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AWS, AT&T Partnering on Secure Cloud Connectivity
AT&T Inc. on Thursday announced its plan to offer business customers secure and direct connections to Amazon Web Services (AWS) Inc.
The announcement shortly follows a similar one by telecommunications rival Verizon, which last week said it is adding AWS to the list of cloud platforms accessible through its Secure Cloud Interconnect service.
At the center of AT&T's partnership with AWS is its NetBond offering, which the company describes as a "network-enabled cloud solution." NetBond lets businesses access applications on third-party cloud platforms using their existing AT&T VPNs. Businesses are insulated against security attacks because they are able to forgo the public Internet to access their cloud applications, AT&T contends.
Additionally, AT&T expects companies to save up to 60 percent on networking costs and experience performance improvements of up to 50 percent using NetBond.
The connectivity with AWS will become available sometime in 2015, AT&T said in its announcement.
"Our customers want the computing power and cost-efficiency that cloud services deliver with the best security and performance," said Jon Summers, senior vice president of AT&T Mobile and Business Solutions in a prepared statement. "AWS's extensive portfolio combined with AT&T NetBond offers them the best of both worlds. Our customers will have VPN performance, full cloud networking automation, and flexible and secure bandwidth when accessing AWS cloud services."
NetBond already works with Microsoft Azure, VMware vCloud Datacenter Service and IBM Cloud Managed Services. AT&T expects to include Salesforce.com in that roster by year's end.