BMW has signed a five-year ITO contract with Accenture to consolidate its information technology processes and applications.

As part of the agreement, Accenture will help BMW Group consolidate a vendor network of its application operations service providers in areas including production, sales, logistics, finance and human resources. Accenture will also work to make BMW’s overall IT processes more reliable, predictable and efficient. The agreement is designed to help BMW achieve lasting cost reductions by helping the company simplify its processes while improving the overall service levels provided to its business users.

The contract covers more than 500 applications that BMW Group uses around the world in its automotive and component manufacturing plants and within its sales and distribution business units. The agreement extends an existing collaboration between Accenture and BMW, as Accenture has been helping BMW Group enhance its application management services over the past four years.

Richard Spitzer, managing director of Accenture’s Automotive practice, commented, “Top companies such as BMW are continually refining their distinctive capabilities, including those related to lean enterprises and efficient back-office services. BMW’s application management strategy will enable the company to take advantage of significantly improved services and processes, all from a single provider.”

Accenture will deliver the services to BMW Group through its delivery centres in Hyderabad, India; and Munich and Hof, Germany.