With many companies looking for stronger safeguards after recent internet disruptions exposed weaknesses in single-cloud setups, the launch comes just in time.

Both firms said the service allows customers to build secure, high-capacity connections between Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud in minutes. Before now, many organisations waited weeks to complete the same process due to the technical and approval delays tied to cross-cloud circuits.

Just over a month ago, AWS suffered a major outage on October 20 that spread through its US-East-1 region. A faulty update to DynamoDB’s API triggered DNS failures across the zone, breaking more than 113 AWS services and knocking out platforms such as Snapchat, Reddit, Coinbase and Alexa. 

Analysts estimate the disruption costs U.S. companies between $500 million and $650 million. For many firms, the incident revealed the risk of placing all operations on a single cloud provider.

In response, interest in multicloud resilience has grown. The new service blends AWS’ Interconnect–multicloud with Google Cloud’s Cross-Cloud Interconnect. The aim is to remove friction for organisations that want systems running across several clouds without slow setup cycles or unpredictable routing.

AWS vice president of network services, Robert Kennedy, said the development points to a major shift in how cloud platforms interact. “This collaboration between AWS and Google Cloud represents a fundamental shift in multicloud connectivity.”

Google Cloud also noted the benefit for companies moving large volumes of data between providers. Its vice president and general manager of cloud networking, Rob Enns, stated that the joint framework is meant to simplify workload mobility. Salesforce is one of the early adopters of the new model, according to Google.

Cloud competition is highly intense. AWS continues to top the global market with roughly 29–30% share, while Microsoft Azure holds about 20% and Google Cloud has climbed toward 13%. 

In the third quarter alone, the cloud infrastructure market was valued at around $107 billion, controlled largely by these three companies.

Heavy investment in infrastructure is expected to continue. Increasing demand for artificial intelligence is pushing cloud providers to expand data centres, improve capacity and strengthen network routes. 

AWS recently committed to a multi-year $38 billion partnership with OpenAI, offering access to large clusters of Nvidia GPUs. Google and Microsoft are making similar bets, as AI workloads remain one of the biggest drivers of cloud growth.

In working together on a cross-cloud standard, Amazon and Google have taken an unusual step. The two companies are long-standing competitors, but the new partnership shows a shared interest in reducing latency and making multicloud operations easier for enterprise customers. 

For large users like Salesforce, the ability to deploy cross-cloud links in minutes rather than weeks may prove decisive as businesses seek more resilient infrastructure after recent outages.

I attended one such event on Thursday and met the host himself, in person of Wole Ademola Adewole, Founder of Cashir, an early-stage fintech startup.

The event, titled “Wole Ademola and Friends” was designed to enhance collaborations between business enthusiasts and experts, creating an inclusive environment where idea and early-stage business-oriented individuals, as well as established entrepreneurs, could connect and support each other’s growth. Trust me, it was one to remember.

In Adewole’s words, “Wole Ademola and Friends was initiated based on the identified need to create a community that enables people expand their business network as a catalyst for improved social capital.”

The yearly event, in its first edition, was sponsored by Linx Rethink Technology, Watre, Timeless Apartment & Bar and Mosad Events. It was a quintessence of friends catching up with each other, making new friends and discussing interesting areas of collaboration that could evolve into business ideas or growth.

With an exclusive number of people in attendance, which according to Adewole, was because “this was the maiden edition of Wole Ademola and Friends and as such, we decided to start small by limiting the invite to close friends,” the event was attended by highly influential business people and top employers in Lagos including founders, tech enthusiasts, product designers and a range of players in the Lagos tech ecosystem. They included Adeleke Emmanuel, Urban Policy Expert, UN Habitat; Babajide Oluwase, Founder, Ecotutu; Olufela Olanipekun, Senior Manager at Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission; Adeniyi Babajide, Head of Product, Chekkit, among others.

Adewole leveraged this opportunity to stir up conversations about the impact of global economic decline on the growth of businesses and startups. “The outlook of 2023 is clouded by a number of uncertainties in Nigeria, for instance, the national elections are planned to take place in the first quarter. Coupled with the continuous economic shock which might limit growth potentials of most startups among others. Hence, networking events like this are essential as a support system where people can collectively find synergies and form strategic partnerships,” he emphasized.

The best way to build a business is through networking. This is a great way to build your personal brand and build relationships with other business people.

The result of the event was a network of people sharing information and ideas, and making connections that could lead to success. It was a great time connecting and having some really interesting conversations about making each other better.

From my viewpoint, the goal of the event was achieved to kickstart an incredible new year and agreeing to this, Adewole said: “Yes, the timing of the event was intentionally set as the 29th December 2022 to serve as a building block for framing the outlook of 2023 and I believe it was a success based on a number of feedback received so far.”

The social event was a great success and it pointed to the fact that 2023 is a year to reiterate even more on collaborations and partnerships as the keys to success rather than competition.