What’s a mobile application using a database in one public cloud, a machine-learning engine in another, and three managed services running in still others? It’s a typical example of modern enterprise information technology. Getting all cloud services talking to each other coherently requires a highly democratic, adaptable network foundation.

“Having that underpinned by a strong network backbone that has high throughput, performance, things of that nature, is going to be critical to get data from the cloud to where the eyeballs are,” said Milos Marjanovic (pictured, right), vice president of product management at Zayo Group LLC.

Tying all the different cloud services in with network services is complicated. Just want kind of network can adapt to the peculiarities of all those different services? A ubiquitous network, according to Marjanovic.

Zayo operates over a thousand data centers on its fiber optic network. It also partners with companies like Ciena Corp. — a networking systems, services and software company — to build holistic solutions from the network level up.

“Users can log into a portal on our end, configure a connection in real time, and have that turn up all the way [in] their [virtual private cloud] environment with [Amazon Web Services Inc.],” Marjanovic stated.

AWS recently awarded Zayo a Direct Connect Network Competency partnership.

Marjanovic and Kevin Sheehan (pictured, left), chief technology officer at Ciena, spoke with John Walls (@JohnWalls21), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, and guest host Justin Warren (@jpwarren), chief analyst at PivotNine Pty Ltd, during AWS re:Invent in Las Vegas. They discussed the role of software automation in networking for multicloud. (* Disclosure below.)

Automation does it better

“Software automation really enables the multicloud experience for enterprise customers,” Sheehan said. Tying disparate network and cloud-based services together requires automation.

“You want the ability to move in as agile way as possible between service providers and ideally without having people involved in the middle and having it be a very slow and cumbersome process,” he added.

Application program interfaces are key to having all services work together automatically and friction-free. “The foundation is open APIs. You have to be able to talk to everything in an open way and a predictable way,” Sheehan stated.

Zayo is deeply integrated with Ciena and fosters an open, collaborative relationship with it. “We’ve become very good at creating an open DevOps environment,” Sheehan said. Zayo can actually create software inside of its scalable infrastructure, he concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of AWS re:Invent. (* Disclosure: Zayo Group LLC and Ciena Corp. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither Zayo, Ciena nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE