Colt said its SDN On Demand platform will allow for quicker enablement of new services through Microsoft’s Azure cloud.
Colt Technology Services collaborated with Microsoft in adding its Dedicated Cloud Access services to its software-defined networking “On Demand” portfolio in a move to provide private connectivity to the public cloud and allow customers to bypass the internet.
The Colt On Demand platform is initially being offered through Microsoft’s Azure cloud infrastructure as part of its ExpressRoute private networking offer. Colt said the service support connectivity from its IQ Network into the Azure cloud platform in real time in a move to speed up the enablement of new services and “avoiding traditional telco service delivery processes.” The platform is designed to allow customers to dynamically control cloud bandwidth support via a portal, which includes per-hour pricing plans.
The On Demand service is set to be initially available via Microsoft’s ExpressRoute locations in London; Dublin, Ireland; and Amsterdam, with plans to expand the offering to Tokyo; Frankfurt, Germany; and Paris later this year. Colt said it expects to partner with additional cloud service providers down the road.
Colt last November completed work with AT&T to create, test and trial a standard application programming interface infrastructure designed to support different network service providers. The trial is said to have included two networks in the U.S. and Europe, which showed AT&T was able to provision network services between the east coast of the U.S. and various locations in Europe.
The carrier noted the trial allowed SDN-to-SDN control using a “programmatic API-to-API interface between the separate SDN architectures proving that SDN-managed services can be set up and run across multiple networks in just minutes.” The platform is said to support enterprise customers in allowing for on-demand, scalable network services to be implemented and controlled in near real time.
Bored? Why not follow me on Twitter.
