Tata Communications adds Microsoft Azure Virtual WAN to its IZO cloud platform

A global digital infrastructure provider Tata Communications is expanding its global relationship with Microsoft with the addition of managed services capability for Azure Virtual WAN.

Enterprises worldwide are now able to combine IZO™ Internet WAN with the Microsoft global network to connect employees seamlessly and securely to cloud-based applications and data through the new managed service. Furthermore, through the IZO™ SDWAN service, enterprises are able to gain greater visibility and control over this hybrid network infrastructure.

Tata Communications is one of the first partners to leverage a new Azure Service Provider Management Toolkit, launched today at Microsoft Inspire, as part of the Azure Networking Managed Services Partner (MSP) Program.

“Enterprises’ networking demands are growing in complexity, with different branches and lines of business requiring different application performance in the cloud,” said Song Toh, Vice President, Global Network Services, Tata Communications. “While businesses will look to use software-defined networking and Azure Virtual WAN to manage this complexity, network transformation initiatives in large organisations with hundreds of branches worldwide can be very challenging. We want to make it easier for our customers to use Azure Virtual WAN for simple, unified, and secure connectivity, and transform their legacy network to a software-defined hybrid network that’s fit for the cloud.”

Tata Communications was chosen to be one of the first Managed Service Providers for the Azure Networking service, because of the company’s track record of deploying and managing complex next-generation networks for a number of global customers across 3,000+ sites globally. One of Tata Communications’ hybrid and SDWAN customers is Carlsberg. As the growing use of cloud-based applications has led to 70% of Carlsberg’s network traffic being on the Internet, the IZO™ network by Tata Communications has given the global brewer 10 times more bandwidth, reduced costs by 25%, and halved the occurrence of network incidents.

“We’re witnessing two key requirements emerge amongst enterprises - they want to simplify branch connectivity and extend application workloads on Microsoft Azure,” said Ross Ortega, Partner PM Manager, Azure Networking, Microsoft Corp. “The powerful combination of IZO™ and Azure Virtual WAN addresses both these requirements. Tapping into this fully-managed suite of services gives enterprises the flexibility to choose from a range of connectivity options that best meet their specific needs in each branch, both on-premises and in Microsoft Azure for greater visibility and control over their entire network.”

This latest collaboration between Tata Communications and Microsoft builds on a long-standing relationship between the two companies. Since 2014, enterprises have been able to connect their branches and data centres to the Azure cloud securely and reliably using the IZO™ Private Connect MPLS and Ethernet service and Azure ExpressRoute.

Tata Communications was recently positioned as a Leader in the 2019 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Network Services, Global[1] for the sixth consecutive year. Its IZO™ cloud enablement platform includes the IZO™ Internet WAN and IZO™ Hybrid services, which enterprises are able to leverage using IZO™ SDWAN across more than 150 countries worldwide. IZO™ Internet WAN gives businesses the reliability, flexibility and predictability of a private network with the global reach and scalability of the Internet. IZO™ Hybrid combines IZO™ Internet WAN with Tata Communications’ Global Virtual Private Network.

Tata Communications’ cloud and hybrid networking capabilities are underpinned by its global tier-1 network, which carries around 30% of the world’s Internet routes, and its partnerships with ISPs and the major cloud providers, including Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Alibaba.