When a UK enterprise decides the public internet is not good enough for its cloud traffic, the choice in 2026 comes down to two dedicated-connectivity products: AWS Direct Connect and Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute. Both give you a private, predictable, high-bandwidth link from your data centre or colocation facility into the cloud, bypassing the unpredictable latency and exposure of the open internet. For workloads like financial trading, NHS data platforms, large database replication, or hybrid setups that move terabytes daily, that private link is not a luxury — it is a requirement. But the two products differ in pricing structure, redundancy design, partner ecosystems and how they handle multi-region and global routing. This guide compares AWS Direct Connect and Azure ExpressRoute across the dimensions that actually affect your bill and your uptime, and shows which fits which kind of enterprise in 2026.
Both deliver private, low-latency, high-bandwidth connectivity and both are mature, enterprise-grade products. Choose AWS Direct Connect if your workloads live primarily in AWS and you want fine-grained control over virtual interfaces and a huge partner network. Choose Azure ExpressRoute if you are Microsoft-centric, want simpler global reach via ExpressRoute Global Reach, and value tight integration with Microsoft 365 traffic. For most UK enterprises the decision follows the cloud you already run; the connectivity product rarely overrides the platform choice, but ExpressRoute’s bundled global routing can tip multi-region scenarios toward Azure.
The 2026 landscape: why dedicated connectivity matters
As enterprises moved core systems to the cloud, the limitations of internet-based VPNs became obvious: variable latency, throughput ceilings, and a security surface nobody loves. Dedicated connectivity solves all three by giving you a private circuit, typically provisioned through a partner like a telco or a colocation provider, into the cloud backbone. In 2026 this is standard practice for any UK organisation running hybrid architecture, regulated data, or bandwidth-heavy replication. AWS Direct Connect and Azure ExpressRoute are the two dominant options, and both are sold in two ways: dedicated connections (a physical port you own, 1/10/100 Gbps) or hosted connections (a slice of capacity through a partner, which is how most mid-sized firms buy it).
| Feature | AWS Direct Connect | Azure ExpressRoute |
|---|---|---|
| Connection types | Dedicated & hosted | Dedicated & ExpressRoute partner |
| Port speeds | 1, 10, 100 Gbps | 50 Mbps up to 100 Gbps |
| Global routing | Direct Connect Gateway | ExpressRoute Global Reach |
| Resilience model | Multiple connections / locations | Built-in dual circuits per peering |
| M365 traffic | Not applicable | Microsoft peering supports M365 |
| Billing | Port-hours + data transfer out | Port (metered/unlimited) + egress |
Pick AWS Direct Connect if…
Pick Direct Connect if your estate is AWS-first and you want granular control. Direct Connect exposes virtual interfaces — private VIFs to your VPCs, public VIFs to AWS public services, and transit VIFs to a Transit Gateway — letting you segment traffic precisely. The Direct Connect Gateway lets a single connection reach VPCs across multiple AWS regions, which suits geographically distributed architectures. The partner ecosystem is enormous, so provisioning a hosted connection through a UK colocation provider is straightforward. If your engineers already think in VPCs, route tables and Transit Gateways, Direct Connect slots into that mental model cleanly. The trade-off is that you design redundancy yourself: AWS recommends multiple connections at multiple locations for a true high-availability setup, and that is on you to architect and pay for.
Pick Azure ExpressRoute if…
Pick ExpressRoute if you are Microsoft-centric or you value built-in resilience and simpler global routing. Every ExpressRoute circuit is provisioned as a redundant pair of connections by design, so a baseline of high availability comes standard rather than as an architecture exercise. ExpressRoute Global Reach lets you link your on-premises sites to each other through the Microsoft backbone — effectively using Azure as a private WAN — which is genuinely useful for multi-site UK enterprises. Microsoft peering also carries Microsoft 365 traffic privately, a real advantage if your organisation runs heavily on Teams, SharePoint and Exchange Online. For Microsoft-licensed enterprises in finance, healthcare and government, ExpressRoute tends to be the lower-friction choice.
Build the skills: recommended courses
Designing and operating dedicated cloud connectivity is a networking-plus-cloud discipline. UK employers want engineers who understand both the cloud platform and core networking. Start with cloud fundamentals, add networking depth, then specialise.
Grounds you in AWS networking concepts — VPCs, gateways, regions — that Direct Connect builds on. The right first step before tackling the Advanced Networking specialty.
Covers Azure networking basics, virtual networks and connectivity options including ExpressRoute. The natural precursor to the AZ-700 networking certification.
Essential underpinnings — TCP/IP, routing, BGP concepts — that make Direct Connect and ExpressRoute configuration finally make sense. Networking fluency is what separates competent cloud engineers from button-pushers.
A practical, beginner-friendly networking grounding for those moving from general IT into cloud connectivity roles, with hands-on troubleshooting that transfers directly.
Hands-on Azure administration including virtual networking and connectivity — the credential most UK Azure infrastructure roles list, and a strong base before AZ-700.
Common mistakes and real-world pitfalls
The most expensive mistake is under-designing redundancy. A single Direct Connect connection is a single point of failure; AWS is explicit that production setups need multiple connections across multiple locations. ExpressRoute mitigates this with its dual-circuit design, but teams still undermine it by terminating both legs on the same on-premises router or through the same provider — defeating the purpose. Always diversify physical paths and providers for genuine resilience.
Other recurring pitfalls: misunderstanding the billing model and being surprised by data-transfer-out charges, which dominate the bill at scale; provisioning more bandwidth than you need because capacity planning was guesswork rather than measured; forgetting that dedicated connectivity does not encrypt traffic by default, so sensitive data still needs encryption in transit (a private link is not the same as an encrypted one); and treating provisioning timelines optimistically — physical cross-connects through partners can take weeks, so order early. Finally, teams often neglect monitoring: set up BGP session alerts and link metrics from day one, because a silently degraded circuit is worse than an obvious outage.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Direct Connect and a VPN?
A VPN runs an encrypted tunnel over the public internet — cheap and quick but subject to internet latency and throughput variability. Direct Connect and ExpressRoute use a private, dedicated circuit that bypasses the internet entirely, delivering consistent latency and higher, predictable bandwidth. Many enterprises run a VPN as a backup to a dedicated link.
Does dedicated connectivity encrypt my data?
Not automatically. Both Direct Connect and ExpressRoute provide a private path, not an encrypted one. For sensitive or regulated data you should still apply encryption in transit (for example MACsec on supported Direct Connect ports, or an IPsec layer) on top of the private circuit.
Which is cheaper, Direct Connect or ExpressRoute?
It depends on your traffic profile, and pricing changes, so compare current rates. Both charge for the port plus egress data transfer. ExpressRoute offers metered and unlimited data plans; Direct Connect bills port-hours plus data-out. At high, steady volumes an unlimited ExpressRoute plan can win; for spiky or lower volumes Direct Connect metering may be cheaper.
How long does it take to provision?
Plan for weeks, not days. Hosted connections through an existing partner can be quick, but a new dedicated cross-connect involves physical provisioning in a colocation facility and partner coordination. Order well ahead of any migration deadline.
Can I connect to multiple regions or clouds?
Yes. AWS Direct Connect Gateway reaches VPCs across regions, and ExpressRoute Global Reach links sites through Microsoft’s backbone. For multi-cloud, many UK enterprises terminate both Direct Connect and ExpressRoute in the same colocation facility to bridge AWS and Azure privately.
Do I need both for high availability?
You need redundancy within whichever product you choose — multiple Direct Connect links across locations, or properly diversified ExpressRoute circuits. Some enterprises also keep an internet VPN as a low-cost failover path for non-critical traffic.
Bandwidth, latency and capacity planning
Choosing a port speed is the decision teams most often get wrong, in both directions. Over-provision and you pay for idle capacity month after month; under-provision and you throttle the very workloads that justified a dedicated link. The right approach is measurement, not guesswork: instrument your current internet or VPN traffic for several weeks, capture both the steady-state and the peak (backups, batch replication, end-of-month reporting), and size to the peak with headroom. Both AWS and Azure let you start with a hosted or partner connection at modest speed and scale up, so there is rarely a reason to buy a 100 Gbps dedicated port on day one.
Latency deserves equal attention. A dedicated circuit removes internet variability, but physical distance still imposes a floor — a link from a London colocation facility to a UK Azure or AWS region will always beat one routed to a continental region. For latency-sensitive workloads such as trading systems or real-time analytics, terminate your connection in the geographically closest cloud region and confirm the provider’s path does not backhaul through a distant exchange. Monitor round-trip time continuously; a creeping latency increase is often the first sign of a misrouted or congested circuit, well before it shows up as an outage.