Equinix signs Melbourne's Kloud to connect Azure, AWS

Acclaimed Microsoft partner Kloud Solutions has started reselling Equinix's interconnection and data centre catalogue.

As well as Equinix's traditional data centre services, Kloud Solutions will offer its customers the Equinix Cloud Exchange – a connection product that delivers multiple cloud providers through the same port.

"It enables direct access to some of the large global public cloud platforms like Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, Softlayer and others," Equinix Australia managing director Jeremy Deutsch told CRN.

"Where Kloud comes in is that they'll take the enterprise customer on a journey to the hybrid cloud then deliver a technical solution as well."

The partnership, which sees Kloud both resell and refer Equinix offerings to its customers, also includes the Performance Hub product – a system that allows distribution of infrastructure across multiple data centres while minimising network performance degradation.

Kloud managing director Nicki Bowers told a CRN roundtable last week that her company, traditionally known for its work at the cloud software layer, was having to perform more network services in recent times.

"We're moving down the stack in many ways," Bowers said. "We've gone from playing just in the app space – that's continuing to grow and not slowing down – but if we look at how customers connect to the cloud, networking is the key."

Bowers attributed a skills shortage in networking to her customers' demands for interconnection services: "We're not putting in any [ethernet] ports as such, but going down to the architecture of the network layer."

[Photos: Birthday bash for Microsoft partner Kloud]

As part of its diversification, Kloud Solutions in February acquired a majority stake in AWS consulting firm Cevo, formerly known as Ice Systems.

However, the Melbourne-headquartered solutions provider is still a star player in the Microsoft world, leading the channel with four nominations in the 2015 Microsoft Australian Partner Awards.

Kloud was also one of only four Australian companies that won a global partner award, taking home Cloud Productivity partner of the year at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in Orlando last month.

Kloud Solutions holds third place in the current CRN Fast50 after growing revenue by 135 percent to hit the $19 million mark for the 2014 financial year.