Amazon and Google have decided the internet has suffered enough. The two tech giants unveiled a joint multicloud networking service on Sunday, pitched as a fast, private link between their cloud platforms, something customers can spin up in minutes instead of waiting weeks for the plumbing to be sorted.
The timing is no mystery. It has been just over a month since the October 20 AWS outage that knocked out thousands of sites, taking down heavyweights like Snapchat and Reddit.
Analytics firm Parametrix estimates the disruption will cost US companies $500 million to $650 million, a reminder that even brief internet wobbles can flatten half the web.
The new setup welds together AWS Interconnect–multicloud with Google Cloud’s Cross-Cloud Interconnect, creating a more seamless route for data shuttling between the two ecosystems.
“This collaboration… represents a fundamental shift in multicloud connectivity,” said Robert Kennedy at AWS. Google Cloud’s Rob Enns added that the goal is to make moving data and apps between clouds far less painful. Google said Salesforce is already using the system.
AWS remains the world’s largest cloud provider, ahead of Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud. The three are spending heavily to keep pace with rising AI-driven traffic. Amazon’s cloud arm posted $33 billion in third-quarter revenue, more than double Google Cloud’s $15.16 billion.