Nokia Taps JLL to Manage Capital Projects

By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

JLL has added a major new assignment to its outsourcing portfolio. The commercial real estate services firm was recently selected by Nokia to provide Project Management Office and portfolio manager services for the international technology company’s global portfolio.

Jim Dobleske, JLL

It’s a big job, one that JLL takes off the hands of not one services firm, but several. “This partnership really validates the global platform and presence JLL is able provide our clients,” Jim Dobleske, Global Board Chair of JLL’s Project and Development Services group, told Commercial Property Executive. “Nokia will see a new level of service and consistency across the globe, giving them better data and analytics to manage their critical decisions.”

JLL’s services will extend to Finland-based Nokia’s broadband and software division Nokia Networks, Nokia Technologies and HERE, the company’s mapping and location intelligence arm. Together the three businesses account for projects across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas. “The new engagement will allow JLL to help Nokia manage its capital in better alignment with its overall capital plan and will also establish a platform for their project managers to execute more effectively across the globe,” Dobleske said. The work, he added, will encompass governance, risk mitigation, process and technology, communication reporting and integration–the five pillars for the PMO.

Nokia certainly had more than a few top-notch services firms from which to choose, but it zeroed in on JLL for its strong capital planning skills and technology platform. And the fact that the two companies have an existing relationship couldn’t have hurt. In 2009, Nokia selected JLL to manage its Asia Pacific portfolio (excluding assets in China), marking the first time the technology company turned to a third party to oversee management of its properties in the region. What started out as a three-year contract is still in place today. But the latest contract takes the companies’ relationship to a new level.

“[The new assignment] allows us to move more upstream with Nokia and play a more strategic role in the partnership,” Dobleske added. “In addition to the program management execution services, JLL is working strategically with Nokia to provide value for them globally. That means driving consistency and further establishing their program management platform through our industry leading business intelligence, data and analytics platforms.”

In a press release, Nokia’s head of global PMO said that as the company grows, it requires solutions that go beyond the fundamentals of PMO. JLL is ready to hit the ground running, just as it did with its Asia Pacific assignment six years ago. Dobleske concluded, “We are looking forward to expanding this relationship and helping support their global objectives.”