Image: © MichaelVi/Stock.adobe.com
An AWS and Microsoft Azure link is expected to launch next year.
Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are partnering up for a “step toward a more open cloud environment” with a jointly engineered multicloud networking solution that they claim would enable faster interoperability and interconnectivity.
Major companies worldwide use multiple cloud services across their business. German software giant SAP, for example, employs Microsoft Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, IBM and more, depending on its needs and the specific offerings from each of these services.
Businesses need to manually set up networking components, including physical equipment to connect different cloud services – a process that takes from weeks to even months, explained Google …
Image: © MichaelVi/Stock.adobe.com
An AWS and Microsoft Azure link is expected to launch next year.
Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are partnering up for a “step toward a more open cloud environment” with a jointly engineered multicloud networking solution that they claim would enable faster interoperability and interconnectivity.
Major companies worldwide use multiple cloud services across their business. German software giant SAP, for example, employs Microsoft Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, IBM and more, depending on its needs and the specific offerings from each of these services.
Businesses need to manually set up networking components, including physical equipment to connect different cloud services – a process that takes from weeks to even months, explained Google Cloud’s general manager for cloud networking Rob Enns and AWS’ vice-president for networking services Robert Kennedy, in a jointly written blog post.
Their new solution, they said, moves away from physical infrastructure management, toward a managed cloud-native experience, and one that establishes connectivity in “minutes”.
They claimed that the collaboration will deliver “high-resiliency”, with the partners engaging in continuous monitoring to “proactively detect and resolve issues”.
Google Cloud is AWS’ first launch partner for this new type of connected cloud service. AWS plans to launch a link with Microsoft Azure in 2026.
Kennedy said, “This collaboration between AWS and Google Cloud represents a fundamental shift in multicloud connectivity.
“By defining and publishing a standard that removes the complexity of any physical components for customers, with high availability and security fused into that standard, customers no longer need to worry about any heavy lifting to create their desired connectivity.”
The partnership launches just months after both AWS and Google Cloud suffered outages that disrupted large swathes of the internet.
In June, a disruption at Google Cloud affected services such as Cloudflare and OpenAI, while an October outage in one of AWS’ US regions negatively affected the likes of Amazon, Perplexity, Canva, Signal, Atlassian as well as government websites and financial services.
The incidents raised concern about a potential monopoly in cloud services with a handful of very large players playing a key role in providing internet infrastructure.
To address such issues, the EU launched an investigation into Amazon and Microsoft last month to probe whether AWS and Azure should be given the ‘gatekeeper’ designation under the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
If handed the designation, the two cloud services would be placed under much higher scrutiny around issues including interoperability and market activities that promote their lucrative positions as leaders.
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