Equinix, Aliyun Partner to Offer Direct Access to Cloud Services

Interconnection and data center company Equinix (EQIX) has partnered with Aliyun, the cloud computing division of Alibaba Group (BABA), to provide North American and Chinese customers with direct access to Aliyun’s cloud platform through the Equinix Cloud Exchange.

The partnership is expected to provide users with dedicated, secure access to the complete portfolio of Aliyun’s cloud services through the Equinix Cloud Exchange data centers in Hong Kong and Silicon Valley, according to the announcement.

By joining forces, Equinix and Aliyun hope to enable their joint North American and Asian customers to build public and hybrid cloud solutions, especially as enterprise customers continue to grow their cloud-based applications through Asia, said Chris Sharp, vice president of Cloud Innovation at Equinix.

“Our multi-national enterprise customers are increasingly asking for access to the Aliyun cloud platform, as they deploy cloud-based applications across Asia,” said Sharp, in a statement. “By providing this access in two strategic markets, we’re empowering businesses to build secure, private clouds, without compromising network and application performance.”

Currently, Aliyun’s cloud services are available only though Equinix’s International Business Exchange data centers in Hong Kong and Silicon Valley, but the companies are planning to expand the services to additional data centers throughout North America and Asia. Equinix also plans to offer direct access to Aliyun’s other cloud services from Aliyun, including the company’s SaaS-based applications.

Aliyun is currently the largest public cloud service provider in China, with 1.4 million direct and indirect customers and 22.8 percent of the IaaS market in China, according to the announcement. The company hopes to utilize Equinix’s cloud platform to expand its services to additional customers across the globe.

“Aliyun is very excited about our global partnership with Equinix, who not only has a global footprint of cutting-edge data centers, but has also brought together the most abundant cloud players and tenants in the cloud computing ecosystem on its Equinix Cloud Exchange platform,” said Sicheng Yu, vice president of Aliyun. “Connecting the Equinix ecosystem with our Aliyun cloud services on Cloud Exchange will provide customers with the best-of-breed choices and flexibility.”