Verizon Offers Direct Connectivity to AWS through Secure Cloud Interconnect Service

The cloud is all about choice, and for many, the infrastructure of choice is Amazon Web Services (AWS). Cloud providers of all varieties and sizes are scrambling to offer connectivity to AWS, and Verizon is the latest.

The telecom giant has expanded Secure Cloud Interconnect (SCI) service to include AWS as part of its multi-cloud services vision. SCI provides a secure and direct link to a variety of infrastructure providers, including Microsoft Azure, Equinix and Verizon’s own cloud, for the company’s enterprise customers. Customers may manage their cloud services from one portal and can connect and move data and workloads among different cloud platforms through Verizon’s Private IP network.

SCI uses the AWS Direct Connect service to enable connectivity to the infrastructure leader. A host of other large network, colocation, data center and service providers are also offering Direct Connect service, including Equinix, FiberLight, InterCloud, Level 3 Communications, Masergy, NTT Communications, Tata Communications and XO Communications.

According to Verizon, AWS connections are immediately available in the Silicon

Valley and Northern Virginia regions, with plans to expand to London, Tokyo, Singapore and Sydney by the end of October.

"As more organizations look to hybrid computing, SCI offers enterprises a very viable option," said Thierry Sender, director, technology, Verizon. "The service offers enterprises the right blend of security, private connectivity, performance, simplicity and efficiency while enabling a wide range of applications and use cases for organizations."

“Multi-cloud deployments require enterprise-grade performance and security,” wrote Kevin King, external communications director for Verizon, in an April blog post coinciding with the launch of SCI. “And developing these connections can take weeks or months. Verizon shortens that process to minutes or hours. To do this, Verizon puts edge routers in third-party clouds enabling pre-integration of networking and data center interfaces. The enterprise needs only to select its cloud partners, location and service information. Verizon automatically provisions the connection.”

Verizon’s Private IP network offers connections up to 10GigE for scalable, secure and dynamic connectivity to cloud infrastructure, platform, storage and service providers. Features include detailed reporting and usage-based billing, full redundancy and stringent SLAs. Verizon plans to offer direct connections to additional cloud providers by the end of the year.