Amazon and Google unveiled a new service for rapidly connecting their cloud platforms. The new offering cuts setup time from weeks to a few minutes.
Purpose and testing
The service was created to simplify data exchange and application deployment between AWS and Google Cloud without complex configurations. One of the first companies to test it was Salesforce.
Implications and challenges
The initiative is tied to the need for a reliable internet connection: even short outages, like the AWS incident in October, knocked hundreds of services offline, including Snapchat and Reddit, and inflicted hundreds of millions of dollars in losses on businesses.
By market estimates Amazon Web Services remains the largest cloud provider and brought in $33 billion in the third quarter; Google Cloud earned $15.16 billion for the same period.
In addition to technical risks, there are reported environmental and workforce challenges: elevated nitrate levels have been found in the water near some Amazon data centers, which may pose a health risk, and the company plans to replace up to 600,000 workers in the US with automation by 2033.
