IBM has today announced that it has signed a seven-year €1bn outsourcing contract with Lufthansa, in which the IT giant will deliver the IT infrastructure services for the Deutsche Lufthansa AG and its Group companies.
IBM will start the contract by attempting to increase efficiency in the airline’s IT processes, which is expected to save up to €70m a year for Lufthansa.
IBM will also incorporate its business analytics platforms, along with mobile computing and social platforms.
"Outsourcing the IT infrastructure to IBM will strengthen the competitiveness of the Lufthansa Group as a whole. The transformation plan will directly improve our cost base. Together with IBM we will have access to the latest IT technologies not only to lower our IT cost but also to continue digitalising our business processes in order to increase efficiency and customer focus," said Simone Menne, CFO at Deutsche Lufthansa AG.
As part of the outsourcing agreement, IBM will manage Lufthansa Systems’ entire data centre operations, help desk and printer services along with individual infrastructure services. Around 1,400 Lufthansa Systems employees will transfer to IBM. Infrastructure services are scheduled to begin from IBM on April 1, 2015.
"By partnering with IBM in its digital transformation, Lufthansa Group has decided to accelerate the move to new technologies such as cloud computing to optimise efficiency," said Martina Koederitz, General Manager, IBM Germany.
"The agreement provides Lufthansa constant access to IBM research and development. This will enable Lufthansa to incorporate the latest technology and innovation into the Lufthansa IT infrastructure including strategic areas such as cloud computing, big data analytics or cognitive computing systems like Watson."
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