Nokia has extended its existing agreement to supply Microsoft Azure with data center routers and switches.
The Finnish vendor announced today that the agreement will run for five years, and will see Nokia bolster the scalability and reliability of Azure data centers around the world.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
According to Nokia, the partnership will expand Nokia's global footprint to more than 30 countries and strengthen its role as a strategic supplier for Microsoft's worldwide cloud infrastructure.
Nokia will support Azure's migration from 100GE to 400GE connectivity within existing facilities.
The vendor notes that its multi-year agreement with Azure builds on the companies' existing collaboration around open source SONiC.
Nokia said it will supply its 7250 IXR-10e platform to provide multi-terabit-scale interconnectivity within Microsoft’s data centers.
Nokia's SONiC-based data center routers and switches will be deployed in greenfield locations. The vendor states that its equipment will help Microsoft to "meet increasing traffic demands for years to come."
Deployment of Nokia's 7250 IXR-10e will kick off in February.
“We are pleased to move to the next phase of our relationship with Microsoft by expanding the agreement’s product scope, geographical reach, and time commitment to five years," said Vach Kompella, senior vice president and general manager of IP Networks business at Nokia.
"As a result of this new deal, Nokia will further increase the scalability and reliability of Microsoft Azure data centers around the world. This win affirms Nokia's commitment to being a strategic supplier for tier-one hyperscaler companies, and highlights that our multi-year strategic investments and approach have put us on the right trajectory.”
David Maltz, technical fellow and corporate vice president, Microsoft Azure Networking, added: “As leaders in the advancement of cloud compute, we are continuously expanding our global footprint to support the massive growth in compute workloads. Over the past six years, we have worked with Nokia's engineers to develop their routers running SONiC to rapidly advance our expansion at the quality our customers demand.”
Nokia has outlined its growth ambitions within the data center industry in recent months.
Last month, the company's CEO Pekka Lundmark said the vendor sees a "significant opportunity" to expand its presence in the data center market.
In September, Nokia also announced the launch of a data center automation platform, which it describes as an "event-driven automation" (EDA) platform.
According to the vendor, its offering helps data center operators reduce errors in network operations. By doing this, Nokia said it hopes to remove the risk of human error and reduce network disruptions and application downtime.
