SAP announced that Nokia, a global leader in connectivity for the AI era, has signed a new multi-year agreement with SAP to help accelerate its enterprise transformation using RISE with SAP Methodology, with its SAP S/4HANA software environment hosted on Microsoft Azure.

The agreement, concluded at the end of 2025, marks a significant step in migrating Nokia’s SAP landscape to the RISE with SAP journey. By adopting RISE with SAP Methodology, Nokia will follow a structured, end-to-end approach to migrating its ERP landscape covering processes, data, applications and operating models while gaining continuous access to innovation and embedded AI capabilities delivered through SAP’s cloud ERP portfolio.

Nokia has selected Microsoft Azure as the cloud platform underpinning the transformation, providing the global scale, security and performance required to support the company’s most business-critical enterprise workloads. “Nokia’s decision reflects a clear commitment to business-led transformation,” said Manos Raptopoulos, Global President Customer Success Europe, APAC, Middle East and Africa and Member of the Extended Board, SAP SE. “RISE with SAP Methodology provides Nokia with a structured road map, integrated toolchain and continuous access to innovation. It enables the company to modernize its ERP landscape while keeping a clean core and building a strong foundation for enterprise AI.”

A Structured Approach to ERP Transformation

RISE with SAP is designed as a comprehensive business transformation framework rather than a point solution. It combines a standardized transformation methodology, integrated tools and expert guidance to help organizations move from legacy ERP environments to RISE with SAP.

SAP will operate and manage the SAP S/4HANA software environment in the cloud, allowing Nokia to shift focus from infrastructure management to business outcomes. The approach supports process standardization, operational simplification and ongoing innovation, rather than a one-time system migration.

Nokia has been on a business and technical transformation journey with its next-generation SAP S/4HANA software environment, covering finance and key logistics capabilities, supported by SAP solutions and applications. These include SAP S/4HANA for central finance, SAP Master Data Governance, SAP Extended Warehouse Management, SAP Global Trade Services and SAP S/4HANA Cloud for advanced ATP. AI-enabled functionality embedded in SAP’s cloud applications will be progressively adopted as part of the journey.

“This agreement builds on our existing work with SAP and Microsoft and supports Nokia’s ambition to secure how we run our core business operations,” said Marek Očkay, VP, Global Head of IT Procurement & Vendor Management, Nokia. “By applying RISE with SAP Methodology on Microsoft Azure, we are strengthening a structured and future ready path for business growth — one that simplifies our ERP landscape, enables continuous innovation and strengthens our commitment for AI driven processes.”

Microsoft Azure as the Cloud Foundation

Microsoft Azure will serve as the cloud foundation for Nokia’s RISE with SAP journey, aligning with Nokia’s broader cloud and data strategy. Nokia already operates parts of its SAP landscape on Azure, and consolidating workloads on a single hyperscale platform is expected to deliver benefits in performance, security latency and operational resilience.

As part of the agreement, Microsoft will collaborate closely with SAP and Nokia throughout the transformation, supporting migration activities and ongoing optimization.

“This collaboration demonstrates how cloud platforms, enterprise applications and AI can come together to support complex, global business transformations,” said Joacim Damgard, CVP, Europe North Microsoft. “By running SAP S/4HANA on Azure within the RISE with SAP journey, Nokia is creating a scalable and secure foundation for continuous innovation.”

Building on a Longstanding SAP Relationship

Nokia has been an SAP customer for decades. In recent years, the company has been consolidating multiple ERP systems into a unified SAP S/4HANA software landscape as part of its next-generation ERP program.

The move to RISE with SAP helps secure that journey, providing a structured methodology to help accelerate transformation, reduce complexity and unlock cloud native capabilities.