Equinix brings Amazon Web Services Direct Connect to its German data centers

Equinix has added Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) Web Services (AWS) Direct Connect cloud service to its Frankfurt, Germany, International Business Exchange (IBX) data centers, bringing the total number of Equinix metros offering the service to eight globally.

Through this pact, Equinix's European businesses will be able to establish a private connection to AWS, which it says can provide three benefits: reduced cost, improved performance and a consistent experience.

Although IDC forecasts that the European cloud market is set to grow to over $30 billion in 2017, one of the main concerns amongst CIOs is complying with German and European data protection laws.

A key focus of this pact is helping business customers move to a hybrid cloud network architecture. Equinix claims that by bringing AWS Direct Connect to Europe, specifically to Germany, the two companies can enable enterprises to advance their hybrid cloud strategies "by seamlessly and safely incorporating public cloud services into their existing architectures."

At the Frankfurt campus, Equinix hosts five IBX data centers, all of which are connected via Metro Connect and have access to over 400 national and international service providers. Existing and new customers can connect to the AWS Direct Connect service from any one of these five IBX data centers. 

The data center provider now offers the AWS Direct Connect service in eight markets: Frankfurt, London, Seattle, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Washington, D.C./northern Virginia.

While offering access to AWS has become a table stakes requirement for data center providers to participate in the growing cloud market segment, Equinix can capitalize on its brand recognition and deep network connections to make it an attractive choice for enterprise customers.

Besides AWS, Equinix has been making similar agreements to carry Microsoft's (NASDAQ: MSFT) Azure ExpressRoute out of its Washington, D.C., data center, while Level 3 Communications announced in May that it was integrating Equinix Cloud Exchange into its Cloud Connect Solutions ecosystem.

For more:
- see the release

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