New interconnection between Equinix and Azure

REDWOOD CITY, USA: Equinix, Inc., an interconnection and data center company, has announced a strategic relationship with Microsoft Corp. that enables cloud connectivity to Windows Azure in key markets globally through Equinix International Business Exchange (IBX) data centers.

With this offering Equinix says its customers can connect their owned and managed infrastructure directly to Windows Azure via Platform Equinix, establishing a private network connection that may reduce network costs, increase throughput, reduce latency and provide more consistent network performance than Internet-based connections.

As explained further- Connecting to Windows Azure through Platform Equinix allows enterprises to bridge their cloud and data center strategies allowing full integration between cloud services and internal applications, and flexible and dynamic bandwidth through automated network provisioning.

Equinix and Microsoft will be onboarding a small number of customers for early trials by the end of 2013.

According to the Cisco Global Cloud Networking Survey, the adoption of cloud-based applications will continue to increase as enterprises achieve the benefits of cost savings, flexibility, and reduced operational demands. During the cloud migration process, data protection security was cited as the top obstacle to a successful implementation of cloud services (72 per cent), followed by availability and reliability of cloud applications (67 per cent), device-based security (66 per cent), visibility and control of applications across the WAN (60 per cent) and overall application performance (60 per cent).

Satya Nadella, executive vice president of Cloud and Enterprise for Microsoft said: "Microsoft is committed to helping enterprises succeed as they move toward the cloud. Windows Azure provides customers with a variety of ways to connect in a manner that is private, fast and secure. The relationship with Equinix gives customers yet another seamless way to extend their on-premises network to Windows Azure by strategically using Equinix's global data center footprint where businesses are already connecting to the cloud."

Chris Sharp, general manager, Cloud, Equinix added, "Equinix's neutral data center environment offers security, performance and a globally consistent experience for enterprises that are moving into the cloud. Through our relationship with Microsoft we can provide customers with direct connectivity to Windows Azure, opening up new opportunities in hybrid cloud computing."