Rental car firm Hertz Europe has signed a five-year multimillion-pound IT outsourcing contract with managed service partners HP and BT.

The contract will replace the IT and networking services provided by 170 third-party suppliers, and give Hertz access to the latest technology, including an IP-based telephony system.

‘This deal is delivering significant benefits in terms of cost savings and our ability to work with one vendor on a common platform,’ said David Trimm, business systems vice president at Hertz.

‘We’re looking for a seamless transition from many providers to one, as well as a streamlined service.’

HP and BT will manage all the outbound voice calls between Hertz’s headquarters, its 1,100 rental sites across the continent and its reservations centre.

They are also updating Hertz’s network infrastructure to provide the company with more bandwidth and flexibility.

And the two companies will provide a centrally managed e-procurement system and manage the 5,000 desktops, 3,000 printers and 148 servers in Hertz’s corporate headquarters.

‘We get to standardise our desktop model and provide service levels for IT support to the business and out in the field. This will give us greater certainty about support, more uptime and, ultimately, allow us to provide better customer service,’ said Trimm. ‘The single-point-of-contact centre is already up and running, and we have a number of services live or that will be transitioned between now and the end of the first quarter of next year.

‘This deal will allow us to tap into BT and HP’s expertise in delivering innovative and transformational technologies.’

HP and BT signed a $1.5bn (£846m) strategic partnership last year to win joint outsourcing business across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.