Nokia has new deals with Supermicro and Kyndryl to deliver AI-ready, automated data centre networking – at a global channel level, and a local client level (via a global sales setup). The deals emphasise scalability, reliability, and event-driven network automation for new AI data centre workloads.
Supermicro – launches a global AI-optimised data centre bundle with Nokia.
Kyndryl – Kyndryl delivers managed Nokia AI network solution to Swiss ISP iWay.
Combined – show Nokia’s strategy to deliver scalable, automated, AI networks.
Nokia has a new deal with US-based Supermicro to deliver AI-optimised data centre networking solutions to cloud providers, comms providers, and enterprise customers. Nokia is providing networking and automation software into the bargain; Supermicro is providing server, compute, and switching hardware. They claim to have bundled their wares into a “modern turnkey” solution to reduce deployment times and operational costs, and also to improve network efficiency.
Along the same lines, Nokia has confirmed the first enterprise fruit from its expanded channel partnership with US integrator Kyndryl, which is already supplying its private 5G solutions. Swiss internet service provider iWay has also selected Nokia’s networking and automation software, via Kyndryl – which is managing its networking setup for its data centres. Specifically, the Zurich-headquartered firm has taken Nokia’s Data Center Fabric (DCF) solution and Event-Driven Automation (EDA) platform.
In both cases, the emphasis is on automation, scalability, reliability, and AI-readiness. Both deals make event-driven automation – the EDA process, as much as the Nokia EDA product – instrumental to automate networking to reduce effort, errors, and costs in the design (‘day zero’), deployment (‘day one’), management (‘day two’) of new AI data centres. Modern data centres must be simpler to run, and not just more powerful – is the subtext, here.
The global Supermicro deal, which also expands Nokia’s enterprise distribution channels, seeks to pre-pack an AI-geared network bundle, mixing Nokia’s Service Router Linux (SR Linux) Network Operating System (NOS) and EDA platform with Supermicro’s 800G Ethernet switching platforms, and so make the deployment and management ‘day two and three) of AI data-centre networks simpler.
“Data centres are at an inflection point,” says the Supermico announcement, “driven by the growing demands of AI and cloud workloads. Meeting these challenges requires a new approach – one that puts networking at the centre of data centre architecture, with a focus on performance, scalability, and automation. The collaboration between these leaders in networking, compute and storage supports this shift and will accelerate innovation across modern IP and data center networks.”
Cenly Chen, senior vice president and managing director at Supermicro, said: “This gives our customers more choice and flexibility in how they build their infrastructure, with the confidence that Nokia’s SR Linux and EDA are tightly integrated with our systems. It strengthens our ability to deliver networked compute architectures for high-performance workloads, while simplifying orchestration and automation with a unified platform.”
The regional iWay customer announcement puts focus on delivering performance and managing risk in advanced data centre networks – delivered by the Nokia and Kyndryl aspects, respectively. The deal follows lab testing in Zurich; the initial deployment for iWay includes 32 leaf switches and two spine switches, automated through Nokia’s EDA platform.
Matthias Cramer, chief technology officer at iWay, said: “Replacing our previous solution with Nokia’s data centre fabric and Kyndryl’s network deployment services has allowed us to fully automate our environment, roll out new features with ease, and reduce human error. The EDA platform gives us the simplicity and flexibility we were looking for, while both Nokia and Kyndryl work as trusted technology providers to deliver the reliability and technical expertise needed to deliver a smooth and secure network modernization.”
Paul Savill, in charge of Kyndryl’s global network and edge computing practice, said: “The combination of Nokia’s data center fabric solutions with Kyndryl’s end-to-end network services and consulting expertise is helping iWay modernize their data centers with confidence – strengthening their security, supporting regulatory compliance, and laying the foundation for long-term scalability and growth.”
New research by Kyndryl says that 84 percent of senior management in the telecoms industry thinks AI will be essential to achieving their strategic objectives over the next three years; 79 percent across other industries say they are under pressure to modernize their infrastructure to support AI initiatives.
