Unisys, however, hasn't done a good job of getting its expertise across to the private sector, said Oltsik, who added that's something the company will have to fix. "You wouldn't think of Unisys as the solution provider unless you knew otherwise," he said. "They really need to do a better job at getting the word out."

Unisys announced a series of other initiatives intended to strengthen its services offerings, Linux platforms and its relationships with some of its business partners, including Microsoft Corp. The company last week announced a partnership with NEC Corp. to develop high-end systems, a move that may lead to a migration off CMOS chips to Intel Corp. for its mainframe customers.

Unisys is facing financial pressure, having reported a third-quarter loss of US$54 million last month on revenue of $1.39 billion. The company is cutting 10% of its staff, or about 3,600 people.