Microsoft & Nokia Come Together Yet Again, Aims To Work On AI, IOT, Cloud

Navin Bondade 0 Comments Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Deep Learning, Machine Learning

History exists so that man could learn from his mistakes, It’s been around five years have passed since Microsoft’s $7 billion ill-fated acquisition of Nokia’s smartphone business, and now after learning too many lessons, both the tech champions are coming together yet again.

Microsoft has announced a strategic collaboration with Nokia to accelerate transformation and innovation across industries with Cloud, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT).

“Bringing together Microsoft’s expertise in intelligent cloud solutions and Nokia’s strength in building the business and mission-critical networks will unlock new connectivity and automation scenarios,” Microsoft Azure Executive Vice President Jason Zander said in a statement.

“We’re excited about the opportunities this will create for our joint customers across industries.”

The new partnership combines Microsoft’s expertise in Cloud Computing and Artificial Intelligence with Nokia’s 5G private wireless and mission-critical networking prowess.

Especially, the venture will bring together Microsoft’s Cloud platform Azure, Azure IoT, Azure AI and machine learning solutions with Nokia’s LTE/5G-ready private wireless solutions, IP, software-defined wide-area networking (SD-WAN), and IoT connectivity offerings.

By bringing together Microsoft cloud solutions and Nokia’s expertise in mission-critical networking, the companies are uniquely positioned to drive industrial digitalization and automation across enterprises and enable CSPs to offer new services to enterprise customers.

The Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (Nokia DAC) 5G-ready industrial-grade private wireless broadband solution with on-premise Azure elements will enable a wide variety of secure industrial automation solutions that require more reliable connectivity, efficient coverage, and better mobility.

By automating branch and hybrid WAN connectivity, the company said that enterprises will have simplified, faster access to cloud applications such as Office 365, integrated security from branch-to-branch and branch-to-Azure and reduced risk of configuration errors causing security or connectivity issues.

“For example, connected smart tools and machines on manufacturing floors that enable increased productivity, flexibility and safety for workers, or autonomous vehicles and robots in industrial environments that improve automation, efficiency, and overall safety,” said Microsoft.

Enterprises will be able to use Azure IoT Central and partner solutions for faster and easier enablement and implementation of their IoT applications together with Nokia’s IoT connectivity solutions.

“We are thrilled to unite Nokia’s mission-critical networks with Microsoft’s cloud solutions,” said Kathrin Buvac, President of Nokia Enterprise and Chief Strategy Officer.

“Together, we will accelerate the digital transformation journey towards Industry 4.0, driving economic growth and productivity for both enterprises and service providers.”

BT is the first global communications service provider to offer its enterprise customers a managed service that integrates Microsoft Azure cloud and Nokia SD-WAN solutions.

BT customers can access this through a customer automated delegated rights service, which enables BT to manage both the customer Azure vWAN & Agile Connect SD-WAN, based on Nokia’s Nuage SD-WAN 2.0.

Microsoft and Nokia are collaborating to host Nokia’s Analytics, Virtualization and Automation (AVA) cognitive services solutions on Azure