Under terms of the agreement, a select number of Equinix data centres will be embedded with AT&T NetBond which is designed to enable customers to connect their cloud services via their private AT&T VPN networks.
“Business customers want rock solid network-based security protecting their traffic and applications when they use cloud services,” said Jon Summers, SVP of growth platforms at AT&T Business Solutions.
“VPN gives them better protection against internet threats while also delivering the reliability, agility and performance they need when accessing the cloud.”
AT&T NetBond provides secure and reliable access to the cloud for business customers, as well as flexible bandwidth allocation, meaning customers can use as much or as little as required.
The agreement between the two companies is also designed to allow cloud providers to deliver access to their services worldwide via Equinix’s global data centre footprint.
“Equinix sits at the intersection of cloud service providers, network service providers and enterprise customers that want to use those services,” said Pete Hayes, CSO at Equinix.
“The alliance lets AT&T quickly expand its portfolio of AT&T NetBond-enabled cloud services by using our position as a cloud hub.”
Mike Sapien, principal analyst of enterprise at Ovum, expects the alliance to boost enterprise customer confidence in the security, reliability and performance of the cloud.
“[AT&T and Equinix] are addressing many of customers’ concerns about moving applications to the cloud and will ultimately speed up enterprise cloud adoption,” Sapien said.
“This is a great example of AT&T’s open network initiatives aligning with Equinix’s cloud ecosystem.”
