# Unisys **Domain:** Computing / Defense Technology / Federal Infrastructure **Doc Type:** Institution Node **Maturity:** Developing **Related:** [[wiki/Burroughs Corporation|Burroughs Corporation]], [[wiki/Sperry Corporation|Sperry Corporation]], [[wiki/SAIC|SAIC]], [[wiki/Defense Computing|Defense Computing]] ## Definition **Unisys** is the enterprise computing and defense technology company formed in 1986 through [[wiki/Burroughs Corporation|Burroughs Corporation's]] $4.8 billion acquisition of [[wiki/Sperry Corporation|Sperry Corporation]], merging two of the original BUNCH (Burroughs, UNIVAC, NCR, Control Data, Honeywell) mainframe manufacturers. The name, coined by Christian Machen in a company competition, combines "united," "information," and "systems." At formation it was the second-largest computer company in the world, with $10.5 billion in annual revenue. ## Dual Architectural Lineage Unisys inherited two distinct computing architectures. From Burroughs came the stack-based, language-oriented [[wiki/B5000|B5000]] family and its descendants, which continue today as ClearPath MCP systems. From Sperry came the UNIVAC lineage — tracing all the way back to Eckert and Mauchly's original ENIAC and UNIVAC I — carried forward as ClearPath OS 2200 systems. The company thus holds institutional descent from both the first commercial computer and one of the most architecturally radical hardware philosophies in computing history. ## Defense and Federal Computing Unisys maintained extensive defense and federal contracts across more than a dozen military and civilian agencies, including a $650 million IRS Enterprise Computing Center Support contract (2013). In 2020, the company sold Unisys Federal, its defense contracting operation, to [[wiki/SAIC|SAIC]] for $1.2 billion, retaining a licensing agreement for its software with federal clients. The institutional capability assembled from Burroughs' military computing (Pershing missile systems, multiprocessor defense architectures) and Sperry's UNIVAC defense heritage now flows through the SAIC channel into the current defense technology ecosystem. ## Key Insight **Unisys is the corporate node where two foundational computing lineages — the Burroughs stack-architecture tradition and the Eckert-Mauchly UNIVAC lineage — merged, and from which both continue to operate inside federal and defense infrastructure.** ## See Also [[wiki/Burroughs Corporation|Burroughs Corporation]], [[wiki/Sperry Corporation|Sperry Corporation]], [[wiki/SAIC|SAIC]], [[wiki/UNIVAC|UNIVAC]], [[wiki/Defense Computing|Defense Computing]] ## Sources / Provenance - [[articles/Bell Labs and the Distributed Architecture of American Power|Bell Labs and the Distributed Architecture of American Power]] - [Unisys Company History](https://www.unisys.com/company-history/) - [Wikipedia, "Unisys"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unisys)