Equinix Adds Google Cloud Platform to Cloud Exchange

Equinix (EQIX) is again expanding the list of public cloud infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) offerings its Cloud Exchange interconnection service connects to. This time, Equinix is beefing up its connections to the largest IaaS providers in the business with the addition of Google Cloud Platform.

Google (GOOG) hinted at the partnership earlier this week at Google Cloud Platform Live, and Equinix made the announcement official yesterday. The deal struck between the two companies will provide Equinix’s customers with direct access to the Google Cloud Platform through in 15 markets around the world.

“Offering flexible, low-latency connections to the cloud is the primary goal of the Equinix Cloud Exchange, and adding Google to our impressive portfolio of cloud providers will be well received by our customers,” said Ihab Tarazi, CTO of Equinix, in a prepared statement. “By offering direct access to cloud services such as Google’s Cloud Platform, enterprises will now have multiple high-performance connectivity options to enable their hybrid cloud strategies.”

The continuing additions of IaaS providers to the Equinix Cloud Exchange, as well as to other similar interconnection services, provides more incentives for enterprises to deploy applications and data to the public cloud. Such fast, direct connections get them and their data migrated to public cloud IaaS offerings quicker, which also gives services providers and their channel partners more leverage in recommended the cloud to their customers.

According to a survey Equinix quoted in its announcement, of 650 global enterprise IT leaders surveyed, 85 percent indicated they see strong value in having direct connections to public cloud providers. Seventy-seven percent placed strong value on having a single source for colocation and interconnection. Equinix seems to be trying hard to make itself the go-to provider for such services.

As for Google, adding its cloud offerings to the Equinix Cloud Exchange may give it an extra boost in attracting customers and maximizing its customer base.