Google – Nokia Tie-Up To Improve Cloud Functions

• Five-year strategic collaboration will see Nokia migrate its on-premise IT infrastructure onto Google Cloud
• The deal reflects Nokia’s important operational shift to a cloud-first IT strategy
• The agreement is expected to drive meaningful operational efficiencies and cost savings

Bengaluru: Nokia and Google Cloud announced a five-year strategic collaboration that will see Nokia migrate its on-premise IT infrastructure onto Google Cloud. Nokia will migrate its data centers and servers around the world, as well as various software applications, onto Google Cloud infrastructure.

The deal reflects Nokia’s important operational shift to a cloud-first IT strategy and its aggressive efforts to strengthen and transform its digital operations globally in order to expand collaboration and innovation capabilities of Nokia employees and to enhance its delivery to customers.

Operational efficiency

The agreement is expected to drive meaningful operational efficiencies and cost savings over time due to a reduction in real estate footprint, hardware energy consumption, and hardware capacity purchasing needs.

Under the deal, whose terms were not disclosed, Nokia will use a suite of Google Cloud products and professional services. Nokia and Google Cloud have worked together for the past few months to design a highly customised migration approach that will allow Nokia to exit its IT data centers on a rapid schedule, while minimizing business impact and setting a strong foundation for the future. Google Cloud will deploy strategic systems integrators, solutions specialists, and engineers to ensure a stable migration.

Google Cloud’s extensive infrastructure-as-a-service portfolio of compute, networking, and storage solutions offers agility, rapid development, and availability. These capabilities will accelerate cost optimization, efficiency, and operational reliability for Nokia.

SaaS model

Nokia’s infrastructure and applications will run in the public cloud or in a Software-as-a-Service model going forward. Deployment of the migration has started and is expected to extend over an 18- to 24-month period.

Commenting on the development, Google Cloud President Rob Enslin said it’s an honour to work with Nokia to help modernise its infrastructure on Google Cloud.

“We look forward to bringing our leading networking, data analytics, AI/ML, and other technologies to empower Nokia to deliver a cloud-first strategy and better serve its customers. We are excited to help Nokia revamp its IT infrastructure with our backbone network and our approach to data security, using advanced software-defined networking. We look forward to providing the full menu of our capabilities to help Nokia deliver on its cloud-first strategy and reach its performance requirements.”

Digital transformation

Expressing happiness over the development, Nokia Vice President Global IT Infrastructure Ravi Parmasad said Nokia is on a digital transformation path that is about fundamentally changing how we operate and do business.

“This is crucial for how our employees collaborate so that we continue to raise the bar on meeting the needs of our customers. We are very pleased that Google Cloud, with its engineering and operational excellence, is joining our transformation work to help us deliver on the many goals we have set,” he said.

Nokia Vice President Global IT Infrastructure Ravi Parmasad said given Nokia’s digital ambitions and plans, this is an ideal time for Nokia to be taking this step with Google Cloud to accelerate our efforts; and doing all of this in a secure and scalable way.

Network equipment

Nokia creates technology to connect the world. Nokia offers a comprehensive portfolio of network equipment, software, services and licensing opportunities across the globe. With its commitment to innovation, driven by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs, Nokia is a leader in the development and deployment of 5G networks.

The Finnish telecom major’s communications service provider customers support more than 6.4 billion subscriptions with its radio networks. Nokia’s enterprise customers have deployed over 1,300 industrial networks worldwide. Adhering to the highest ethical standards, Nokia transforms how people live, work and communicate.

Google Cloud provides organizations with leading infrastructure, platform capabilities and industry solutions. We deliver enterprise-grade cloud solutions that leverage Google’s cutting-edge technology to help companies operate more efficiently and adapt to changing needs, giving customers a foundation for the future. Customers in more than 150 countries turn to Google Cloud as their trusted partner to solve their most critical business problems.

This article first appeared in the NFA Post and is republished with permission