A New Industry 4.0 Venture is Underway! Microsoft Collaborates with Nokia

Microsoft and Nokia  recently announced their strategic partnership to accelerate digital transformation and innovation across industries, enterprises and CSPS that are involved with cloud, Artificial Intelligence, and Internet of Things.

 

While Microsoft possesses years of cloud-computing and AI experience, Nokia offers robust expertise in 5G and mission-critical networking. In fact, there have been talks that Microsoft and Nokia intend to host Nokia’s analytics-virtualization-automation (AVA) tools on Microsoft’s Azure. Apparently, these AI-driven solutions will facilitate CSPs to migrate from private data centers to the Azure cloud, ensuring cost savings and transform operations for 5G.

 

“Bringing together Microsoft’s and Nokia’s expertise in cloud, AI, IoT and networking will unlock new connectivity and automation scenarios,” said Jason Zander, executive vice president, Microsoft Azure. “We’re excited about the opportunities this will create for our joint customers across industries.”

 

According to Industry 4.0 Market, Technologies & Industry: 2019-2023 market report, cloud computing is helping manufacturers innovate, reduce costs,  and  increase  their  competitiveness.  Critically, cloud computing allows  manufacturers  to  use  many  forms  of  new  production  systems, from   3D   printing   and   high-performance   computing   (HPC)   to   the Internet   of   Things   (IoT)   and   industrial   robots.

 

Cloud computing democratizes  access  to  and  use  of  these  technologies  by small   manufacturers.  This  report   describes   how   cloud   computing enables modern manufacturing, provides real-word case studies of this process in action,  and  recommends  actions  policymakers  can  take  to ensure  cloud  computing  continues  to  transform  manufacturing  and bolster  manufacturing  competitiveness.  Companies are already using cloud-based  software  for  some  enterprise  and  analytics  applications, but with Industry 4.0, more production-related undertakings will require increased  data  sharing  across  sites  and  company  boundaries. At  the same  time,   the   performance   of   cloud   technologies   will   improve, achieving  reaction  times  of  just  several  milliseconds.  As a result, machine  data and  functionality  will  increasingly  be  deployed  to  the cloud,   enabling   more data-driven  services  for  production systems.  Even systems that monitor and control processes may   become   cloud   based. Vendors of  manufacturing-execution systems are among the   companies   that   have started  to  offer  cloud-based solutions.

 

With this new collaboration in place, these two companies plan on helping communications providers offer new services and building Internet of Things products for industries such as smart cities, logistics, healthcare, and transportation.

 

Second Time’s a Charm?  – A brief history of the Microsoft-Nokia partnership over the years

Microsoft and Nokia have in fact worked together in the past, but their previous partnership was deemed to be unsuccessful. Back in 2014, Microsoft reportedly bout Nokia’s smartphone business in the hopes that the acquisition would provide a jumpstart to Windows Phone business.

 

However, the company later decided to retreat from the deal, shedding Nokia’s smartphone business along with thousands of jobs, and ended up facing a $7.6 billion charge. Microsoft reportedly sold Nokia’s smartphone business to HMD Global and a subsidiary of Hon Hai/Foxconn Technology Group in 2016. HMD holds an exclusive license to use the Nokia brand on smartphones and tablets.

 

Nokia now plans to primarily focus on network equipment and software services for telco providers and other enterprises. The brand had partnered with American operator T-Mobile in 2018 to accelerate the deployment of 5G and next-gen wireless tech.

 

For more information, contact Naomi Sapir:

naomi@i40research.com