Amazon Web Services and Microsoft have introduced managed private connectivity between their cloud platforms, enabling customers to establish dedicated network links between AWS and Microsoft Azure.
AWS Interconnect – multicloud with Azure and Azure Multicloud Interconnect for AWS are now in public preview. These services work together to offer private cloud-to-cloud connectivity without the need for customers to build and manage the underlying physical connections.
The preview is currently available in AWS US East in Northern Virginia, US West in Northern California, Asia Pacific in Sydney, and Europe in Frankfurt. Customers can manage connections through the AWS Management Console or command-line interface, while Azure provides management through its portal.
Previously, connecting Azure and AWS required customers to handle physical connectivity, routing, provisioning, monitoring, and lifecycle management across the two environments. Under the new model, AWS and Microsoft handle the physical network infrastructure, capacity provisioning, VLAN configuration, Border Gateway Protocol sessions, and ongoing maintenance. Customers only need to provision a logical Interconnect while the providers manage the underlying redundant infrastructure.
Research conducted by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority revealed that cloud customers faced technical barriers when using multiple providers, such as networking and connectivity issues. Participants also highlighted the engineering time and resources needed to make different cloud environments work together and maintain them.
Organizations often operate across multiple cloud platforms due to acquisitions, software deployments spanning customer environments, and regulatory requirements. Independent industry data shows that both AWS and Azure are widely used within enterprise cloud environments.
The introduction of Azure into AWS Interconnect – multicloud connects the world’s two largest cloud infrastructure providers by market share. Synergy Research Group estimated AWS’s global market share at 28% in the second quarter of 2026, followed by Microsoft at 20% and Google at 15%.
AWS and Microsoft use an open API specification for network interoperability, allowing participating cloud providers to provision and operate connections while enabling customers to use their existing cloud management interfaces.
The interoperability specification is now used for AWS connections with Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, with regional availability and service status varying between providers.
The AWS-Azure implementation uses pre-provisioned capacity between the providers instead of requiring customers to arrange individual physical cross-connects. Each connection is provisioned with four independent logical paths across separate interconnect facilities and routers, ensuring connectivity during maintenance and disruptions.
AWS uses MACsec encryption between AWS and Azure edge routers to secure traffic moving between the networks. The service also includes a CloudWatch Network Synthetic Monitor at no extra cost, providing latency and packet-loss metrics.
Microsoft stated that Azure Multicloud Interconnect will support connection speeds of up to 100 Gbps upon general availability, while AWS limits connections to 1 Gbps during the public preview. Additionally, the service can extend connectivity through Azure Private Link to provide a private network path to supported Azure services.
The launch of these services follows scrutiny of multicloud interoperability by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority. The regulator found that barriers restricted customers’ ability to switch providers and use multiple public clouds.
Azure Multicloud Interconnect remains in public preview, with no date announced for general availability. AWS and Microsoft plan to expand regional availability and bandwidth options after the preview, with the open API specification remaining available for other cloud providers and networking companies to adopt.
