Verizon has expanded Secure Cloud Interconnect to allow its customers to privately connect to Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of the Alibaba Group. Verizon’s customers – particularly those looking to expand into the Asia-Pacific region – can now benefit from a secure and direct connection using MultiProtocol Label Switching (MPLS) to one of the world’s fastest growing cloud service providers.

The addition of Alibaba Cloud in Singapore and Hong Kong brings the number of Cloud Service Providers accessible from Verizon Secure Cloud Interconnect to 10, covering over 72 locations globally.

“In the past, organizations had to connect with multiple cloud service providers through the public Internet, which meant less control and visibility over policies and security measures,” commented Vickie Lonker, vice president of product management and development at Verizon. “Today, via Secure Cloud Interconnect, organizations have the freedom and flexibility to quickly establish and manage workloads with leading cloud service providers through a consumption-based connectivity service with end to end visibility and control. This allows customers to deploy new applications and services faster than ever before. We are happy to help our customers who have chosen to use Alibaba Cloud to make that connection via private networking.”

Secure Cloud Interconnect, with its growing ecosystem of market leading cloud service providers and hyper-scalers, continues to be a strategic capability within Verizon’s Software Defined and Virtual Services platform. The service may be turned up in minutes after a valid order submission, instead of days, which can significantly reduce new cloud connection deployment time. Upon connection, bandwidth can be spun up and down in minutes.

Verizon manages 500,000+ network, hosting, and security devices and 4,000+ networks in 150+ countries.

Find out more about how Verizon’s global network, managed network services and Secure Cloud Interconnect can help your business.