Elisa Partners with Google Cloud to Accelerate Cloud Transformation and Explore Future Joint Innovations

SUNNYVALE, Calif., and HELSINKI, Feb. 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Google Cloud and Finnish telecommunications and digital services provider, Elisa, announced a strategic partnership to accelerate Elisa's cloud transformation journey and work together on joint innovations in several areas.

This new alliance will see Elisa leverage Google Cloud's infrastructure, storage, advanced data analytics, and hybrid cloud management services to accelerate its go-to-market activities, explore new edge computing possibilities, and build enhanced experiences for Elisa's customers.

The two organizations will collaborate to:

• Accelerate Elisa's International Digital Services (IDS) cloud transformation: Elisa Polystar, part of Elisa Group, is exploring new cloud-based network assurance and automation functionalities through Google Distributed Cloud, advanced machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
• Support the expansion of Elisa's portfolio of managed hybrid cloud services: Elisa has built Google Cloud into its hybrid cloud offering, which offers cloud capacity, cloud management, and control and expert services. Last year, Elisa partnered with Google Cloud to modernize more than 30 customers' private cloud environments through a joint go-to-market solution. Elisa has already deployed its first interconnect between Google Cloud and Elisa to provide hybrid cloud connectivity for a leading healthcare provider in the Nordics.
• Pilot Anthos as a telco cloud platform for Elisa: Elisa is piloting Google Cloud's Anthos as an on-prem cloud solution for hosting Elisa's cloud-native network functions (CNF). A cloud-native 5G core is used as a trial application to evaluate the extra value that Google Cloud can provide for operators maintaining and operating the cloud platform and for CNF vendors taking advantage of Google Cloud's APIs, toolset, and containers as a service (CaaS) layer.
• Further enhance customer experiences: Elisa is leveraging many of Google Cloud's products and services—including infrastructure, data analytics, AI/ML and more—to not only drive greater operational efficiencies and flexibility, but also create more unified and compelling experiences for customers.

"We're at a pivotal moment in our cloud journey and we wanted a cloud partner that would support our next steps in our digital development," said Veli-Matti Mattila, Elisa, CEO. "We are a customer-centric organization continuously transforming our business and we're looking forward to collaborating together with Google Cloud on joint innovations for our global customers." 

"The telco sector is undergoing significant modernisation and Google Cloud's expertise in data analytics, multi and hybrid cloud management, and edge computing is supporting industry players to navigate this change," said Thomas Kurian, CEO, Google Cloud. "Elisa is a market leader in telecommunications and digital services, and we're proud to be part of its digital transformation journey."

About Google Cloud
Google Cloud accelerates organizations' ability to digitally transform their business with the best infrastructure, platform, industry solutions and expertise. We deliver enterprise-grade solutions that leverage Google's cutting-edge technology – all on the cleanest cloud in the industry. Customers in more than 200 countries and territories turn to Google Cloud as their trusted partner to enable growth and solve their most critical business problems.

About Elisa
Elisa's mission is a sustainable future through digitalisation. We are a pioneer in telecommunications and digital services, and in 5G. We provide sustainable solutions for over 2.8 million consumer, corporate and public administration customers in our core markets of Finland and Estonia, as well as in over 100 countries internationally. In Finland, Elisa is a market leader in telecommunications, and our international cooperation partners include e.g. Vodafone and Tele2. Elisa is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki. In 2021, our revenue was EUR 2 billion and we employed 5,300 people in more than 20 countries. Elisa is pursuing growth in international digital services leveraging on its core business capabilities. This portfolio includes industrial software and telecom software services: Elisa IndustrIQ provides solutions for manufacturers with more than 1,000 global industrial customers in over 20 countries. Elisa Polystar serves more than 120 communication service providers. Elisa is a carbon-neutral company. elisa.com.

SOURCE Google Cloud