AWS and AT&T Partners on Secure Cloud Connectivity

AT&T Inc. announced that it will offer secure, direct connections with Amazon Web Services (AWS Inc.).
This news was made Thursday following a similar announcement from Verizon, a major competitor in the telecommunications industry that announced similar plans. Verizon is expanding its cloud platform portfolio compatible with its Secure Cloud Interconnect service.
The company’s NetBond product is at the heart of the AT&T partnership. It is described by the company to be a “network enabled cloud solution.” NetBond allows businesses to access third-party cloud platforms through their AT&T VPNs. AT&T claims that businesses are protected against security threats because they can forgo the public internet to access their cloud applications.
AT&T also expects companies will save up to 60% on their networking costs and enjoy performance improvements up to 50% with NetBond.
AT&T announced that connectivity with AWS will be available in 2015, as stated in its announcement.
Jon Summers, senior vice-president of AT&T Mobile and Business Solutions, stated in a prepared statement that “our customers want the computing power and cost efficiency that cloud services deliver with best security and performance.” “AWS’s vast portfolio combined with AT&T NetBond gives them the best of both. Our customers will enjoy VPN performance, full cloud networking automation, flexible and secure bandwidth when accessing AWS Cloud Services.
NetBond works already with Microsoft Azure, VMware Cloud Datacenter Service, and IBM Cloud Managed Services. AT&T plans to include Salesforce.com on that roster by the end of the year.