Cisco SD-WAN Cloud Hub with Google Cloud Delivers Enterprise Connectivity Over Global Cloud Network

By Jean-Luc Valente, Cisco

March 24, 2021

Multicloud deployment is here to stay! According to Gartner, “the average enterprise now connects to more than 20 public cloud services, and these public cloud services frequently support performance-sensitive and business-critical applications like ERP and unified communications (UC).”(1)

Every cloud deployment has its unique architecture, APIs and security considerations. So, while this multicloud approach allows companies to deploy applications and access cloud services in a more diverse environment, the lack of overall consistency across a multicloud environment can impact agility, reliability, and productivity.

Cisco SD-WAN Cloud OnRamp securely extends Cisco SD-WAN’s fabric to public cloud environments through a simplified and automated process. By using Cisco SD-WAN Cloud OnRamp, customers can reduce deployment times, and connect branch offices to cloud workloads in minutes. It helps enterprises to significantly increase productivity and avoid error-prone, manual processes.

Today, we are excited to announce the availability of the first phase of Cisco SD-WAN Cloud Hub with Google Cloud . The upcoming Cisco SD-WAN 17.5 release marks another key step towards our vision to build the industry’s first multicloud application-centric fabric, which was outlined in this April 2020 blog.

Site-to-Cloud automation with Cloud OnRamp

With the availability of Cisco SD-WAN Cloud Hub with Google Cloud, Cloud OnRamp support is extended to Google Cloud. This is made possible through the integration between Cisco vManage and the new Google Cloud Network Connectivity Center.

Users can now enjoy a seamless experience across major cloud providers when connecting their on-premises environments to the cloud via Cisco SD-WAN. Through a unified UI and consistent workflow, Cisco Cloud OnRamp automates the backend processes so that you, the enterprise IT team has full control, and can focus on business-impacting tasks.

Site-to-site Connectivity through Cisco SD-WAN and Google Cloud Network

The integration between Cisco vManage and Google Cloud Network Connectivity Center goes beyond connecting branch sites to Google Cloud workloads. This innovation delivers enterprise SD-WAN connectivity over Google Cloud’s extensive global infrastructure.

“The strategic relationship between Google Cloud and Cisco continues to yield innovations for our joint customers looking to accelerate their hybrid and multicloud adoption journey,” says Shailesh Shukla, Vice President and General Manager, Networking at Google Cloud. “Integrating Cisco SD-WAN Cloud Hub with Google Cloud’s Network Connectivity Center provides enterprise customers with simplified management and automated provisioning of site-to-cloud while also providing a highly reliable and high-performance site-to-site option leveraging Google’s global cloud infrastructure.”

If you are a Fortune 500 company with a global presence, most likely all your sites are connected using MPLS and Internet. Now, by using Cisco SD-WAN Cloud Hub with Google Cloud Network Connectivity Center, you have the choice to connect these sites together using Google Cloud’s global network, with a unified policy driven cloud scale SD-WAN fabric. You can conveniently set SD-WAN policies in Cisco vManage to define which traffic should go through Google’s network and which should go through your existing network. The intelligent provisioning of this site-to-site connectivity is done by using the simple and intuitive automation offered by Cisco SD-WAN Cloud OnRamp.

If you are a customer with existing workloads deployed in Google Cloud, and plan to connect those workloads via Cisco SD-WAN and Google Cloud Network Connectivity Center, the same set of infrastructures can be leveraged for both the workloads and site-to-site connectivity, allowing for a simplified network design.

To summarize, the key benefits of Cisco SD-WAN Cloud Hub with Google Cloud Network Connectivity Center include:

Site-to-cloud: Automate Cisco SD-WAN fabric extension to access Google Cloud workloads, keeping the control with enterprise IT.

Site-to-site: Simplify SD-WAN provisioning for optimized site-to-site connectivity using Google’s global cloud infrastructure.

What’s next for Cisco SD-WAN Cloud Hub with Google Cloud?

The phase 2 launch of Cisco SD-WAN Cloud Hub with Google Cloud will enable intelligent and real-time telemetry exchange with all Google Cloud multicloud applications and contextual access. Stay tuned!