BP has signed a deal with Deutsche Telekom (DT), which will see the Germany-based operator provide cloud messaging services to the energy giant's 83,000 employees.

DT said its corporate customer division, T-Systems, will upgrade BP's current Exchange 2003 service to Exchange 2010. It added that this should offer a secure private cloud that will enable staff in all areas of the energy company to access email from a range of devices.

Commenting on the five-year contract, Dana Deasy, BP Group's CIO, said: "We are looking forward to working as partners with T-Systems to enable BP employees to connect and collaborate using any device, anywhere, at any time."

Reinhard Clemens, T Systems CEO, said: "The development and provision of cloud services is a key component of Deutsche Telekom's strategy.

"Over the last seven years, T-Systems has become a recognised cloud leader and our unique collaboration offering from the cloud is a first choice for large enterprises. We are very proud to deepen our business relationship with BP."

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