Colt targets SAP migration by adding Amsterdam-based Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute point-of-presence

Colt Technology Services has added support for Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute connectivity capabilities at Interxion's data center in The Netherlands.

Interexion's "Amsterdam2" is a key data center in Europe for businesses that need to migrate their off-premises SAP databases to the cloud. Given its location, the Amsterdam2 point-of-presence is also well positioned in the region to support enterprises.

SAP has announced that by 2025 it will no longer support on-premises database platforms, which now requires customers to make the move to an SAP S/4HANA environment. With up to 93% existing customers still operating from in an on-premises data center environment, some immediate heavy lifting is required.

The expansion of Colt’s Azure ExpressRoute footprint will be a boon to SAP customers migrating their on-premises environments to the cloud as well as for customers who require higher resiliency into Azure. Colt provides secure and private network connectivity to Azure via its Dedicated Cloud Access (DCA) solution, which is also available as Colt DCA On Demand.

Colt's Peter Coppens, vice president for product, said in a statement that Colt has been a Microsoft Azure partner for five years.

Colt's DCA On Demand service, which is consumption-based, is provisioned over the Colt IQ Network and is supported by a single service level agreement (SLA). The Colt IQ Network, which launched in 2016, connects high bandwidth services to more than 900 connected data centers across Europe, Asia and North America, with more than 27,500 on net buildings.

RELATED: Colt turbo charges its IQ Network with extensive upgrade using Ciena's gear

In October, Colt announced it had upgrade the IQ Network by deploying more advanced optical technology from Ciena. Through its On Demand service, Colt customers are able to scale up or scale down their bandwidth as needed. Using its IQ Network, Colt announced early last year that its On Demand services had expanded into the U.S., Hong Kong, Portugal, and Austria.