1 min read
Azure Peering and ExpressRoute connectivity offer greater flexibility and security
Brussels – Belgium, 23 June, 2021 – BICS, the international communications enabler, today announced its support for Microsoft’s Azure Peering Service, which will provide businesses with direct access to Microsoft services. Azure Peering is an IP service that uses the public internet to enhance customer connectivity to Microsoft cloud services such as Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, software as a service (SaaS) applications, Azure, or any Microsoft services accessible via the public internet.
The announcement builds on top of BICS’ position as a Microsoft ExpressRoute provider. ExpressRoute connections don’t go over the public internet, meaning customers can leverage BICS’ extensive global connectivity footprint via its private network to offer greater reliability, faster speeds, lower latencies, and higher security. With Azure Peering and ExpressRoute, customers can now choose BICS to provide a straight path into Azure regions throughout the world, with direct connectivity from their premises to the nearest Microsoft point of presence.
The collaboration leverages BICS’ dedicated multi-cloud connectivity solution, Cloud Connect, to provide highly reliable, scalable connectivity between customers’ locations and Azure Direct Connect regions in the US, EU and Asia Pacific. With more than 140 points-of-presence worldwide, BICS’ multi-layer network offers a high-speed, robust connection to Azure regions, at speeds from 50 Mbps to 10 Gbps. Users of the service benefit from BICS’ instantaneous Cloud Connectivity Portal, providing real-time provisioning, flexible billing and scalable models tailored to their individual needs.
Ievgen Martsin, Senior Product Manager at BICS, said: “Global enterprises are looking for cloud-ready operating models to help drive business growth, accommodate a rapidly shifting IT infrastructure, and meet both internal and external delivery expectations. By becoming a Microsoft Azure Peering partner, BICS continues to break down barriers to accelerate cloudification, enabling enterprises with instant connectivity to begin exploring the exciting innovation possibilities the cloud unlocks.”
Gartner predicts that end-user spending on public cloud services will grow to $304.9 billion worldwide in 2021, with almost 70% of organizations already using cloud services planning to increase cloud spending. Furthermore, the market for Platform as a service (PaaS) is projected to grow to $69 billion by 2022, while Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) will also increase by a further 26%.