Colt targets SAP migration with expanded DCA capabilities at Interxion Amsterdam

Colt Technology Services has extended its collaboration with Microsoft and Interxion, adding support for Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute connectivity capabilities to the ‘Amsterdam2’ Point of Presence (PoP), located at the Interxion data centre in The Netherlands.

Amsterdam2 is a key data centre for businesses in Europe planning the migration of on-premises SAP databases to the cloud, making this PoP extremely well positioned in the region to support enterprises.

The expansion of Colt’s Azure ExpressRoute footprint will benefit both SAP customers migrating their on-premises environments to the cloud and customers who require higher resiliency into Azure. Colt provides secure and reliable private network connectivity to Azure, via Colt’s Dedicated Cloud Access (DCA) solution which is also available as Colt DCA On Demand.

SAP has announced that by 2025 it will no longer support on-premises database platforms, with customers needing to migrate to a SAP S/4HANA environment. This represents a significant challenge for existing customers, as up to 93% of these are still operating from an on-premises data centre environment.

Peter Coppens, Vice President for Product for Colt, said: “Colt has been a Microsoft Azure partner for five years now, which demonstrates just how strong the relationship between Microsoft and Colt is. At Colt, we understand the significant business challenges that enterprises are facing; such as SAP migrations, and we are well-positioned to help organisations as they navigate the shifting technological landscape.”

Colt’s DCA On Demand service offers a consumption-based, highly available and resilient end-to-end solution. The solution is delivered over the Colt IQ Network and is supported by a single SLA agreement. The proposition allows customers to flex their bandwidth requirements via a consumption-based pricing model, which represents a significant opportunity for cost optimisation versus traditional network solutions.

“We are pleased to see Colt add value and support enterprise cloud migrations by extending its Microsoft Azure footprint,” said Ross Ortega, Partner Program Manager, Microsoft Azure Networking at Microsoft Corp. “The integration with Colt is the type of technological solution that helps ensure an organisation’s SAP migrations will be successful.” 

With over 27,500 buildings connected globally to the Colt IQ Network, and the ability to offer the flexibility to scale bandwidth up or down through its On Demand service, Colt is uniquely able to serve SAP migration connectivity requirements anywhere in Western Europe.

Commenting on the news, Michael van den Assem, Managing Director at Interxion for The Netherlands, said: “As organisations look to migrate their SAP environments from on-premises data centres to Microsoft Azure, they require Azure ExpressRoute to establish a secure, performant connection.

“The ExpressRoute location at the ‘Amsterdam2’ Point of Presence at Interxion’s Amsterdam Schiphol data centre campus, making it the optimal location to connect to SAP on Azure and to deploy dedicated infrastructure in close proximity to the West Europe Azure region. In combination with Colt’s extensive network coverage in Western Europe and the ability to offer redundant, flexible ExpressRoute connections, we are confident we can make SAP migrations frictionless and cost-effective for any European enterprise.”