Unisys Corporation (UIS) recently announced that it will create a new Application Modernization Center of Excellence (AMCOE) in St. Louis, Missouri. 

Unisys expects to hire approximately 300 IT professionals for this center by 2012. The new center will serve as the core application development hub for Unisys Federal Systems. The center will be functional by the fall of 2010. 

The center will also help Unisys to centralize its application modernization services and support provided to its government clients, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

Unisys has begun to hire staff for IT positions in the area of applications development. Certified developers at the center will also work to develop applications for Apple Mac, Apple iPhone and Apple iPad environments in accordance with the requirements of the U.S. federal government.

Unisys recently won a contract from the USDA Rural Development agency for applications modernization and for providing end user support services to the agency’s full range of programs serving the citizens of rural America.

Earlier, Unisys had won a contract from the Brazil Special Secretariat of Port Development and Modernization (SEP) to assist the agency in enhancing operations, security and information exchange across the country’s logistics operations and maritime ports.

The consulting contract is funded by the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), which includes Brazil’s Intelligent Cargo and Intelligent Network Port Logistics Chain project. This project is aimed at improving the security and efficiency of the country’s port and logistics operations.

Unisys also announced that the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Unisys Payment Services Ltd., has won a five year extension for its check processing contract with The Co-operative Bank. The Co-operative Bank is part of The Co-operative Group, the U.K.’s largest consumer co-operative.

The contract is estimated at a value of $43 million and expires in 2015. Unisys has been an outsourcing services partner to The Co-operative Bank since 1994. Under the extension, Unisys will continue providing outsourced check processing and image archiving services to The Co-operative Bank until 2015.

We have a Neutral recommendation on the stock. It is currently a Zacks #3 Rank (‘hold’).

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