That's not what EDS made previously, and the company said Thursday that it now expects US$1.2 billion to $1.4 billion in annual revenue from GM, compared with about $1.8 billion under the contract that expires this year. EDS will also get hundreds of millions of dollars for ongoing services, such as business process outsourcing, that are not part of this agreement.

But sheer numbers give only a small part of the story. For GM, these contracts signal new directions in how the automotive giant works with vendors and delivers its global IT services, GM CIO Ralph Szygenda said Thursday.

In total, GM is planning to award some $15 billion over five years to IT vendors for services and equipment. Thursday's announcement to six vendors is for about half that total, GM said.

And even though EDS gets the majority of that money, the contract is so huge that other vendors will be getting significant chunks of business. Hewlett-Packard Co. said the deal is worth about $700 million to it, and Wipro Ltd. put its share at $300 million. Capgemini, Covisint (a subsidiary of Compuware Corp.) and IBM also won awards. Moreover, these companies will likely sell equipment and services above the contract amounts.

But this announcement involves more than money. Szygenda wants to transform GM's IT operations, and this deal was crafted to make sure that happens. He said his top goal as part of the new outsourcing move, which began two years ago, is to ensure that vendors "use the exact same processes" in delivering IT services.