When it comes to outsourcing, IBM is still king of the hill. It ended 2008 with a market share of 7.3 percent. HP came in second with 4.8 percent of the market. But is HP building some momentum? It was happy to tout its new deal with financial giant American Express. The deal calls for EDS to provide a number of IT services to American Express, including management of desktop, voice and data networks. EDS also will provide on-site tech support for about 60,000 American Express employees in more than 130 countries, reports Information Week. 

The company certainly would like the world to interpret the deal as a sign that HP's deal for EDS was not a mistake after all. Overall, however, it's unclear how the credit crunch will affect the top players. My sense is that while revenue may dip slightly, the rankings will likely stay the same. The most likely to be harmed may be outsourcers overseas, notably in India, where activity has been slowing measurably, in large part because of U.S. financial services firms. 

For more:
- here's an article from Channel Insider
- here's the Information Week article