Lumen Technologies has expanded its enterprise networking portfolio with a Multi-Cloud Gateway (MCGW) and enhanced metro datacentre connectivity across major US markets.
Through its expansion, Lumen claimed to be simplifying connectivity, removing the complexity from how data moves across hybrid environments by bringing centralised multicloud routing and high-capacity private metro connectivity. The result is a more consistent, controllable networking foundation for artificial intelligence (AI) and other modern workloads.
Commenting on the state of the modern workplace and the effect AI is having, Courtney Munroe, vice-president of worldwide telecommunications research at analyst firm IDC, noted that AI was reshaping network design, pushing enterprises to move from experimentation to execution with architectures that reduce latency, cost variability and operational complexity.
“As workloads become more distributed and performance sensitive, organisations are rethinking how they connect edge sites, datacentres and multiple clouds, and Lumen’s network fabric shows how programmable networks can deliver more consistent data movement,” he commented.
Lumen believes its enhanced products and services can improve business agility by accelerating data movement across cloud and enterprise environments, so analytics keep pace with changing demand.
The Multi-Cloud Gateway is the core element of the shift to cloud-based telecoms, built as a software-defined, self-service routing layer on Lumen’s global fibre network. It is said to provide private, high-capacity connectivity among enterprises, hyperscalers and emerging cloud platforms, turning traditional telecoms interconnection into a programmable cloud fabric.
By unifying connectivity, routing and policy, Lumen is confident that MCGW can reduce operational complexity, speed time to service and lower the total cost of ownership. That is, it can allow customers to connect dynamically cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-enterprise environments, optimise traffic for performance and cost, and support advanced use cases such as AI workload distribution and real-time data exchange.
Alongside this, it has built Metro Ethernet and IP Services to offer expanded high-capacity, dedicated connectivity across 16 US markets, delivering up to 100Gbps between regional datacentres, campuses and edge locations, and up to 400Gbps at key cloud datacentres in those markets. Lumen said this would deliver fast, secure movement of massive datasets for AI training, analytics, replication and disaster recovery.
Recently upgraded markets include Northern Virginia, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City and Seattle.
Explaining why the enhancements and launches matter for enterprises, Lumen said networks shift from constraint to enabler, so organisations can move faster, scale with confidence and unlock greater innovation. It added that the business impact is immediate and practical for industries scaling their AI ambitions, citing use in financial services, retail, healthcare and manufacturing.
In finance, it said firms can keep risk, payments and fraud workloads synchronised across multiple clouds, with centralised policy control for lower latency and more predictable performance. Retailers, it said, can now improve business agility by accelerating data movement across cloud and enterprise environments, so analytics keep pace with changing demand.
Healthcare use cases are now seen as being able to maintain data separation, support telehealth services, imaging and analytics, disaster recovery, and manage research workloads across institutions and resource centres. Manufacturers are said to be able to connect regional facilities and cloud environments to enable real-time analytics and predictive maintenance.
“Moving data across hybrid environments is a lot like managing air traffic – you need clear routes, predictable timing and the ability to adjust when conditions change. Most legacy networks weren’t built for that level of coordination,” remarked Lumen chief technology and product officer Jim Fowler.
“With our expanded network fabric, [we aim to give] enterprises a way to move data securely, effortlessly and consistently across clouds, datacentres and edge locations, designed to reduce the complexity that holds AI-driven operations back.”
