Alkira strengthens ties with Amazon Web Services

Alkira has announced a stronger business relationship with Amazon Web Services (AWS), providing advanced networking and security options for AWS customers.

The cloud network company is now listed on the AWS Marketplace. Instead of managing multiple vendor purchase orders, AWS customers can consolidate their software and services purchases on one AWS bill. This enables AWS and Alkira to collaborate on co-sell opportunities and allows for faster customer adoption of Alkira Cloud Services Exchange (CSX) and Alkira's Cloud Networking software as a service.

Alkira has also announced the general availability of integration with the AWS Transit Gateway Connect. The new AWS Transit Gateway attachment type enables customers to connect third-party SD-WAN hubs and virtual network appliances. Alkira says this delivers seamless AWS cloud capabilities to Alkira customers and provides a simplified Cloud Network-as-a-Service for on-premises, cloud, and multi-cloud networking environments.

"Alkira is thrilled with this closer business engagement with Amazon Web Services," says Alkira CEO and founder, Amir Khan.

"Enterprises no longer need to assume the risk and time delays to build, maintain and secure on-premises network infrastructure or DIY solutions on their own. CTOs can now consume their complete infrastructure directly from the AWS Marketplace with Alkira's Network Cloud, the only Network-as-a-Service on the marketplace."

Alkira is now part of the AWS ISV Accelerate Program, a co-sell program for AWS partners who provide software solutions that run on or integrate with AWS. The program helps drive new business and accelerate sales cycles by connecting participating ISVs with the AWS sales organisation.

"Enterprise customers are looking for new ways to complement the AWS Shared Security Model to build, secure, and operate their networks," says AWS Marketplace, Service Catalog, and AWS Control Tower director of business development, Chris Grusz.

"Alkira's Cloud Services Exchange on the AWS Marketplace will help customers build a global, elastic, and highly available cloud network. Integrating next-generation security to protect their AWS environment, and gaining deep infrastructure and applications insights for operational excellence."

Alkira is also participating in Amazon's APN Global Startup Program, an invite-only, go-to-market program built to support mid-to-late stage start-ups that have raised institutional funding, achieved product-market fit, and are ready to scale. The start-up program offers start-ups support by assigning partner development managers with extensive AWS knowledge and start-up or co-sell business experience.

Some features of the Alkira Cloud AWS services include:

• Cloud firewall security for AWS workloads: Enforce uniform firewall zone-based security policy for AWS single or multi-region cloud application traffic. Akira's solution provides automated firewall provisioning, health monitoring, scale and symmetric traffic steering.
• End-to-end network segmentation: Segmentation and micro-segmentation allow isolation of AWS VPCs and reduce the attack surface. Communication between segments for shared application services can be selectively allowed with or without firewall security policy enforcement.
• Deep cloud network visibility: Alkira Portal offers extensive operational visibility into cloud network health, availability, utilisation and application traffic flows for the AWS cloud environment. 
• Elastic scale and high availability: Alkira's unified backbone connects single region and multi-region AWS cloud environments with multi-ten gigabit speeds leveraging AWS high-speed, low latency backbone.