Large enterprises increasingly combine multiple clouds to distribute workloads, optimize costs, bring data closer to users, and reduce the risk of depending on a single provider. Until now, connecting these environments involved either using the public Internet without guaranteed bandwidth or adopting private connectivity setups that were complex, slow to deploy, and costly to operate.
The AWS–Google Cloud alliance pairs the new AWS Interconnect – Multicloud service with Google Cloud Cross-Cloud Interconnect to offer private, automated connectivity between the two environments. It provides connectivity between AWS VPCs and Google Cloud VPC/VPC-SC, natively integrated into the consoles and APIs of both providers.
Google Cloud had already positioned Cross-Cloud Interconnect as a key building block of its “Cross-Cloud Network” architecture, enabling connections from Google Cloud to AWS, Azure, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and other MSPs via high‑throughput private links.
On its side, AWS has launched (in preview) AWS Interconnect – Multicloud to offer private connections from AWS to other cloud providers.
The two players are emphasizing strong automation: customers can reserve dedicated capacity on demand and establish connectivity within minutes, without directly handling cabling, circuits, or the underlying physical infrastructure.
The announcement includes an open specification for cross‑cloud network interoperability described as a common private‑connectivity standard aimed at reducing the complexity of addressing, routing, and network policy management between AWS and Google Cloud environments.
The aim is to enable other cloud providers to implement the same model, expanding this interoperability foundation beyond the AWS–Google Cloud duo. This openness could spur the emergence of an ecosystem where major clouds align on common private connectivity standards, similar to what already exists for certain network protocols and peering interfaces.
Technical features highlighted
Technically, Cross-Cloud Interconnect offers private links with 10 or 100 Gbit/s capabilities at many global sites, managed by Google on the physical side, with detailed performance metrics (latency, packet loss, round‑trip time).
Google’s technical documents describe a dual-attachment model (primary and redundant) and the use of BGP for route exchange between Google Cloud and AWS, with high availability requirements.
AWS Interconnect – Multicloud, in preview, is presented as a managed service offering simple, resilient, high‑bandwidth private connections to other clouds, integrated with AWS’ networking and observability tools.
The integration with Cross-Cloud Interconnect aims to abstract away the management of ports, circuits, and provisioning timelines, delivering a cloud‑native experience in both consoles.
Use cases and customer benefits
The alliance targets scenarios where data or applications are distributed across AWS and Google Cloud—for example analytics platforms, AI/ML workloads, or the integration of multi‑cloud SaaS applications.
An example cited is the integration of Salesforce Data 360, which requires robust private bridges between different environments to power AI and analytics use cases on distributed data.
For customers, the touted benefits include shorter time to deploy connections, operational simplicity (less direct management of physical infrastructure), and stronger performance guarantees than the public Internet. The standardized approach is also expected to ease network governance and security in complex multicloud environments where architectures must balance segmentation, compliance, and end-to-end performance.
Under scrutiny from industry associations and regulators, the two leading US CSPs are pushing toward a model where inter‑cloud connectivity becomes a first‑class managed service, on par with compute or storage, rather than a patchwork of telecom links and bespoke configurations.
It remains to be seen how quickly other providers will adopt the proposed specification and how network integrators and telecom operators will adapt their offerings in response to the rising prominence of native multicloud connectivity.
