The plot thickens with the BlueSky-Thomas Cook saga this week as Tnooz learns of moves at the European tour operating giant to ensure its live product system continues to run smoothly.
It is understood that a team of 25 ex-BlueSky Technologies staffers are working on the system for Thomas Cook either as contractors or through agencies.
Thomas Cook is also believed to have submitted a bid for the intellectual property rights for the BlueSky Technologies iTour system.
News of the emergence of a rescue team is likely to anger a number of other former BlueSky employees as information obtained by Tnooz indicates increasing levels of anger over the circumstances leading to the company’s demise.
The latest twist also indicates a need by Thomas Cook to maintain development of its reservation systems as talks continue behind the scenes.
Reservations for the entire UK specialist holiday products range are currently handled through the iTour system.
Cooks joins a list of companies throwing their hat in the ring including, as Travolution speculated last week, Comtec, Traveltek and Partners Software.
One of the team of 25 is known to be Mark Earnshaw, former head of application development at BlueSky who joined in May 2008 from Gold Medal Travel. No other former-executive board directors are involved.
The latest comes as MCR, administrators for the collapsed BlueSky company, confirm that the process to find a likely suitor for the BlueSky business and software IPR is still open.
Thomas Cook is declining to comment on the wider circumstances except to confirm the existence of the team parachuted in to run the software in the short term.
In a written statement to Tnooz today, it said:
“Following the administration of BlueSky on Tuesday 29 September 2009, we have taken steps to ensure that there is no disruption to our live product system and engaged 25 ex-BlueSky employees to provide short term cover for our development needs and maintain the current live product system.
“The team began work on Monday 12 October 2009. We continue to review our options in respect of iTour.”
More to follow…
Related posts:
About Kevin May
Surely someone should be asking these questions:
1 How is this team supporting the live system when all they have LEGAL access to is an out-of-date copy of the source code from Escrow?
2 If the new company is found to be in possession of other items that make up the IPR such as the data model, system specifications, documentation etc., will charges be brought?
3 By employing so many ex-Bluesky employees on the day Bluesky went into administration, how will Thomas Cook avoid their TUPE obligations to the rest of the staff?
4 Can Thomas Cook be accused of reducing the value of the IPR by basically gaining access to it through the back door?
We ex-employees (who are not part of the breakaway group), feel very angry at the current situation, and feel as if our rights to a real redundancy package have taken away by this back door approach which has been facilitated by our ex-colleagues.
We also need advice on how we proceed, so if anyone can offer this advice we would be interested to hear from you.
If 25 former BlueSky people are required to “run” the software, is it steam driven?
A team that big suggests software maintenance and, possibly, development underway?
Many contracts have a clause that covers access to an escrow copy if the supplier goes bust etc. If Thomas Cook, as reported but not confirmed, cancelled the contract, ………………?
The breakaway team includes at least 2 business analysts. This is hardly a support team…. It appears to be a scaled down Bluesky under Thomas Cooks’ control.