Microsoft wants to give businesses a personal cloud highway with Azure ExpressRoute

There are a number of benefits and advantages for companies that have their data stored in the cloud. Of course, getting it there is a challenge, and the cloud also introduces unique risks and challenges. Microsoft wants to help businesses straddle the line with a hybrid approach that provides the best of both worlds with Azure ExpressRoute.

I wrote about this new offering Microsoft unveiled at TechEd 2014 in Houston this week for TechRepublic:

One of the big announcements at Microsoft TechEd 2014 this week was Azure ExpressRoute. Microsoft is working with major internet providers like AT&T, Level3, and BT to create private, dedicated connections between a customer’s local data storage and the data stored in the cloud in Azure. Azure ExpressRoute gives customers more flexibility and more peace of mind for managing and storing data.

One of the major hurdles for many organizations when it comes to storing data in the cloud is getting it there in the first place. A pure cloud service requires that all data be somehow transferred or uploaded to the cloud before it can be made available and normal operations can resume. Depending on how much data the business has, getting it into the cloud can be a slow, tedious process.

Another obstacle is security. Many organizations are reluctant to move data to the cloud because of concerns about data being intercepted or compromised as it traverses the public internet to get from the local datacenter to the cloud and back….

Azure ExpressRoute addresses both of those concerns. Providing a bridge between the local datacenter and Azure means that businesses can take advantage of hybrid storage that includes both. The fact that the bridge is a private, dedicated connection means that the customers don’t have to worry about the security of their data en route.

Read the full article at TechRepublic: Microsoft wants to give businesses a personal cloud highway with Azure ExpressRoute.