Briefing

  • AWS and Google Cloud announced a joint multicloud collaboration initiative on Sunday, aimed at making it easier for customers to connect the two cloud platforms. The collaboration is currently in preview and is planned to expand to Microsoft Azure by 2026. AWS announced this news at the re:Invent conference.
  • This collaboration will help enterprises build more open multicloud environments through AWS Interconnect - multicloud and Google Cloud's Cross-Cloud Interconnect. Multicloud networking will shift users from manually establishing cloud connections to deploying cloud-native experiences, and introduce open specifications for network interoperability.
  • AWS Vice President of Network Services Robert Kennedy stated in the press release that this collaboration "represents a fundamental shift in multicloud connectivity. Customers no longer need to worry about establishing the connections they need; when they require multicloud connectivity, they can simply click and activate it within minutes."

Deep Analysis

The collaboration between AWS and Google Cloud shows that hyperscale cloud service providers and cloud providers have realized that enterprises are shifting to hybrid cloud environments to support AI applications. Technical requirements demand seamless data access, making the hybrid cloud model a key differentiator for successful adoption, as stated by Kyndryl's Global Cloud Practice Leader Nicolas Sekkaki in a November press release announcing the company's 2025 Cloud Readiness Report.

The report found that 84% of cloud leaders intend to choose multicloud architectures—a trend that has not gone unnoticed by cloud providers. AWS and Google Cloud stated in their collaboration announcement that as enterprises adopt multicloud architectures, the need for interoperability becomes more urgent.

Forrester Principal Analyst Lee Sustar noted that for Google, which is often seen as "the third cloud in the enterprise," partnering with AWS makes it easier to enter the enterprise market. Sustar also said this move puts pressure on Oracle and other cloud providers to adopt the open APIs proposed by AWS and Google Cloud.

"After years of avoiding the term 'multicloud' and releasing a series of small-scale integrations with competitors, AWS is now leveraging its market share to push the industry to adopt its approach as a de facto standard," Sustar said in an email sent to CIO Dive, a sister publication of CFO Dive.

AWS Interconnect - multicloud enables companies like Salesforce to build critical bridges to Google Cloud, said Jim Ostrognai, Senior Vice President of Software Engineering at Salesforce, in the announcement. Salesforce's support for the initiative also strengthens AWS's position, Sustar said, noting that it brings Google Cloud into "a competitive fortress against Microsoft Azure in the battle for AI-native cloud dominance."

AWS and Google Cloud are not the only vendors conducting cloud interoperability collaborations. AI data cloud provider Snowflake partnered with German software vendor SAP earlier this year to connect Snowflake's AI Data Cloud to SAP Business Data Cloud. The collaboration aims to combine Snowflake's agentic AI capabilities with SAP's critical business data.