With the debut of its Connect to the Cloud platform, Zayo is joining the growing crowd of service providers offering their network as a conduit for business customers to access third-party cloud providers. Zayo's program offers connectivity to over 500 data centers worldwide.
Customers that participate in this program will be able to get a direct connect option to a number of major cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Softlayer.
The service provider said its program will help business customers achieve two goals: find cloud connectivity and assist customers with operating a "hybrid" cloud. One of the selling points Zayo is touting is that by using its network, customers can get a better cloud service experience that they could not get by using the public Internet.
This new program builds on the momentum it has already gained as one of AWS' connectivity partners. In 2011, it began offering 10G connections through the AWS Direct Connect portal and in 2013, it became an Amazon Partner Network (APN) Technology Partner. As an APN, Zayo provides private networks with circuits to enable connectivity to each AWS Direct Connect location.
Providing fiber-based connections to AWS is a natural fit for Zayo. Today, the service provider's fiber network consists of 77,000 route miles and includes more than 14,000 on-net buildings, providing connectivity to the majority of data centers and carrier hotels in the U.S.
Zayo may have a sound program, but it is just one of many providers that offer a direct connection to AWS and other third-party cloud providers. Other service providers such as AT&T (NYSE: T) and Level 3 provide similar options for customers to connect to the third-party cloud providers.
Through the advent of its NetBond technology, AT&T is helping its VPN customers connect to cloud providers by bonding networking and computing resources together. During the past year, the telco has established direct access relationships with a number of cloud providers including CSC, IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT).
Likewise, Level 3 began offering a private connection to Microsoft's Window Azure this February and also connects to AWS.
For more:
- see the release
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