Global interconnection firm Equinix has deployed Azure ExpressRoute into its Melbourne data centre, ME1, as of today.
According to the tech company, the move enables Melbourne businesses to be able to directly connect with Microsoft Azure through the ME1 International Business Exchange data centre, with the deployment part of Equinix’s global partnership with Azure which now directly connects 16 markets globally with Azure ExpressRoute.
“As we move into the interconnected era, enterprises require the ability to connect to multiple clouds, multiple users and multiple networks to fully reap the business benefits of cloud computing,” says Jeremy Deutsch, managing director, Equinix Australia.
“It is through the Equinix Cloud Exchange we can offer our Melbourne customers improved security with a flexible and reliable connection to Azure, giving Equinix customers further choice and flexibility to pick the cloud services and connections best suited for them.”
In the recently released report, Deloitte Access Economics: The Connected Continent II, it was noted Australia’s digital economy contributed A$79 billion to Australia’s GDP in 2013/14, which is estimated to increase to A$139 billion by 2020.
According to Deutsch, Equinix is playing a “major role” in advancing the Australian digital economy, through the recent expansion of its Australian footprint.
Available through Microsoft, Azure ExpressRoute is designed to help customers bridge public cloud and on-premise IT to privately and more securely extend enterprise networks while Equinix Cloud Exchange is an advanced interconnection solution that enables direct access to multiple clouds from multiple networks.
Following the expansion of Equinix’s Australian footprint, Melbourne businesses will now have the opportunity to access multiple cloud providers, such as Azure ExpressRoute, via the Equinix Cloud Exchange.
“Microsoft is pleased to continue to work with Equinix to provide even more Australian customers and partners the option to create private connections between the Azure public cloud and infrastructure located on-premises or in a colocation environment,” adds Ross Ortega, Principle Product Manager, Networking, Microsoft Azure.
Ortega says Azure ExpressRoute’s expansion into ME1 provides Equinix’s Australian customers geo-redundancy, enabling enterprises to access Azure in Australia’s two largest economic centres.
The ME1 IBX data centre enables Melbourne businesses to connect with Equinix’s network-dense ecosystem of more than 1,000 networks globally, 130 of which are available in Australia, providing access to over 500 cloud providers across more than 100 data centres worldwide.
ME1, Equinix’s fourth data centre in Australia and its first in Melbourne, officially opened in March 2014.
