The rapid adoption of cloud technologies has driven organizations to migrate essential applications from traditional on-premises data centers to public cloud and SaaS environments. However, the networking infrastructure has struggled to keep up with this shift, necessitating a better alignment with cloud services. The network now faces growing demands to deliver agile, high-performance, and cost-effective solutions that meet evolving cloud business needs. In response, computing and storage have transitioned into as-a-service models, enabling cloud architects and engineers to focus on selecting service attributes like compute instances and storage volumes without needing to handle complex implementation details. This simplification has transformed cloud computing into a powerful business enabler for computing and storage, with workloads distributed across various cloud regions and providers. Consequently, enhanced cloud networking agility has become crucial for success.

Alkira, Inc. is leading the way in revolutionizing cloud networking with its Alkira Cloud Services Exchange^™. This groundbreaking platform offers the first unified multi-cloud network, seamlessly integrating services, visibility, and governance, all provided as a service. Founded in 2018 by a team renowned for creating the multi-billion-dollar SD-WAN market, Alkira's multi-cloud network enables fast and effortless connectivity across clouds, reducing deployment times from months to minutes. The platform allows services like firewalls to operate and scale in the cloud, transforming network creation from a build process into a drawing process, all delivered as a service. Alkira's network cloud represents the first global unified network infrastructure, offering on-demand hybrid and multi-cloud connectivity, integrated network and security services, end-to-end visibility, controls, and governance—all as a service.

Additionally, the partnership between Cisco and Alkira provides organizations with a streamlined approach to extending their security services into the cloud using Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense (formerly FTD). This integration offers unmatched granularity, control, and simplicity compared to native cloud deployments. Cisco firewalls are seamlessly incorporated into the Alkira Network Services Marketplace, a key component of the Alkira Cloud Services Exchange (Alkira CSX) platform, marking the industry's first cloud network infrastructure as-a-service (CNaaS) solution.

Alkira's Global On-Demand Multi-Cloud Network

Alkira stands as an industry trailblazer, offering a singular solution that enables single-click provisioning of a global multi-cloud network and integrated network services, drastically reducing provisioning time from months to minutes. The Alkira Cloud Services Exchange^™ (Alkira CSX) marks a significant milestone as the industry's first as-a-service unified multi-cloud network, featuring an integrated network services marketplace, advanced visibility, and robust governance. It effectively removes barriers to seamless cloud and multi-cloud adoption.

Leveraging a globally distributed virtual infrastructure of Alkira Cloud Exchange Points^™, organizations can establish on-demand cloud and multi-cloud network connectivity at a global scale. This innovative approach transforms the traditional model, providing a dynamic and agile solution for organizations seeking swift and efficient multi-cloud network provisioning.

The On-Demand Network Services Marketplace, powered by Alkira's virtual infrastructure, offers organizations the ability to extend security policy enforcement into the cloud with Palo Alto VM-Series Firewalls. This integration allows for secure communications across remote sites, public clouds, and SaaS/Internet applications, all available on-demand when needed.

Alkira's emphasis on Cloud Visibility and Governance sets it apart, providing a single web interface through the Alkira Cloud Services Exchange Portal. This intuitive platform facilitates the design, provisioning, and operation of entire multi-cloud networks, enhancing operational efficiency and offering valuable insights into critical visibility elements for applications and network services.

The concept of Cloud DMZ is redefined by Alkira, offering enterprises a simple, elastic, and cost-effective solution for establishing feature-rich DMZ environments within public clouds. This approach eliminates the need for on-premises installations and configurations, providing dynamic public IP address allocation, DNS resolution, and network address translation, thereby overcoming the limitations of traditional DMZ architectures. Alkira's forward-thinking approach to cloud connectivity is reshaping how organizations approach network provisioning, security, and operational excellence in the era of multi-cloud environments.

Meet the Ardent Visionary Upfront                                      

Amir Khan is the Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Alkira, Inc. He is a computer networking visionary who founded and led Viptela’s market-leading, cloud-first, Software-Defined Wide Area Networking (SD-WAN) business before its acquisition by Cisco.

As prescient as he was in identifying the $8B opportunity for SD-WAN, Amir recognized that the network hampered the cloud journey and founded Alkira in 2018 with CTO Atif Khan to reinvent networking for the cloud era. Amir’s vision is to deliver the Cloud Network as-a-Service (CNaaS). Alkira has delivered the industry’s first Network Cloud, a global unified cloud network infrastructure delivered as-a-service with

1) connectivity for hybrid and multi-cloud networks

2) integrated network and security services, and

3) end-to-end operational visibility and governance.

Mr. Khan earned an MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Mississippi.

“We provide organizations with the power to instantly provision global multi-cloud networks and integrated security services, transforming complex processes into streamlined, service-based solutions.”