Not waiting for Perot.

He was born in a small Texas town called Comfort, but Les Alberthal, Jr. did not become chief executive of computer services leader Electronic Data Systems doing things in a comfortable way. And now that EDS is newly independent, Alberthal is not about to change. Instead, he is out to change EDS, the straight-laced operator of technology functions that the mercurial Ross Perot founded in 1962 and sold to General Motors in 1984. And EDS, a combat-ready outfit that would walk through walls to deliver a customer's technology needs, now faces its toughest obstacle yet: itself. Heightened competition from aggressive rivals like International Business Machines and El Segundo, CA-based Computer Sciences Corp. have taken a bite out of revenues, making it more essential than ever for the company to step up its pursuit of new customers.

EDS split off from its formidable parent in June 1996 after several years of negotiations. Until then, the company had been a giant in the shadow of giants, first under Perot and later GM. Alberthal, a career EDS executive who has led the company since Perot left in 1986, worked hard to convince GM's board of directors that EDS could fare better solo, with its own publicly traded stock and hand-picked board. As a separate entity, EDS could more easily access capital markets for internal expansion and strategic acquisitions, capabilities that would be increasingly important to leadership in the information technology industry. Today Alberthal has his wish - and 95,000 employees worldwide looking to him more intently than ever, excited about their prospects and wondering "where to now?"

Alberthal is mapping a route. "We've had two really strong personality identities, and never really had a company identity," he says. "What we're working on now is establishing the EDS identity. Who is EDS? What do we stand for?" Service is the simple answer, but every data processing company prides itself on service. Most important to Alberthal is creating an expressive culture at EDS that gives employees greater creativity and freedom to operate within a broad framework. This, he knows, is perhaps the most difficult transition of all for a mature organization, especially one that has done just fine for more than three decades.

From its base in the Dallas suburb of Plano, EDS racked up worldwide sales of $12.4 billion in 1995; Wall Street estimates that revenues for 1996 will be close to $15 billion. The company handles everything from government paperwork to airline reservations. EDS buys the computers, maintains software, and offers technical support. EDS technology is running desktop computers for Xerox, managing inventory for Del Monte Foods, designing a process for Rolls-Royce Aerospace Group in England to produce engines faster, and helping to install a more efficient computer system for Inland Revenue, Britain's taxing authority - equivalent to the Internal Revenue Service outsourcing its technology functions. GM still accounts for about 30 percent of EDS's revenues, but that figure is diminishing as the company grows its customer base.

As Perot himself might say, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." So what's behind Alberthal's thinking?

The catalyst is that the information technology market has exploded, and the demand has a double-edge. Roughly $100 billion was spent on information technology services worldwide in 1995, according to an estimate from Wall Street brokerage Lehman Brothers. The Gartner Group research and consulting firm estimates that the information technology industry will grow about 20 percent a year over the next five years. New and well-heeled players are competing with EDS around the world for lucrative, multi-million dollar contracts from companies, institutions, and governments. EDS is pitted against the likes of IBM, Computer Sciences, Andersen Consulting, and, not incidentally, EDS's creator, who now has an outfit named Perot Systems.

EDS is the leader in information technology outsourcing - which involves building and maintaining vast computer networks - but IBM's Integrated Systems Solutions (ISSC) is charging hard. IBM leads its rivals in systems integration - assembling computer systems but not operating them. EDS lags behind both IBM and Andersen in the fast-growing information technology consulting business, a gap EDS hopes to close with the help of A.T. Kearney, a Chicago consulting group, acquired in 1995 for about $600 million.

For Alberthal, change at EDS is not so much about fixing as it is about feeling. A quiet but driven man, given to a few carefully drawled words, Alberthal says he is building a corporate environment at EDS where people feel appreciated and motivated to make contributions. Then, it's hoped, they will shower this newfound awareness on customers and co-workers. "We don't have any magic answers," he adds. "To the degree we can do those things one step better than the competition, we're way ahead of the game."

Tough-guy EDS gone touch-sensitive? Is there really such thing as a $15 billion boutique firm? Alberthal says it's the way of the digital world. Technology is constantly changing; clients need a helping hand - and frequently some hand-holding - to cope. In EDS's line, relationship is everything. Profitability is measured by long-term contracts, typically between five and 10 years, and volume business. "When you're nothing but a service company, you're nothing but what your people say and do," Alberthal explains. "Our livelihood depends on our ability to execute the soft stuff." And, he adds soberly, "what's referred to as 'soft stuff' is really the hard stuff."

The hardest stuff to hit EDS since the split-off from GM came last October, when Alberthal announced that the company's growth rate for both top-line revenues and net income would slow into the first quarter of 1997. A lower level of new contract signings and signs of reduced government spending were largely to blame, EDS said. Wall Street reacted badly. Shares of EDS stock fell 31 percent immediately following the release, despite the company's contention that the earnings slowdown is a short-term condition that will not adversely affect leadership and market share.

"People fret about this," Alberthal shrugs. "But I don't really worry about market share. All I know is this market is in billions and trillions. It's not a market share issue as much as it is one of stable, consistent, solid growth."

Toward that end, EDS is pursuing several promising new avenues. Its nascent Internet and new media division is helping construct corporate Web sites. Alberthal marvels about the Internet's potential. "There's a tremendous comfort level with that technology," he says. "Hopefully, we'll be making as much business advantage with it as we can." EDS now owns a video post-production company to enhance its multimedia and digitization products for the entertainment industry. The company is helping to create "virtual" grocery stores, where customers bring tickets to the check-out line instead of actual goods. Orders are then packaged and delivered directly to customers. In manufacturing, EDS is cooperating to produce a new "Apparel on Demand" system that will scan a person's body and create a tailor-made pattern - producing custom-fit clothing in a matter of days.

EDS is also shopping for acquisitions to enhance its competitive position. The A.T. Kearney purchase gives the company leverage in the consulting marketplace, which involves planning and designing business strategies and monitoring competitors. "We needed more of that outer-edge thinking," Alberthal says. But at first EDS was not convinced it had to go outside the organization to get it. "Buying a consulting company partnership was at best very risky," Alberthal concedes. EDS thought about building its own group, but ultimately decided that Kearney would fit on the team.

It's also possible that EDS will align itself with a telecommunications provider in a bid to streamline costs - EDS is a major user of telephone and network services to operate technology infrastructures. In fact, EDS and Sprint Telecommunications discussed a merger in 1994. The effort failed, but the talks were prescient of the convergence that has occurred between telecommunications and computing.

Successfully managing EDS's growth is Alberthal's greatest risk, says Lehman Brothers analyst Karl Keirstead. "The law of large numbers says it gets tougher to grow the 1,000-pound gorilla." But Keirstead is quite bullish on Alberthal's skills. "Everybody on the Street has a phenomenal degree of respect for Les Alberthal," Keirstead asserts. "He has built a senior management team that he can lean on to run the organization. He's got a half dozen people directly reporting to him who could very well be CEOs in their own right."

To Alberthal, teamwork is everything. He has a reputation for delegating responsibility and building from within. It may be the sailor in him - Alberthal keeps a sport-fishing boat at Port Isabel, TX, and once had visions of skippering his own ship, but failed the physical to join the Navy. He understands that a big vessel doesn't move forward without many hands on deck. The captain steers, but only with committed help from others. Alberthal has shown this side of himself from the time he joined EDS in 1968 as a systems engineer, fresh from the University of Texas. He majored in accounting, but, he says, "by the time I graduated, I was so bored with accounting." Computers, on the other hand, were a different matter. "EDS was my worst offer by a significant margin, but what the company was trying to do was exciting."

At EDS, he rose through the ranks quickly. Perot has spoken of how Alberthal first won attention in 1969, for his role in sending a planeload of medical supplies and presents to American prisoners of war in Vietnam. Alberthal had two days to bring the operation together, but airport staff in Los Angeles said it couldn't be done. Alberthal didn't flinch. He enlisted his wife and several EDS colleagues to work day and night to finish the job. When the plane arrived, the cargo was ready.

Now, Alberthal is loading EDS with supplies and support to propel the company to an even higher level of service. Competition is breathing down hard, yet Alberthal takes the pressure in stride. "As the needs of our customers have changed, we've had to make adjustments," he says in his even-keeled way. "Change is literally day in and day out. The minute we're satisfied, we're dead."

PROFILE

LES ALBERTHAL, JR President and CEO ELECTRONIC DATA SYSTEMS

Born: Comfort, TX.

Age: 52

Family: Married; two daughters, one son.

Words to Live By: One day at a time.

Biggest Influences: EDS founder Ross Perot; former EDS vice-chairman Mort Meyerson.

Drives: 1995 Corvette 0-1, from General Motors. "When they're as big a customer as they are, you betcha."

Computer: IBM PC. "I'm not a computer junkie. I don't use one unless I absolutely have to."

Pastimes: Cattle ranching and high-tech genetic breeding. Owns the Buzzard Hollow Ranch in Granbury, TX, which breeds Simmentals. Avid boater, fisherman, scuba diver.