Cloud-first IT should favour direct-to-cloud connectivity

Over the past few months we’ve had more Devoli partners enquiring about our Cloud Direct product.

With the ongoing push to optimise security and reduce costs, they are questioning whether there’s still a reason to route cloud traffic through a local data centre. Legacy design decisions are being revisited in terms of whether they still make sense in a cloud-first world.

A few specific converging factors are driving the change:

• Continued migration of workloads into AWS and Azure

• Ongoing cost scrutiny across IT environments

• A desire to simplify architecture rather than add layers

• Higher expectations around performance and user experience

The shift in thinking is part of a broader movement toward simpler, more efficient cloud architecture, and is a change we have been anticipating for some time.

The old model: cloud via the data centre

Enterprise connectivity to the public cloud has usually followed a typical pattern: User > Corporate Network > Local Data Centre > Internet/MPLS > Cloud Provider

That model made sense when the data centre was the ecosystem’s ‘centre of gravity’. Applications, security policies and control of the IT ecosystem all lived there.

But for most businesses today that’s no longer the case. Applications have moved and workloads live natively in AWS and Azure, yet in many environments traffic still takes a detour through DC infrastructure that isn’t adding real value.

As time goes on and the need for high-performance cloud connectivity continues to ramp, more scrutiny is being put on current setups.

The new model

In 2025 we worked closely with our cloud partners to develop Devoli Cloud Direct, which connects enterprise environments directly into AWS or Azure, bypassing the local data centre layer entirely.

This allows for a cleaner, more efficient path between users and their cloud-based applications in the following ways:

1. Lower cost by removing unnecessary infrastructure

Every additional network hop costs money. Whether it’s owned, hosted or co-located, maintaining a local data centre layer comes with infrastructure & hosting costs, network transit and backhaul charges and ongoing operational overhead.

When cloud traffic is routed through that layer businesses are effectively paying to move data into the cloud, then paying again to move it back out to users.

By going direct you can eliminate double handling of traffic, reduce reliance on transit paths (which each come with a cost) and avoid scaling unnecessary infrastructure. This can considerably reduce both network and operational spend without sacrificing performance.

2. Reduced security risk through a smaller attack surface

Every additional system or network layer introduces potential risk. Routing traffic through a data centre - the current path under legacy architectures - means more devices in the path, more configuration complexity and more points that need to be secured, patched, and monitored.

In contrast, a direct-to-cloud approach simplifies the architecture with fewer hops, fewer exposure points and more predictable traffic flows.

When combined with native cloud security controls businesses can have a model where security policies are applied closer to the application, visibility improves and risk is reduced through simplification, not just the tooling.

This is a subtle but important shift in mindset from protecting a complex legacy path, to designing a simpler one.

3. Lower latency and better application performance

Every hop between the user and the cloud introduces latency, potential congestion and variability in performance. A local data centre layer can unintentionally slow things down, especially when traffic is being backhauled before reaching its final destination.

For cloud-first applications, whether collaboration tools, SaaS platforms, or custom workloads, this can impact user experience and productivity.

With direct connectivity:

• Traffic takes the most efficient route into AWS or Azure

• Latency is reduced

• Application responsiveness improves

How Devoli can help

As an AWS Direct Connect Delivery Partner and Azure Express Route Connectivity Provider we can provide direct, high-performance connectivity into these environments.

More importantly we can help you rethink the architecture itself. Upgrading to our Cloud Direct setup is ultimately a way to align network design with where applications actually live, remove legacy complexity and deliver better outcomes for end users. It will truly help you future proof your systems.

With the continued partner dialogue around this evolution to direct cloud connectivity, we see it as becoming the new default.

Learn more

Connect with me on LinkedIn or contact our Devoli team if you’d like to talk through the options regarding the service.