The race to provide efficient and secure access to cloud apps continues. Google has approved Global Capacity as a Google Cloud Interconnect provider, expanding the number of operators that provide direct access to Google's cloud platform, which enables direct access to Google's infrastructure and apps.

By directly connecting to Google's cloud network, service providers and businesses can get higher availability and lower latency connections to applications. Google's cloud platform includes applications such as Google Compute Engine, Google Cloud Storage, Google BigQuery, and others. Google hopes enterprises will extend their private networks into these apps using Carrier Interconnect and VPN tunnels between the networks.

Global Capacity operates the One Marketplace platform, which provides secure and reliable network connectivity using Ethernet and IP services. Enterprises will be able to use One Marketplace and Global Capacity's Network Builder application to design, price, and order data connectivity between business locations and Google Cloud Platform locations, according to Global Capacity.

"Google approved One Marketplace as part of a small group of Google Cloud Interconnect service providers, underscoring the innovation Global Capacity and One Marketplace have brought to the data connectivity and cloud market," said Ben Edmond, Chief Revenue Officer of Global Capacity, in the press release today.

The deal expands the roster of service providers now included in Google's Carrier Interconnect program. Other operators that been announced include Equinix, International Internet Exchange, Ixreach, Level3 Communications, Megaport, Tata Communications, telx, Verizon, and Zayo.

With this deal, it's clear that private cloud connectivity services are heating up, with the largest IT providers racing to providing convenient, efficient, and secure connections to cloud apps. For example, Cisco and Microsoft announced last week an effort to promote integrated cloud services.