Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud have joined forces to solve one of the biggest challenges in modern IT: connecting cloud platforms seamlessly and securely.

The result is the Cross-Cloud Interconnect for AWS, a fully managed solution that eliminates the complexity of multicloud networking. What once took weeks of manual setup can now be done in minutes through a simple, cloud-native experience.

This isn't just a product launch. It marks a turning point for how enterprises build and scale across multiple cloud environments.

Why This Matters Right Now

AI is transforming how businesses operate. But no single cloud provider offers everything.

Enterprises need to mix and match services: Google Cloud's AI models, AWS's specialized compute, and data tools from both ecosystems. According to a Forbes survey, 82% of organizations expect AI growth to increase demand for multicloud networking.

The problem? Until now, connecting cloud environments has been difficult, time-consuming, and expensive.

Before: A Tangled Web of Network Engineering

Multicloud used to mean:

  • Procuring physical links or circuits

  • Manually assigning IPs, VLANs, and routing policies

  • Configuring BGP sessions and Autonomous System numbers

  • Building encryption solutions from scratch

Each step required specialized knowledge, coordination between teams, and significant lead time. Even Fortune 500 companies found it challenging.

Now: Simplicity, Speed, and Security

Cross-Cloud Interconnect simplifies all of that.

With a single "transport" resource in Google Cloud, organizations can establish a secure, private connection to AWS. No custom circuits. No public internet. No manual routing or encryption setup.

Bandwidth starts at 1 Gbps during preview and can scale up to 100 Gbps when the service becomes generally available. The experience is as simple as peering two VPCs, but it works across two different cloud platforms.

What Makes It Work: Technical Highlights

End-to-End Security

All connections use MACsec encryption at the physical layer. This protects traffic at full line rate, with automatic key rotation. Data stays private and secure from edge to edge.

Redundant by Design

Each connection between regions uses four independent paths. If a router or facility goes down, traffic automatically reroutes, ensuring high availability.

Joint Operations Model

Google Cloud and AWS share operational responsibility. Maintenance windows are coordinated, issues are resolved jointly, and monitoring systems proactively identify problems before they impact your services.

Isolated Architecture

Each customer's cross-cloud traffic is completely isolated. There's no resource sharing that could introduce risk or degrade performance.

What You Can Build with Cross-Cloud Interconnect

Resilient AI and Infrastructure

Run synchronized AI agents across clouds. Set up active-active disaster recovery. Keep databases consistent across platforms. These once-complex setups are now straightforward.

Private Cross-Cloud API Access

Call Google Cloud APIs from AWS applications, or connect EC2 services to BigQuery, without ever touching the public internet.

Faster, Safer Data Pipelines

Pull data from AWS S3 or RDS into Google Cloud for processing with BigQuery, Dataflow, or AI services. Keep the data secure and private throughout.

Hybrid AI Workloads

Combine Google Cloud's AI tools with AWS compute. The low-latency, high-throughput connection allows you to build and train models across clouds in real time.

Dev/Test Flexibility

Spin up development environments in one cloud while running production in another. Scale bandwidth up or down depending on project needs.

Where It's Available Today

Preview access is available in:

  • Northern Virginia (US East)

  • Oregon (US West)

  • London and Frankfurt (Europe)

As demand grows, more global regions will be added. Organizations can provision bandwidth starting at 1 Gbps, scaling up as workloads require.

A More Open Future

This isn't just a Google and AWS solution. The two providers have published the Cross-Cloud Interconnect specification as an open standard on GitHub.

This means other cloud providers and infrastructure vendors can adopt the same model. In the future, building secure, private connections between any combination of clouds could be just as easy.

What It Means for Your Business

For many IT leaders, multicloud has always seemed like the right strategy, but the complexity made it too risky.

Now, the barriers are gone.

  • Setup time is reduced from weeks to minutes

  • Costs drop, since you only pay for what you use

  • Security improves, with built-in encryption and isolation

  • Reliability increases, with redundancy and proactive monitoring

  • Innovation accelerates, since development teams can build across clouds from day one

Next Steps

To get started, Google Cloud provides detailed documentation, architecture examples, and onboarding support. The preview program is open in the listed regions.

Whether you're developing new AI-driven apps, building secure APIs, or optimizing infrastructure across clouds, Cross-Cloud Interconnect provides the foundation to move faster with confidence.

If you ever have questions or want to talk with an IT professional, please reach out through our contact page or the below contact methods.

We're here to help

616-828-4416 Option 2

sales@ipconsultinginc.com

Did you find this article helpful? Have a suggestion for us? Reach out to Stephen.

IP Consulting is an experienced managed service provider helping organizations since 2006. Our expertise in compliance and cybersecurity positions us well to help during this massive shift in federal contracting policies. Read through our case studies to hear real world outcomes.