Choosing the right cloud platform is critical for your business. However, there’s another factor that’s equally important yet often overlooked: how to connect to it.

Cloud providers such as Microsoft recognize this challenge. This is why they deploy peering points in well-connected colocation data centers like Digital Realty’s, where customers and connectivity providers can connect. These cloud on-ramps, also referred to as network edges or peering locations, can enable optimized connectivity to the cloud, supporting hundreds of physical and virtual connections in each location. Our carrier-neutral interconnectivity platform makes us an ideal location to establish these critical connections.

ExpressRoute: Your direct path to Azure

To date, Microsoft has deployed Azure ExpressRoute cloud on-ramps with Digital Realty in 16 metros across 4 continents - all accessible through PlatformDIGITAL®: Amsterdam, Atlanta, Brussels, Cape Town, Copenhagen, Dallas, Dublin, Johannesburg, Frankfurt, Madrid, Marseille, Paris, Sao Paulo, Stockholm, Vienna, and Zurich. The most recent addition to this list is the on ramp at our Stockholm campus in Sweden, enabling customers across the Nordics to establish resilient connectivity into the local Azure region.

ExpressRoute enables organizations to connect to Microsoft Azure while ensuring their data travels over a dedicated, secure circuit that bypasses the public internet entirely. For businesses handling sensitive workloads or requiring compliance with strict data sovereignty regulations, this private connection is essential.

Whether you’re in one of these 16 locations or any Digital Realty data center globally, you can connect to ExpressRoute. Our interconnection and service orchestration platform, ServiceFabric®, makes it possible to connect from any data center in our global footprint.

The key benefits of ExpressRoute

ExpressRoute can transform how enterprises connect to Azure, delivering advantages that go beyond basic internet connectivity. Organizations across industries are choosing ExpressRoute for three compelling reasons:

1. Enhanced security
By avoiding the public internet, your data travels over a private circuit, significantly reducing exposure to threats and vulnerabilities.

2. Superior reliability
Dedicated connections deliver predictable performance and uptime. Unlike internet connections that share bandwidth and can be affected by congestion, ExpressRoute can provide consistent, enterprise-grade connectivity.

3. Lower latency
Low latency connectivity is critical for performance-sensitive applications, such as real-time analytics or collaboration platforms. For performance-sensitive applications -from real-time analytics to collaboration platforms - low-latency connectivity is critical. ExpressRoute’s direct path to Azure is designed to minimize delays and maximize responsiveness.

Optimize cloud spend: Potential egress cost savings

When organizations run their workloads in an Azure region within the same country as their ExpressRoute connection, they can gain optimized network performance and the potential to significantly reduce egress costs.

Understanding egress costs is key to managing your cloud budget effectively. Egress fees are charged by the cloud providers when data leaves their network - whether transferred to the internet, another cloud provider, or your on-premises environment. While data ingress (data going into the cloud) is typically free, cloud providers charge the bandwidth and network infrastructure required when data is downloaded or transferred out.

High egress costs have become a driving factor behind cloud repatriation strategies. This is where ExpressRoute can deliver real value. By using a private connection, you can significantly lower the data transfer rates charged by cloud providers. For data-intensive workloads, ExpressRoute can be far more cost-effective than public internet connections, potentially eliminating most egress costs while providing more predictable monthly billing.

By combining a nearby Azure region with ExpressRoute connectivity, you can keep your data-intensive workloads closer to home, enhance network reliability, and achieve greater control over your cloud spend.

Accelerate your AI and cloud journey

ExpressRoute within Digital Realty’s data centers can give you the flexibility to build cloud-adjacent colocation environments, by placing private data in close proximity to cloud-based applications. This architecture is particularly powerful for hybrid workloads.

Whether you’re supporting AI initiatives that demand high-capacity data processing, operating hybrid IT architectures, or running applications with strict compliance or data sovereignty requirements, direct connectivity to Azure through ExpressRoute can open new opportunities to scale, optimize, and innovate.

At Digital Realty, we’re ready to help you design the optimal infrastructure for your unique needs. Our solution architects and cloud experts work closely with you to understand your workloads, connectivity requirements, and business objectives. We’ll help you determine the right mix of colocation, cloud connectivity, and hybrid infrastructure to support your growth - today and tomorrow.

Let’s innovate together. Reach out to our team to explore how ExpressRoute and Digital Realty can accelerate your digital transformation.

Learn more about our Partnership with Microsoft or Contact our team today.

Accelerate Cloud Connectivity with Azure ExpressRoute at Digital Realty