GCP – Cloud WAN: Connect your global enterprise with a network built for the AI era

For over 25 years, Google has pushed the boundaries of the network, with innovations that connect billions of users around the world to essential services like Gmail, YouTube, and Search. At the foundation lies Google’s vast backbone network. With 202 points of presence (PoPs), powered by over 2 million miles of fiber, 33 subsea cables, and backed by a 99.99% reliability SLA, Google’s network provides a robust and resilient global platform. 

That same planet-scale network infrastructure powers Google Cloud and our Cross-Cloud Network solutions. And today we are announcing that Google’s global network is available for all businesses and governments to use with our new Cloud WAN solution.

Cloud WAN is a fully managed, reliable, and secure enterprise backbone to transform enterprise wide area network (WAN) architectures. It leverages Google’s planet-scale network, which is optimized for application performance. Cloud WAN provides up to 40% faster performance¹ compared to the public internet, and up to a 40% savings² in total cost of ownership (TCO) over a customer-managed WAN solution.

The evolution of the enterprise WAN

Traditionally, enterprises relied heavily on multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) networks for secure and reliable site-to-site connectivity — a high-cost approach. However, the rapid adoption of SaaS and cloud applications necessitated a transformation, leading to the emergence of SD-WAN with direct internet access (DIA), a lower-cost alternative that leveraged the internet. Then, to enhance application performance, enterprises built colocation-based cloud on-ramps, which, while improving latency, introduced complexity and costs. This evolution led to a proliferation of security stacks, with a mix of security service edge (SSE) and self-managed appliances, creating an inconsistent security posture. 

Consequently, enterprise connectivity has become inherently complex and difficult to manage, marked by diverse networks with fragmented security, and requiring a constant balancing of reliability, speed, and cost. 

The rapid emergence of AI has placed additional demands on enterprise networks. AI-based applications require a highly distributed infrastructure that is often spread across different clouds and on-premises data centers, and need a global network that can scale massively, provide robust security and privacy, and make efficient use of resources, all while remaining cost-effective.

To address these needs, Cloud WAN offers a unified enterprise network solution for securely and reliably connecting across any enterprise site, application and user, while helping to ensure optimal performance and reducing costs.

Cloud WAN enables two key use cases: providing high-performance connectivity between geographically dispersed data centers, and connecting branch and campus environments over our Premium Tier network.

Use case 1: High performance, cross-region connectivity 

Large, global customers with extensive data center networks need to be able to move large amounts of data reliably. Cloud WAN offers flexible connectivity options for linking geographically dispersed data centers, providing a modern alternative to traditional solutions that have limited capacity, high cost of operations, and lower reliability.

This use case is enabled by these core capabilities:

Cloud Interconnect provides private and dedicated low-latency connections between Google Cloud regions and on-prem data centers, allowing you to connect your data center to Google Cloud from over 159 locations around the globe.

Cross-Cloud Interconnect enables multicloud connectivity between Google Cloud and other public cloud environments, including AWS, Azure and OCI, and is available in 21 locations. 

Now, with Cross-Site Interconnect, we’re enabling dedicated point-to-point layer 2 private 10/100G connectivity optimized to connect applications between data centers, and that is designed for enterprises, government agencies, and telecom operators. With Cross-Site Interconnect, Google Cloud becomes the first major cloud provider to offer transparent layer 2 connectivity over its network. Currently in preview in select countries, we’ll expand it to additional edge locations in the coming year.

Key benefits of Cross-Site Interconnect include: 

• Enterprise-grade performance: With an SLA and built-in redundancy, and Google’s high performance global network, Cross-Site Interconnect is a high-bandwidth (10/100G) data center interconnect solution.

• Global reach and capacity: Cross-Site Interconnect runs over Google Cloud’s global backbone, a network of over 2 million miles of fiber, with international capacity for trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific networks.

• Optimized for risk and cost: Cross-Site Interconnect leverages redundant fiber infrastructure to dynamically reroute network traffic around physical network and optical-fiber failures, helping to maintain consistent service availability. 

Note: Google Cloud additionally supports scalable layer 3 routing solutions with Network Connectivity Center (NCC). Please see the next section for details. 

“Having a scalable and reliable global network is critical as we continue to expand our research efforts and host performance sensitive workloads on Google Cloud. We look forward to leveraging the stability and reliability we have seen with Google’s Cloud WAN to meet the growing needs in our hybrid networks.” – Chris Dee, Head of Cloud Platform Engineering, Citadel Securities

Use case 2: Migrate branch and campus networks

Google’s Premium Tier network serves as a powerful cloud on-ramp, helping to securely connect branch offices and campuses to public cloud resources, SaaS applications, and the internet. Cloud WAN is a unified, fully managed solution that extends the performance and reliability of Google’s trusted network directly to enterprises, enabling on-demand, any-to-any connectivity with inherent security and a lower TCO. Furthermore, our open yet tightly integrated ecosystem empowers enterprises with the choice of best-in-class security and network services, fostering flexibility and tailored solutions.

Premium Tier network delivers up to 40% improved performance

The foundation of this performance is Google’s unparalleled backbone network which provides a robust and resilient platform for your applications.

• Google’s Premium Tier network service is designed to deliver optimal application performance. It ensures that internet-based traffic targeting Cloud WAN enters and exits Google’s high-performance network at the geographically closest PoP. This minimizes network hops, driving lower latency and a more consistent user experience.

• With over 5700 direct peering connections and reachability to 60K+ autonomous system numbers (ASNs), Google ranks first among cloud providers and 6th in global peering. This extensive peering network helps ensure efficient traffic exchange with other networks, further enhancing application performance.

• Our Verified Peering Provider program allows customers to select ISPs for maximum availability. Now open to all ISPs globally, the program provides redundant, diverse connectivity. 

• Dedicated fiber access in partnership with Lumen Technologies (available in select locations in 2025), enables last-mile handoff to Cloud WAN from customer-operated locations including data centers, branches, warehouses, and airports. 

• BT is enabling their Global Fabric network-as-a-service (NaaS) offering to provide direct connectivity for BT customers to Google Cloud using Cloud WAN

Cloud WAN’s architecture offers flexible options to address modern enterprises’ diverse connectivity requirements. Network Connectivity Center acts as a centralized hub for enterprises to connect their branches using Cloud VPN or their preferred SD-WAN solution, while campuses and data centers can use Cloud Interconnect for high-bandwidth (10G, 100G) links. To further extend the reach and reliability of enterprise networks, site-to-site data-transfer with Network Connectivity Center is now available in 20 countries across the globe.

“By bridging the edge-cloud gap, Cloud WAN is enhancing our application performance by up to 40%, reducing costs, and providing resilient, scalable support and foundation for our end-to-end digitalization.” – Ralf Huebenthal, Global Head of IT Platforms, Nestle

By combining these powerful network capabilities, Cloud WAN delivers a significant improvement in application experience, empowering businesses to provide their users with the performance they expect.

Cloud WAN lowers TCO by up to 40%
Compared with a customer-managed WAN solution, Cloud WAN provides up to a 40% savings in TCO², offering the flexibility of both usage-based and fixed-price options to suit various needs, and significantly driving down fixed, upfront costs. For organizations that perform high-bandwidth internet data transfers, we are extending a fixed-price model for Cloud Interconnect that will be generally available this quarter. Cloud WAN allows enterprises to consolidate their carrier-neutral facility deployments to fewer cloud regions, reducing costs. 

A tightly integrated, open ecosystem for flexibility and choice
Cloud WAN has an open, flexible, and tightly integrated ecosystem, providing enterprises with the tools needed to build robust and adaptable networks. Cloud WAN offers easy integration of network and security services from a broad ISV ecosystem:

• Strong SD-WAN partner ecosystem, featuring leading vendors including Cisco, Fortinet, Juniper Networks, Netskope, Velocloud, and others. Enterprises can choose to self-manage or consume managed overlay connectivity with our services partners.

• Cloud WAN using NCC Gateway (preview in Q2), the first major cloud solution to offer managed integration of security service edge (SSE) for users accessing private and public applications. SSE offerings are available from Broadcom, Menlo Security, and Palo Alto Networks.

• Flexible security options letting you use either Cloud Next Generation Firewall (NGFW), or that integrate NGFW virtual appliances from Check Point, Fortinet, and Palo Alto Networks via Network Security Integration.

You can also extend the benefits of Cloud WAN with partner solutions to build agile, secure, and automated branch networks, facilitating rapid deployment of new branches and services enabled with: 

• Infoblox Universal DDI modernizes and simplifies branch networks by delivering infrastructure-free, cloud-based Domain Name Service (DNS), Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), and IP Address Management (IPAM). An optional DNS security component protects against phishing and malware, ensuring your users connect safely to critical applications.

• Juniper Networks Mist provides AI-driven campus and branch transformation, including comprehensive insight and automation to optimize  user experiences. This integration includes cloud-delivered critical network services like Wi-Fi, wired access, SD-WAN, network access control (NAC), indoor location services, and IoT analytics.

• Integration with Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) in a connected configuration, extending Google Cloud’s computing benefits to the edge for latency-sensitive applications. GDC is a fully managed platform supporting containerized and VM-based applications, with automated connectivity back to Google Cloud regions using Cloud WAN. 

Partner-managed services 

Enterprises who already rely on managed services providers for their enterprise backbone needs can continue to work with their preferred partners when migrating to Cloud WAN. And for enterprises that want help migrating, deploying and operating Cloud WAN, they can engage with one of our global system integrator (GSI) partners. At launch, Cloud WAN partners include Accenture, HCLTech, and Wipro, who now offer services architecture, design, migration and ongoing management services.

Learn more

Cloud WAN stands to revolutionize how enterprises connect and secure their global infrastructure. Offering simplicity, high performance, a wealth of connectivity and security service choices, not to mention significant cost savings, Cloud WAN lets you focus on innovation and growth in the cloud and beyond. 

You can learn more about Cloud WAN at Next ‘25 and on the Cross-Cloud Network solution page. Plus check out the many other great networking breakout sessions at Google Cloud Next 2025.

<sup>1. During testing, network latency was more than 40% lower when traffic to a target traveled over the Cross-Cloud Network compared to when traffic to the same target traveled across the public internet.
2. Architecture includes SD-WAN and 3rd party firewalls, and compares a customer-managed WAN using multi-site colocation facilities to a WAN managed and hosted by Google Cloud.</sup>