MCI Systemhouse , a subsidiary of Washington, DC-based MCI Communications Corporation, was the result of the merger of Canadian company SHL Systemhouse with MCI's technical services branch. The new company was formed to provide systems integration and outsourcing

Outsourcing

Outsourcing is the process of contracting a business function to someone else.-Overview:The term outsourcing is used inconsistently but usually involves the contracting out of a business function - commonly one previously performed in-house - to an external provider...

 services.

On February 11, 1999, MCI Systemhouse was acquired by EDS

Electronic Data Systems

HP Enterprise Services is the global business and technology services division of Hewlett Packard's HP Enterprise Business strategic business unit. It was formed by the combination of HP's legacy services consulting and outsourcing business and the integration of acquired Electronic Data Systems,...

 of Plano, Texas

Plano, Texas

Plano is a city in the state of Texas, located mostly within Collin County. The city's population was 259,841 at the 2010 census, making it the ninth-largest city in Texas and the 71st most populous city in the United States. Plano is located within the metropolitan area commonly referred to as...

 for $1.65 billion. Prior to the acquisition, MCI Systemhouse was one of several entities that formed UML Partners

UML Partners

UML Partners was a consortium of system integrators and vendors convened in 1996 to specify the Unified Modeling Language . Initially the consortium was led by Grady Booch, Ivar Jacobson, and James Rumbaugh of Rational Software...

, a group devoted to the development of the Unified Modeling Language

Unified Modeling Language

Unified Modeling Language is a standardized general-purpose modeling language in the field of object-oriented software engineering. The standard is managed, and was created, by the Object Management Group...

(UML).