Equinix, Inc. has announced the immediate availability of Amazon Web Services (AWS) Direct Connect in Equinix's Osaka International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data center (OS1). With AWS Direct Connect, companies across Asia can connect their privately owned and managed infrastructure directly to AWS, establishing a private connection to the AWS Cloud that reduces costs, increases throughput, and delivers more consistent application performance. The Osaka offering is the second in Japan, with AWS Direct Connect also available in Equinix's Tokyo (TY2) data center, and it brings the total number of Equinix metros offering the service to nine, globally, with four in Asia Pacific. 

According to IDC's Public IT Cloud Services 2014-2018 Forecast, it is estimated that the cloud sector in the Asia Pacific region will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26.5%.  With this continued growth, many companies are looking to deploy hybrid clouds, to reap the scalability and cost benefits of the cloud, while maintaining the security and control of on-premise infrastructure.  By offering AWS Direct Connect across Asia Pacific, Equinix helps enterprise CIOs advance their hybrid cloud strategies by seamlessly and securely incorporating cloud services into their existing architectures. 

The Osaka offering enables enterprises in Western Japan to build hybrid cloud infrastructures, connecting AWS Cloud to existing on-premises environment with private connectivity, including the option of redundant access to the AWS Cloud within Japan.

"Our goal at Equinix is to help our enterprise customers realize the full benefits of the cloud – without worrying about application latency or cost issues. AWS Direct Connect makes it easy for our customers to establish a dedicated network connection from Equinix to AWS. This private, direct access reduces network costs, increases throughput, and provides a more consistent network experience than Internet-based connections," said Samuel Lee, president, Asia Pacific, Equinix.

Cloud computing continues to grow in the Asia Pacific region, with Japan leading in overall growth.  According to a recent Cloud Readiness Index from the Asia Cloud Computing Association, Japan ranked highest in overall cloud readiness.

"We look forward to the availability of AWS Direct Connect in OS1 data center. To ensure the stable and consistent quality for end-users, integrating the network infrastructure is one of the most important responsibilities for data center and cloud service providers. At Hitachi, we have our network node in Equinix OS1, which offers excellent connectivity to the Internet backbone. AWS in OS1 will help us meet ongoing customer demands, as well as create new business opportunities," said Hiroshi Go, senior director, Service Platform Development, Cloud Services Division, Hitachi Ltd.  

AWS Direct Connect availability in Osaka marks the fourth Equinix location in Asia Pacific to offer the services. By using AWS Direct Connect within Equinix's Asia Pacific data centers, customers can have a consistent, dedicated network connection to the AWS Cloud for higher performance at a lower cost.

Equinix now offers AWS Direct Connect in nine locations; Frankfurt, London, Osaka, Seattle, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Washington, D.C./Northern Virginia. Equinix customers in these metros experience lower network costs into and out of AWS and take advantage of reduced AWS Direct Connect data transfer rates.