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Nokia passes off Symbian and 2,300 employees to Accenture


After placing all bets on Windows Phone, Stephen Elop announced that Nokia would slowly phase out its OG operating system, Symbian. Today, it's officially passed the torch, handing over all Symbian-related duties to Accenture, a consulting and outsourcing firm. 2,300 former Nokia employees will also be repurposed, getting a new name on their paycheck as they tend to the ill-fated OS. The Finnish mainstay says the arrangement will last until at least 2016, and plans to continually roll out updates during this time. Not everyone is hanging on another five years though, as it seems that at least 500 employees have jumped ship or found new gigs within the company since the original announcement predicting 2,800 reassignments. Head past the break to find the full (and very terse) press release.

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Nokia and Accenture Close Symbian Software Development and Support Services Outsourcing Agreement

ESPOO, Finland, Sep 30, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Nokia and Accenture have closed the agreement for Nokia to outsource Symbian software development and support activities to Accenture. Under the agreement, originally announced on June 22, 2011, Accenture will provide Symbian-based software development and support services to Nokia at least until 2016 and also become the preferred supplier for Nokia in its transition to Windows Phone. Following the close, approximately 2,300 employees from China, Finland, India, the United Kingdom and the United States are transferring from Nokia to Accenture.

"We are focused on growing our business in mobility and embedded software. The addition of these highly skilled technologists and engineers to Accenture will strengthen our capabilities in these areas," said Marty Cole, chief executive, Accenture Communications, Media & Technology operating group. "We look forward to supporting Nokia in the execution of its strategy."

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