Tech News: Nokia, Google Strike Deal To Switch Data Centers To Google Cloud

Nokia on Wednesday struck a deal with Google to migrate its entire IT infrastructure onto Google Cloud, including all of its data centers, servers, and software applications.

Nokia said the five-year deal with Google reflects its own operational shift to a cloud-first IT strategy that aims to enhance collaboration and innovation among its own employees and speed up delivery of its services to customers. The company added that it expects to see immediate benefits from the move by lowering its energy consumption costs and eliminating the need to buy new hardware.

Ravi Parmasad, Nokia’s vice president of global IT infrastructure, said the company is moving to Cloud as part of a “digital transformation path that is about fundamentally changing how we operate and do business.”

“Every few years you have to go and invest in all of this hardware, so we get to break that cycle," Parmasad added.

The switch to Cloud is no small undertaking but Nokia said it's working with Google to create a highly customized approach to finish the switch within 18 to 24 months. The plan also takes into account the need to minimize any disruption to Nokia’s business.

Nokia said that as part of the deal it will also use several of Cloud’s networking and storage services to power its business operations. It didn’t name any specific services but Nokia expects it to help accelerate cost optimization and efficiency.

“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,” said Google Cloud President Rob Enslin. “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.”

Nokia isn't the only company looking to utilize Cloud. In August, Google announced that Major League Baseball moved its data warehouse to Cloud. One month before that, Google added three new customers, including the Indian information technology services giant Wipro, soft drinks maker Keurig Dr. Pepper Inc., and the French telephone company Orange SA.