How Optus will bridge Azure, AWS, Cisco and more

Optus Business has a vision to orchestrate clouds from Cisco, IBM, VMware and Amazon Web Services, with the carrier using an event in Sydney today to outline its major focus on Microsoft.

At today's Optus Vision conference, the telco revealed a couple of new cloud services, including ExpressRoute connectivity into Microsoft Azure and a "secure managed link to Amazon Web Services".

ExpressRoute complements its previously announced Cloud OS Network deal, as well as last year's acquisition of Microsoft cloud migration expert Ensyst.

David Caspari said the three cloud deals "bring all the pieces together".

ExpressRoute allows Optus to offer private connectivity to Azure, Cloud OS creates hybrid clouds by linking customers' on-premise Microsoft environments and Optus data centres via the internet or private connections, and Ensyst bring professional services capabilities to take all of this to market.

"ExpressRoute is about the hardline connection between our Evolve IP and MPLS network direct into the Azure environment. So if you imagine a enterprise organisation, what they are looking for is a secure, high-quality, guaranteed service-level connection. What they don't want to have is their enterprise applications running over the internet," said Caspari.

"In terms of the Cloud OS Network, that is building a landing platform for important and critical loads – Microsoft loads in particular – that enterprises want the security and reliability and dont want to move it into the Azure public cloud environment.

"This is part of a broader orchestration platform that we will be sharing and rolling out that integrates VMware, Cisco loads, IBM loads and obviously Microsoft loads, where we are truly distinctive. No one else can match us with what we are doing with Microsoft right now."

The push could be seen as a direct challenge to major rival Telstra, which is also building out an ecosystem of third-party cloud, and also has a significant relationship with Microsoft.

In March, Optus announced it was joining Cisco's Intercloud community, joining others including Infront, Data#3, Dimension Data and Ethan Group.

The acquisition of Ensyst, which Optus bought for $13 million last December, provides world-leading Microsoft deployment skills, said Caspari. Ensyst won the global 'Cloud Excellence" award at last year's Microsoft World Partner Conference, as well as being named Australian country partner of the year.

Caspari said Optus would "inject capital and supercharge" Ensyst, though admitted that the acquisition was still relatively recent, and the carrier had been "thoughtful" in its approach so far.