End of an era
Nokia and Accenture have finalised a deal which will see the transfer of software development and support services for Symbia from Nokia to Accenture. As well as taking control of the OS, Accenture will also be taking charge of 2,800 ex-Nokia employees.
Although Nokia will still be supporting Symbian for some time to come, it will no longer be the major driving force behind the operating system, and will no longer be using it as a primary platform for its devices. The MeeGo and Windows 7 based Nokia future is here.
Accenture, for its part, will support Symbian and its development through 2016,providing support to Nokia (and its customers) where needed. The deal will also see Accenture operate as a preferred supplier to Nokia and assist it in developing Windows Phone services, as Nokia switches away from Symbian to Windows Phone 7 as its primary smartphone OS.
"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."
The final stages of the deal are expected to be in place by October, after which all 2,800 of the employees set to move companies during the transition will have made their move.
Further to this announcement, Nokia has also appointed long-time employee Michael Halbherr as head of a new Location & Commerce business, with the task of making better use of Nokia's community data.
According to Nokia CEO Stephen Elop: "Focusing on location and commerce is a natural next step in Nokia's Services journey. We will provide next generation social-location applications and commerce to differentiate Nokia. We also aim to extend our content and services offerings to all consumers by making them available to partners and customers on a wide variety of devices and operating systems. Michael is a widely recognized authority in the fields of mobility and social location services, and I am delighted to appoint him to lead an area of our business that will be crucial in Nokia's transformation strategy."
