IBM Inks Ten-Year Deal With Emirates

IBM has recently inked a decade-long agreement that could improve the services of Emirates Airline.

The agreement, worth $UD 300 million, assigns IBM to provide technological services that would allow the airline to provide better support system and functions that would lead to improved customer services and satisfaction. IBM will particularly work in re-designing the airline's businesses processes while looking into its airport operations.

Among the provisions in the agreement involve encrypting the data of the airline real time. This means the airline will easily communicate due to improved software components.

Emirates Airline currently has 150 destinations and serves high volume of passengers. It is keen in improving its passenger service system. It hopes to further improve by getting the services of IBM. For around three decades, Emirates has been using a reservation and ticketing system under the IBM mainframe, which means the IT company already knows how everything works within the airline's operations and system.

It can be recalled that IBM also has an ongoing deal with Etihad Airways. It was signed late last year that also aims to improve the technological services and infrastructure of the airline. In a statement previously issued by IBM, the IT giant will set up a cloud data center in Abu Dhabi that would help Etihad and its partners with its operations.  

Both Emirates and Etihad dominate Middle East in airline operations.

IBM, meanwhile, has been one of the largest multinational technology and consulting corporations. Headquartered in New York, IBM makes and sells computer hardware, software, and other related services. Earlier this year, IBM announced the possibility of laying off more employees to cut costs, but with the deals that the IT giant has recently signed, there is still no certainly it the plan will push through given the duration and scale of the deals it has inked.