Road to an open and flexible cloud network with new Network Connectivity Center partners

At Google Cloud we aim to provide our customers with the flexibility to choose the networking solutions that best fit their needs. 

Network Connectivity Center, our unified network connectivity management solution, is generally available in 15 regions across the U.S., U.K., India, Australia, and Japan, and we are en route to expanding this coverage to include all Google Cloud regions, enabling global onramp to the cloud.

We are committed to maintaining an open and flexible cloud networking environment that will enable interconnectivity with the Google Cloud network, and partners play a critical role in this. Today, as part of that commitment, we’re excited to announce partnerships with Alkira, Arista, Aruba, Aviatrix, Cisco Meraki and Citrix, who are leading the charge in software-defined networking solutions. Together, we are providing streamlined onramp from their leading solutions to Google Cloud through integration with Network Connectivity Center.

To recap, we introduced Network Connectivity Center back in March to help you simplify how you deploy, manage and scale on-prem and cloud networks. Network Connectivity Center gives you the universal connectivity control you need to connect all your networking resources together in a simple and scalable model. Network Connectivity Center can connect your entire enterprise network including on-prem, multi-site, and hybrid networks all in one place; and with Network Intelligence Center, you can monitor and troubleshoot the network. Together, you get a vantage point for looking at your Google Cloud network and all the networks connected to it. 

In May we announced some exciting new partnerships that extend your connectivity choices. We are now pleased to announce new networking partnerships that seamlessly extend our partners’ solution into Google Cloud via Network Connectivity Center. These integrations enable global connectivity, allowing VPN or third-party virtual appliances to easily connect with VPCs using standard BGP, enabling dynamic route exchange and simplifying the overall network architecture and connectivity model. Now, you have the flexibility to deploy, operate and manage all your connectivity needs with these third-party solutions, minimizing operational overhead for your networking teams.

Read more for details about Network Connectivity Center integrations from our partners:

Alkira

With Alkira Network Cloud, powered by the Alkira Cloud Services Exchange, enterprises can have consistent and simplified experience of provisioning and operating global networks across users, sites and clouds with integrated next-generation security services. At the core of Alkira Cloud Services Exchange are the Alkira Cloud Exchange Points (Alkira CXPs) that are distributed around the world and are interconnected through a high-speed low-latency Alkira Cloud Backbone, allowing enterprises to instantly establish global secure network connectivity.

Network Connectivity Center simplifies cloud onramp by connecting to one or multiple Alkira CXPs as spokes in a single-region or multi-region deployment model. Routing information is dynamically exchanged to allow communication between Google Cloud VPCs and Alkira CXPs. Learn more here.

Arista 

Arista CloudEOS is a multi-cloud and cloud-native networking solution supporting autonomic operation to deliver an enterprise-class, highly secure, and reliable networking experience for extending an enterprise network to the cloud. 

Network Connectivity Center integration with CloudEOS means enterprises can quickly connect to Google Cloud with a simplified provisioning and deployment model. The partnership will deliver simplified high-scale deployments across your public cloud and on-premises infrastructure. Learn more here.

Aruba 

The Aruba EdgeConnect edge and Aruba SD-Branch platforms power a self-driving wide area network for cloud-first enterprises. These SD-WAN platforms enable enterprises to improve their network performance for running all cloud applications and services via broadband—even consumer broadband. 

The Aruba EdgeConnect and Aruba SD-Branch integrations with the Google Cloud Network Connectivity Center enable enterprises to use their SD-WAN fabric for branch-to-Google-Cloud connectivity over the public internet by running EdgeConnect and Virtual Gateway instances in Google Cloud VPCs. The resulting network service enables high-performance connectivity between SD-WAN-connected branches and workloads in Google Cloud. Enterprises will experience a simplified and automated cloud on-ramp experience for their Google Cloud workloads. Learn more here.

Aviatrix 

The Aviatrix cloud network platform brings multi-cloud networking, security, and operational visibility that enterprise customers require. Aviatrix software leverages public cloud provider APIs to interact with and directly program native cloud-networking constructs, abstracting the unique complexities of each cloud to form one network data plane while also adding advanced networking and security features.

Google Cloud Network Connectivity Center integrated with Aviatrix simplifies cloud onboarding while unifying connectivity across Google Cloud networks. Enterprise customers can leverage the Aviatrix cloud network platform to orchestrate a repeatable cloud footprint, accelerate deployment time, and integrate with native Google Cloud constructs for on-prem and cloud connectivity through Network Connectivity Center. Learn more here.

Cisco

Cisco Meraki MX and vMX are built on a cloud architecture to deliver network security and experience for any workload, from anywhere. Cloud architecture teams can now create a secure fabric that optimizes connectivity between offices, remote workers, and services running in Google Cloud.

The integration with Network Connectivity Center extends the secure Meraki SD-WAN fabric deeper into Google Cloud, enabling dynamic route exchange for connectivity to VPCs. In this way, distributed branches and remote users can dynamically and securely access cloud workloads across multiple regions. Learn more here.

Citrix 

Citrix SD-WAN is a core networking capability of the Citrix unified approach to a Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) architecture. A unified approach makes it easy for IT to enable secure, resilient, and automated connectivity between hybrid workers and applications hosted in Google Cloud. Together, Citrix SD-WAN and Google Cloud Network Connectivity Center enable IT teams to simplify their network architecture for site-to-cloud and site-to-site connectivity. This integrated and automated approach helps IT rapidly scale networks to Google Cloud and ensure your hybrid workforce is always connected. 

Now hybrid workers everywhere get fast, low-latency access to enterprise workloads, desktop-as-a-service (DaaS) or Citrix Virtualized Applications and Desktops (CVAD), by leveraging Google Cloud’s global backbone using Citrix SD-WAN. Citrix SD-WAN’s unique ability to inspect and prioritize the CVAD HDX protocol provides the highest level of responsiveness and reliability for hybrid workers. Learn more here.

Getting Started 

Our partnerships truly democratize access to the cloud from anywhere by making that access simple and reliable. Our vision is to allow you and your customers to connect to workloads in any cloud or on-prem locations with a consistent experience that is easy to secure and manage. You can get started with the Network Connectivity Center here. You can learn more about our partners and how to deploy their solution with the Network Connectivity Center here.