Can Unisys be Hip Again?

Few firms in existence today can trace the family tree back to the 1800’s as Unisys does. Even before the creation of the Unisys name (United + Information + SYStems) through the mid-80’s merger of Burroughs and Sperry, innovations built the hard way were a trademark of the firm. Its focus on computer and computing technology dominated, and at its peak employed over 120,000 employees. Today, however, it’s a different story. Revenue has declined for Unisys, and employee count is around 20,000. 

As part of our ongoing coverage of Unisys, we routinely speak with both Unisys management and its enterprise customers. Over the past year, we’ve noticed a strong push into the areas of cyber security and digital trust. Recent moves by Unisys, combined with our ongoing conversations, have us asking: 

Can Unisys leverage its history in both physical and digital security to deliver a leading array of holistic security services, and could this help make that larger Unisys brand ‘hip’ again in a market crowded with both legacy and emerging providers?

In late 2015 we profiled Unisys (See Trust-as-a-Service Blueprint here), taking a deep look at its Managed Security Services and its associated digital security offerings, rating it a High Performer for its Emphasis on Ecosystem-wide Security, strong Physical/Digital solutions capability, C-Level Focus, and internal toolkits and technology (including Stealth). 

In fact, over the past two years, we’ve consistently referenced its security or Stealth technology as a valuable asset in Blueprints evaluating Unisys in the areas of IoT, Managed Security, Application Testing, Mobility, and Digital. We also cited Unisys for its alignment with the HfS Digital Trust Frame work and Security Maturity Model.