Thomas Cook signs up Accenture to integrate European IT

Outsourcing giant to create agile, cloud-based infrastructure for travel group

Travel group Thomas Cook has signed a 10-year consulting and outsourcing deal with IT services giant Accenture, which will see the integration of its European travel services.

Accenture will also be responsible for service desk, datacentre, workspace, network and security services.

The creation of an agile infrastructure forms a central tenet of the new agreement, with Accenture designing a single pan-European operation that will utilise public and private cloud technologies.

"This will help Thomas Cook deliver significant savings, while creating the agility we need to respond to customer needs," said Gary Edwards, group CIO at Thomas Cook in a statement.

As Computing revealed earlier this month, part of those cloud operations will be delivered from a London datacentre operated by Lufthansa Systems.

Accenture will work alongside Lufthansa Systems to deliver so-called infrastructure-as-a-service to streamline applications delivery.

Thomas Cook already uses application management services from Accenture, covering back-office functions such as HR and payroll. Under the new agreement, the original 10-year contract for those services is being extended by three years.

The price Thomas Cook wil pay for the services was not disclosed.