The surge in cloud adoption has propelled organizations to migrate critical applications from traditional on-premises data centers to public cloud and SaaS environments. However, the networking landscape has not kept pace with this transformation, necessitating a better alignment with cloud services. The network is under increasing pressure to provide an agile, high-performance, and cost-effective solution for evolving cloud-related business requirements. In response to this paradigm shift, computing and storage have transformed into as-a-service offerings, allowing cloud architects and engineers to focus on selecting desired service attributes, such as compute instances and storage volumes, without delving into intricate implementation details. This simplification has transformed cloud computing into a potent business enabler for computing and storage needs, with workloads distributed across various cloud regions and providers. Therefore, enhanced cloud networking agility is paramount for success.

Alkira, Inc. stands at the forefront of reshaping cloud networking with its Alkira Cloud Services Exchange^™. This pioneering platform presents the first unified multi-cloud network, seamlessly integrating services, visibility, and governance, all delivered as a service. Established in 2018 by a team with a proven track record in creating the multi-billion-dollar SD-WAN market, Alkira's multi-cloud network facilitates swift and effortless connectivity across clouds, reducing deployment times from months to minutes. It enables 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 stands as 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 delivered as a service.

Moreover, the collaboration between Cisco and Alkira provides organizations with a seamless method to extend their security services into the cloud using Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense (formerly FTD). This integration provides unparalleled granularity, control, and simplicity compared to native cloud deployments. Cisco firewalls seamlessly integrate into the Alkira Network Services Marketplace, a pivotal component of the Alkira Cloud Services Exchange (Alkira CSX) platform, representing the industry's pioneering 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.

The Leader 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. Alkira CSX, is an on-demand, as-a-service, point and click, unified CNaaS that enables cloud architects to design, build, and deploy a global multi-cloud network in minutes. Alkira enables enterprises to implement 50% less firewall capacity, and reduce TCO by up to 40 percent. Before Viptela, Amir held leadership roles at Cisco, Juniper, and Nortel. He holds four patents.

Mr. Amir 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 empower organizations to cut through complexities, enhance security, and achieve unprecedented agility in navigating the dynamic landscape of cloud connectivity, transforming the way businesses approach multi-cloud adoption.”