Accenture to do Windows work for Nokia

 LONDON – Mobile phone maker Nokia Oy and Accenture plc have finalized their agreement to outsource Symbian software development and support to Accenture. Plans of the agreement were first announced on April 27, 2011. At the same time Accenture said it will retrain and redeploy transferred staff while providing Microsoft-related services to Nokia through Avanade, a majority-owned technology services company. Avanade was founded as a joint venture between Microsoft and Accenture in 2000


The Symbian operating system and platform for mobile phones was originally supported by most of the leading cell phone makers as a means of keeping Microsoft and its Windows operating system out of communications. Originally the property of an independent company, Symbian became a joint venture operation owned by the telecommunications companies and eventually came to be owned by Nokia.

However, the architecture was introduced in a less graphically and application rich time and Nokia has recently committed itself to Microsoft's Windows operating system for the future of its smartphones.

Under the agreement, Accenture will provide Symbian based software development and support services to Nokia through 2016. Approximately 2,800 Nokia employees located in China, Finland, India, United Kingdom and the United States, are expected to transfer to Accenture at closing, which is expected to take place in the early part of October, 2011.

"We look forward to partnering with Nokia as they continue to support Symbian and transition to the Windows Phone ecosystem," said Marty Cole, chief executive of Accenture Communications and High Tech group. "The highly skilled group of technologists and engineers transferring to Accenture will complement our current mobility skills and enhance the breadth, depth and scale of our capabilities, allowing us to meet the growing global demand for mobility services across many industries."

The agreement calls for Accenture to support and further develop Nokia's Symbian platform and to become the preferred supplier to Nokia on their transition to Windows Phone. Accenture will also seek to retrain and redeploy transferred employees.

"Our collaboration with Accenture allows us to meet our ongoing commitment to support our Symbian smartphone customers and continue to leverage the talent that has the deepest experience on the platform," said Jo Harlow, executive vice president for Smart Devices, Nokia. "As we move our primary smartphone platform to Windows Phone, we will look to explore potential opportunities to tap this talent pool as they develop and expand their knowledge and capabilities beyond Symbian."

Accenture said it will also work with Avanade, a technology service company majority-owned by Accenture that focuses on Microsoft technologies, to provide further services to Nokia.