Launched just over a year ago, TNS Secure Cloud Connect provides secure, resilient and easy access to a range of cloud services. It facilitates connectivity to the cloud as well as from the cloud to TNS’ vast global financial community. Where cloud providers use a regional set up, such as with Azure, TNS Secure Cloud Connect enables cross-region connectivity to help make the infrastructure more efficient and redundant.

Microsoft Azure is currently second in terms of cloud services market share behind Amazon Web Services according to Gartner*. Azure is available in 54 data centers (regions) and 140 countries, making it a strategic and valuable enhancement to the TNS network.

“While cloud services are playing a key role in the digital transformation of financial enterprises, it’s important to remember that the majority of this technology has been designed on IT principles, not trading infrastructure requirements,” says Bill Versen, Chief Product Officer at TNS. “This puts financial market participants at risk, unless additional measures, such as TNS Secure Cloud Connect, are installed. By bypassing the internet and using TNS’ private network, financial organizations can reduce the security risk and meet their compliance obligations.”

Now firms using Azure can quickly and easily establish interconnectivity to all of the global exchanges, markets and other organizations that are part of TNS’ established financial community of interest which includes more than 2,100 endpoints. TNS’ current customers who want Azure functionality will now benefit from having a direct, secure connection with better latency.

“The continuing growth of cloud services means that our financial services customers need secure connectivity to the top cloud providers,” noted Versen. “Our development teams have devised TNS Secure Cloud Connect in response to this need and we’re seeing increasing demand for this service from financial market firms.”

Optimized for electronic trading, TNS’ robust secure network is relied on by the global financial markets for mission-critical connectivity to multiple diverse trading partners. Many of the world’s most prominent and influential buy- and sell-side institutions, market data and software vendors, exchanges and alternative trading venues have selected TNS’ network. Resilient connectivity is assured by there being no single point of failure across the TNS core network and by connected firms choosing from a variety of diverse physical connections.