The world’s largest interconnected data centre company, Equinix, is expanding its partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to offer better cloud connectivity for enterprises.
The company says the improved connection capacities, available via a private cloud network onramp, will support enterprise cloud transformation.
Equinix already partners Amazon to offer private and secure connectivity with AWS Direct Connect. The company will now offer the new AWS Direct Connect Service Delivery Program so Equinix customers can use hosted connections with 1G, 2G, 5G and 10G capacities on Equinix Cloud Exchange (ECX) Fabric.
The new capacity connections mean that companies using ECX Fabric can connect to AWS services via AWS Direct Connect locations in the same city as the customer’s infrastructure is located, Equinix explains.
In addition, Equinix’s customers with low-latency workloads, or those needing higher bandwidth and/or to adhere to data sovereignty rules, can use the higher capacities on ECX Fabric to access all AWS services via AWS Direct Connect locations other than those where their infrastructure is located.
On-demand access
The need to deploy hybrid cloud architecture by connecting to cloud service providers, such as AWS, is becoming increasingly important for global enterprises as digital transformation fuels the need for on-demand access to cloud-based services, Equinix says.
According to the Global Interconnection Index (GXI) Volume 2, a market study published by Equinix, interconnection between enterprises and cloud and IT providers is projected to grow 98% per annum until 2021, supporting businesses building out new digital services and migrating existing workloads to third-party cloud platforms.
Kaushik Joshi, Global Managing Director, Strategic Alliances, Equinix, commented, “Companies with latency-sensitive applications and workloads require predictable performance to ensure a consistent, high-quality user experience.
“AWS Direct Connect, combined with ECX Fabric on the Equinix global interconnection platform, is an ideal combination that allows these customers to deploy hybrid cloud architectures and achieve this level of performance and security.
“By offering dedicated and hosted connections with new 1G up to 10G speeds on ECX Fabric, we are enhancing private cloud connectivity for enterprises to help them accelerate their hybrid cloud transformations.”
Digital transformation
Jennifer Cooke, Research Director, IDC, said, “Digital transformation is driving enterprises to move their IT infrastructure to the cloud. Key to making this move successful is having the flexibility and scalability advantages of hybrid cloud architectures that enable them to easily move workloads and data between public and private clouds.
“Interconnection is a critical component, providing enterprises with a more secure, higher bandwidth and cost-effective connectivity option to the public cloud versus the public internet.
“Equinix’s ability to provide enterprises, especially those with sensitive workloads, enhanced capabilities to build a hybrid cloud environment enables frictionless migration to the public cloud – and allows enterprises to reap the enormous benefits the cloud has to offer.”