Nordics services firm Atea has announced a strategic partnership with Microsoft for the supply of Azure hybrid cloud services in the region.
As in most countries and markets there is a shortage of specialist competence in supporting customers who want to adopt hybrid cloud services. Atea has committed itself to help address this shortage by placing “several hundred consultants” through a cloud services training programme in collaboration with Microsoft.
When Microsoft opens two new Azure data centres in Norway this fall, Atea will be Microsoft's first strategic partner to provide cloud services in the Nordics. The global market for cloud services is expected to grow by 20-30% annually in the coming years, according to analyst house Gartner. “We have seen growing demand from both the public sector and from private enterprise for smart, scalable, secure and advanced cloud solutions,” said Steinar Sønsteby, CEO of Atea. “To satisfy market demand, we need to train more consultants in cloud solutions.”
The agreement that has been signed with Microsoft is one of the first of its kind globally. It covers the practical and economic aspects of a business collaboration with Microsoft, an extensive training plan, and in addition secures Atea with access to global Azure specialists. The agreement has a three-year term.
“We have worked together with Microsoft for well over a year to complete the agreement. Now that everything is in place, the partnership will provide Atea with a clear economic model for building hybrid cloud solutions with Microsoft and access to Azure specialists to ensure success,” said Sønsteby. Atea has 7,400 employees and says it is present in 87 cities in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. It had revenue of around NOK 35bn (€3.48bn) in 2018 and is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange.
Last month, it bought business intelligence and cloud analytics firm DatabaseForum for NOK 20.5m (€2m). The fellow Norwegian firm is located in Stavanger and added 16 staff to the company's headcount. The deal came after Atea bought another business intelligence and data analytics firm last year. That was Sherpa Consulting, also of Norway.
