IBM Absorbs Nokia Desktop IT In Outsourcing Deal

IBM on Friday inked a five-year deal with Nokia that puts Big Blue in charge of the Finnish phone maker's global helpdesk operations as well as its desktop PCs.

The agreement, valued at approximately 200 million euros, shifts some 430 Nokia employees in 36 countries over to IBM.

Nokia did the deal to focus on its core business IT infrastructure and activities, the company said, and to take advantage of IBM's on-demand technologies.

IBM, meanwhile, touted its Workplace on-demand solutions as the driver for the win, saying that it intends to move Nokia to a model where desktop resources -- including PCs and mobile devices -- are paid for only as they're used.

Under the arrangement, IBM Global Services division will manage Nokia's IT.