Kordia seeks to boost cloud performance with locally-hosted Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute

In this always-on world, cloud technology is mission-criticalCraig Williams, Kordia

Kordia says it now offers Azure ExpressRoute from a local Point of Presence (PoP) in New Zealand, in addition to its existing PoP in Sydney.

This means Kordia customers using Azure can access their cloud services and have better resiliency by connecting to Microsoft in both Auckland and Sydney, which then takes them into Microsoft’s global network.

Azure ExpressRoute plans for New Zealand were first announced at the Microsoft Ignite conference in November 2018.

This provides a performance and reliability boost for the growing number of New Zealand businesses using Azure infrastructure and software-as-a-service offerings, says Murray Goodman, head of product at Kordia, in a statement.

“While we are fortunate to have some of the world’s best internet connectivity, the performance of cloud computing services is always tied to the performance of the network,” says Goodman.

He explains the direct connections now enabled by Azure ExpressRoute through Kordia bypass the public internet and make cloud performance fast, reliable and private.

Azure ExpressRoute provides private connections between Microsoft datacentres and on-premise or co-located infrastructure, effectively extending on-premises networks into Azure.

Each peering location has access to the Microsoft global network which can access any region in a geography or global region. Azure ExpressRoute offers multiple deployment models, including an any-to-any (IP VPN), a point-to-point Ethernet connection or a virtual cross-connection.

With the introduction of the offering, local users now have a dedicated New Zealand PoP that enables access to the Microsoft global network locally from Kordia’s network, in addition to being able to connect in Sydney.

Pointing out that when a large proportion of network traffic is destined for the internet or cloud-based applications, Goodman says there are three key requirements for service integrity.

“You need to be certain that your services are secure, they perform predictably, and they are available. And Azure ExpressRoute helps businesses do exactly that.”

Goodman says Kordia’s introduction of Azure ExpressRoute supports a ‘journey to the cloud’ which local businesses are enthusiastically undertaking.

He says IDC New Zealand has forecast that enterprise cloud spending is likely to double by 2021 to a total of $2.6 billion per annum.

“This announcement is the most recent development in a long history of supporting the move to cloud-based services, and in particular to support Microsoft’s increasingly popular offerings,” he notes.

Patrick Quesnel, senior cloud and enterprise business group lead at Microsoft New Zealand, says New Zealand is one of the fastest evolving digital nations in the world.

“Microsoft New Zealand strongly believes in the importance of investing in this country’s digital transformation and supporting our Kiwi customers and partners in their transformation journeys. New Zealand’s outstanding performance so far deserves our support through dedicated services like ExpressRoute.”

Craig Williams, chief sales and marketing officer at Kordia, says the company is pleased to partner with Microsoft to further enhance its ‘best connected’ proposition which ensure Kiwi businesses have the best connectivity options for public and private cloud services.

“In this always-on world, cloud technology is mission-critical,” says Williams.

“We constantly seek best-of-breed solutions that meet our customers’ evolving needs, combining our extensive network, connectivity options and expert in-house engineering to support world-class business performance.”

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