AWS and Microsoft open Azure multicloud networking preview for private cloud links

AWS and Microsoft have opened a new private networking path between AWS and Azure, giving multicloud teams a managed alternative to manually assembled circuits, third-party arrangements or public internet routing. AWS said on August 31 that Azure connectivity is now in Public Preview for AWS Interconnect - multicloud, while Microsoft introduced Azure Multicloud Interconnect for AWS on the same date.

The practical change is that customers can provision private, high-speed connectivity between the two cloud providers on demand. AWS says the Azure preview is available in US East (N. Virginia), US West (N. California), Asia Pacific (Sydney) and Europe (Frankfurt). Microsoft says customers can deploy connectivity at speeds up to 100 Gbps from day one at general availability, with capacity that can expand as demand grows.

Why cloud teams should care

Large companies rarely end up in one cloud for every workload. Mergers, regional compliance rules, partner requirements and service preferences can leave data on one platform while applications or AI systems run on another. In that setup, the network between clouds becomes part of the product. Slow provisioning, unclear ownership and inconsistent monitoring can hold back migrations, analytics jobs and production AI services.

The joint effort tries to turn that connection into a standard cloud operation. AWS says the experience can be managed through the AWS Management Console or CLI and the Azure portal. It also says the design uses four independent logical paths across physically diverse facilities and routers, with MACsec encryption between edge routers. Microsoft says the collaboration uses open API specifications for network interoperability and can extend Azure Private Link for an end-to-end private path.

The useful limit

CyberOGZ sees the preview as a meaningful operations story, not just another multicloud slogan. A direct, managed AWS-to-Azure option could reduce procurement and network engineering work for teams that already need both clouds. It does not remove the harder architecture choices around identity, data gravity, observability or egress economics. Teams should still test latency, failure behavior and region coverage against the actual application path before treating the service as a default bridge.

The larger signal is that cloud providers are beginning to standardize the plumbing that customers used to stitch together themselves. If the open API approach attracts more providers and carriers, multicloud networking could become less of a bespoke project. For now, the Azure preview gives infrastructure teams a concrete option to evaluate in four regions, with the clearest value in workloads that need predictable private connectivity across AWS and Azure.

Sources

• aws.amazon.com
• azure.microsoft.com

Cover photo by Brett Sayles on Pexels, used under the Pexels License.