Microsoft announces new Azure service called Expressroute

When we talk to customers and partners around the world, we hear them say they want to find a provider to help them maximize their internal deployment investment and take advantage of the flexibility of the cloud. This is the basic principle of building a hybrid cloud strategy and cloud operating system vision. In line with our commitment, we are pleased to announce this announcement today, which demonstrates another big part of our network following infrastructure and application services.

We are excited to announce the launch of a new Azure service called Expressroute. Expressroute provides a private, reliable, low-latency connection between the customer's data center and Azure. Expressroute is an important step in our commitment to helping customers maximize the benefits of their existing internal deployment investments and take full advantage of cloud computing.

We are not alone, we are working with partners like At&t and Equinix to authorize customers to use Azure cloud as a simple extension of their existing data centers. This means that customers can enjoy a higher security and economic advantage while extending their networks to Azure.

Another step in our solemn commitment is to provide high-performance private paths for cloud services, so we are announcing a strategic partnership with Level 3. This partnership will provide a private connection to Azure through the Level 3 cloud connectivity solution. We are pleased to announce that we offer Expressroute at level 31 to provide our companies with the scale, global reach and efficiency to enable them to focus on their core business. Please read level 3 about this partnership.

Currently, with Expressroute, you have several ways to connect to Azure. You can summarize traffic by Equinix a private connection in the datacenter, or add Azure services to the MPLS VPN provided by At&t. With Level 3, you can implement both operations to extend the MPLS VPN by single commit rollup traffic or by allowing multiple locations to connect to Azure services.

Multi-authentication for Office 365 and Windows Azure administrators

February 10, we announced the formal release of multiple authentication for Office 365, which enables IT administrators to provide secure access using the additional authentication layer.

Multiple authentication for Office 365 is supported by Windows Azure multiple authentication and is available to Office 365 applications for no additional cost. To enable multiple authentication and a richer range of features for other applications, you can purchase Windows Azure multiple authentication.

The same multiple authentication feature set for Office 365 will be provided free of charge to all Windows Azure administrators. Administrators who want to access Windows Azure Portal to create VMS and Web sites, manage storage, mobile services, or any other Windows Azure service can add multiple authentication to achieve additional protection for their accounts.

Windows Azure Active Directory Advanced Edition Public Preview new more features

Last November, we announced the release of the public preview of the Advanced edition of Windows Azure Active Directory, a Microsoft enterprise cloud identity and access management solution. With the promise of delivering new features in the preview, we announced an increase in self-service group management capabilities. This feature simplifies day-to-day group management, enabling group owners to approve requests and maintain membership of their groups.

In addition, new reports are available, and many new SaaS applications that are ready for SSO have been added to the application library.