Changes, changes, changes

annual ranking of the top systems integrators in the state and local government market always brings a few changes and surprises. Atop this year's list, one new face joins two familiar ones. Electronic Data Systems Corp. and IBM Corp. are repeat members of the $1 billion-plus revenue club, joined by Affiliated Computer Services Inc., whose climb to the top is due in large part to its purchase of Lockheed Martin IMS for $825 million last summer. Despite the bleak budget outlook in many states, technology executives are optimistic about their prospects in 2002. Many are counting on a healthy dose of federal funding for homeland security initiatives in the latter half of the year to justify predictions of 8 percent growth in the state and local market. Staff Writer William Welsh took the industry's pulse by talking to nearly two dozen analysts, government officials and executives from the top-ranked IT companies. Check out his special report in our state and local section. In my Editor's Note in the Feb. 4 issue, I inadvertently implied that EDS had been misled by the Navy about how many legacy applications the company would find in the Navy-Marine Corps Intranet project. While the Navy had identified less than 1,000 legacy applications during its Y2K inventory, the service told EDS the inventory was by no means exhaustive. I regret the error.