There’s nothing like cleaning up the house before the new residents move in. Nokia is certainly making sure that all is spick and span with its internal network infrastructure prior to the arrival of Alcatel-Lucent – hopefully, if the acquisition deal does goes through. It has entered into new strategic partnerships with HP, Microsoft and Telefonica to improve its IT infrastructure and workplace environment.

HP will provide a number of IT services, including enterprise cloud computing based on its HP Helion managed private cloud, as well collaboration, connectivity, workplace and network services. This builds on the two companies existing partnership to accelerate operator deployments of telco cloud.

Microsoft will undertake the job of transferring IT services to the cloud, including Office 365 and Microsoft Azure, as well as supporting Nokia in the adoption of new social and collaboration tools.

Telefonica, meanwhile, will deliver telecom services, such as wide area network access and a unified communication platform that includes fixed voice, video and meeting services.

“This investment will further improve our infrastructure quality and agility,” said Manfred Immitzer, CIO of Nokia Networks. “It will simplify the global network solution and provide a much better service experience and connectivity for the users – our employees.”

Nokia’s global delivery centres will migrate to a cloud-based architecture, which of course is the direction that vendors such as Nokia are encouraging their telco partners to take. Once its new cloud-based architecture is fully in place, which will not be until the first quarter of 2017 (sorry Alcatel-Lucent, you’ll have to put up with Nokia’s old system for a while longer), the company says it will greater agility and be able to introduce more quickly new IT services.

“In partnership with other industry leaders, we have laid a solid foundation to profit from next-generation software and optimize our IT Infrastructure costs,” added Immitzer. “This IT infrastructure renewal is the biggest and most impactful IT program we have initiated over the last years.”

Meanwhile in other Nokia spring cleaning news, controversial transport company Uber has submitted a $3bn bit for Nokia’ Here maps division, according to US press reports. Nokia has not confirmed Here is for sale, although it has alluded to the fact in the strongest possible terms.