Dell becomes British Airways' preferred partner

British Airways and Dell have announced a three-year strategic technology partnership.

Under the terms of the deal, Dell will provide products and services to British Airways (BA), and will work with the airline on technology initiatives for its customers and staff.

The two companies also plan to share their experience of supply chain management to help them improve their online procurement processes.

The move to Dell as a standard platform is expected to save British Airways significant amounts of money over the next three years. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

BA is in the process of reducing the number of suppliers it deals with. Its new policy is to focus on finding companies who can act as a single source for a wide range of products and services.

Paul Coby, chief information officer for BA, said: "Our relationship will help the airline in its continuing efforts to simplify, standardise and take complexity and cost out of the business. It's also about giving our staff the tools they need to do their job."

To encourage the use of IT among staff, BA and Dell will create a co-branded cybercafe in the airline's headquarters. In addition, Dell will provide a home PC purchasing scheme to employees.

Kevin Rollins, president and chief operating officer, Dell, added: "Technology is at the core of British Airways' service delivery, customer experience, competitive advantage and industry leadership. Through our partnership, will work with British Airways to provide the technology solutions they require to advance their strategic business objectives."

The first part of the relationship will see Dell providing Latitude notebook and OptiPlex desktop technology to BA for its desktop refreshment project.