What is Azure Multicloud Interconnect?
Azure Multicloud Interconnect is a Microsoft-managed service for private connectivity between Azure and supported cloud providers. Workloads that span more than one cloud get a dedicated path that doesn’t traverse the public internet. Microsoft announced the public preview on 2026-08-31, with Amazon Web Services (AWS) as the first supported provider.
Technically, the service is built on Azure ExpressRoute: per Microsoft, ExpressRoute is the underlying connectivity technology, but the actual resource customers create is a standalone Azure Multicloud Interconnect resource rather than a traditional ExpressRoute circuit. Setup moves through four stages: creating an ExpressRoute circuit with the “Azure Multicloud Interconnect” port type, creating the interconnect resource, provider setup via an activation key (AWS during preview), and connecting the respective virtual networks.
Core Features
- Private cloud-to-cloud connectivity: Traffic between Azure and the connected cloud provider travels over private connectivity instead of the public internet.
- Simplified provisioning: The connection is established by exchanging an activation key; customers don’t need to coordinate provider circuits, physical or virtual routers, cross-connects, VLANs, point-to-point addressing, or BGP peering sessions.
- Managed resiliency: Per Microsoft, a single interconnect is backed by redundant infrastructure across physically separate locations and designed for high availability.
- Link encryption: MAC Security (MACsec) is enabled by default on the physical links between Azure and the supported cloud provider.
Typical Use Cases
- Multi-cloud workloads: Applications that use resources in both Azure and AWS and need a private connection that avoids the public internet.
- Data-intensive and AI workloads: Scenarios with consistent bandwidth requirements between clouds, such as exchanging large data volumes between Azure and AWS VPC resources.
- Pre-production evaluation: Because the service is free during preview and carries no SLA, it is well suited to proofs of concept and architecture testing before building production multicloud connectivity.
Benefits
- Dedicated, private path between Azure and AWS without internet transit
- Built on the established ExpressRoute infrastructure
- Significantly less coordination effort than self-managed cross-connects and BGP peering
- Default encryption of the physical links (MACsec)
- Free to use during preview (no service charge, no egress charge)
Integration with innFactory
As a Microsoft Solutions Partner, innFactory tracks the development of Azure Multicloud Interconnect and helps you evaluate whether the service fits your multicloud architecture between Azure and AWS. Since the service is still in public preview and runs without an SLA, we recommend carefully reviewing the current region and provider restrictions before any production use.
Contact us for a no-obligation consultation on your hybrid and multicloud network strategy.
Typical Use Cases
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Azure Multicloud Interconnect?
Microsoft describes Azure Multicloud Interconnect as 'a managed service that provides private connectivity between Azure and supported cloud service providers', giving workloads that span more than one cloud a dedicated path that doesn't traverse the public internet. Microsoft announced the public preview on 2026-08-31, with AWS as the first supported provider.
How does Azure Multicloud Interconnect relate to ExpressRoute?
Per Microsoft documentation, 'Azure ExpressRoute is the underlying connectivity technology', but the resource you create and manage is an Azure Multicloud Interconnect resource rather than a traditional ExpressRoute circuit. Setup starts with an ExpressRoute circuit using the Azure Multicloud Interconnect port type, followed by connecting your Azure virtual networks through an ExpressRoute gateway to the workloads at the provider.
Which providers and regions are supported during preview?
During preview, Azure Multicloud Interconnect supports only AWS as a cloud provider, at 1-Gbps bandwidth. Per Microsoft documentation, interconnects can be created in Australia East, East US, Germany West Central, and West US; region availability is subject to change during preview.
What does Azure Multicloud Interconnect cost during preview?
Microsoft states this explicitly: 'No Azure Multicloud Interconnect service charge during preview' and 'No Azure egress charge during preview'. The pricing page adds that 'There is no SLA while Azure Multicloud Interconnect is in preview'. Final pricing will be published at general availability.
Note: All product information on this page has been compiled with care, but is provided without guarantee and may be outdated or incomplete. Cloud services evolve rapidly — features, pricing, SLAs, and availability change frequently. Authoritative and up-to-date information can only be found on the official product page of Azure (official documentation). This page does not represent an offer by Azure.
