. "AMPS significantly reduces capital expenditure and reduces total cost of ownership, which are especially important as federal IT budgets remain tight. Unisys AMPS offers agencies a path to incrementally modernize their enterprise applications and create more cost-effective shared services."

AMPS features a pre-built, secure software platform that enables federal organizations to jumpstart, and later build on, application modernization initiatives, without the need to create complex linkages between disparate applications.

Because it is offered via a pay-per-use subscription model, the Unisys AMPS solution eliminates the need for up-front software licensing, hardware infrastructure, and systems integration typically associated with a large-scale IT initiative. The AMPS model also reduces costs related to in-house systems maintenance, management and upgrades. The solution delivers the economies of cloud computing, providing an environment that can scale as the agency expands its application modernization initiative.

AMPS will be supported by highly skilled teams of software and service experts at locations throughout the U.S., including the new Unisys Application Modernization Center of Excellence. Recently opened in St. Louis, Missouri, the center provides advanced services for building, operating, and maintaining innovative, leading-edge software applications for Unisys federal government and commercial clients.

The company is planning to extend the platform worldwide and to commercial clients in 2011. For more information on AMPS for the federal sector, visit http://www.Unisys.com/AMPS or listen to our podcast on “Facing the Application Modernization Challenge.”

About Unisys

Unisys is a worldwide information technology company. We provide a portfolio of IT services, software and technology that solves critical problems for clients. We specialize in helping clients secure their operations, increase the efficiency and utilization of their data centers, enhance support to their end users and constituents and modernize their enterprise applications. To provide these services and solutions, we bring together offerings and capabilities in outsourcing services, systems integration and consulting services, infrastructure services, maintenance services and high-end server technology. With more than 23,000 employees, Unisys serves commercial organizations and government agencies throughout the world. For more information, visit www.unisys.com.

RELEASE NO.: 0210/9019

Unisys is a registered trademark of Unisys Corporation. All other brands and products referenced herein are acknowledged to be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

SOURCE Unisys Corporation