The telecoms and IT services firm, which holds six petabytes of data, will implement CommVault Simpana software in an attempt to cut costs by improving data handling, including on virtualised servers and tiered storage. It aims to reduce the need for new storage, partly through de-duplication of existing data.

The software also offers data recovery, e-discovery and other security features. Stan Sexton, director at BT's IT services centre, said that the software will help "simplify and automate our storage backup and restore service, while delivering reduced costs".

BT, which extensively uses enterprise resource planning and database software from Oracle, wants to improve the visibility of its data, as well as to improve data management processes and automation.

The company will also use the software to expand its cloud storage services for customers.