Do you still need a VPN solution to protect your workloads?

Summary

This 2022 blueAPACHE blog post explains Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute and VPN connectivity as a way for Australian businesses to secure access to cloud workloads across office, home and remote locations. It is written for IT decision-makers who have moved workloads into Azure or Microsoft 365 and need a secure, reliable way to connect hybrid and remote staff to those services. The post sets out four use cases (site-to-cloud, work-from-home-to-cloud, any-to-any WAN, and remote-to-cloud) and the stated benefits of ExpressRoute over standard internet VPN access. It still applies because the underlying question, how to give hybrid and remote workers secure, reliable access to cloud-hosted applications, has not gone away even as the specific product names and figures cited have moved on since 2022. Readers should check blueAPACHE's current Microsoft Practice and Azure pages for what is offered today rather than relying on this post's specific figures.

Key facts

Label Value
Publication year 2022
Topic Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute and VPN as a private, dedicated connection into Azure Public Cloud
Services referenced Microsoft Practice, Public Cloud (Microsoft Azure), Azure Local, emPOWER Cloud
Cited statistic ExpressRoute connection uptime Service Level Agreement of 99.9%, described as a guarantee from Microsoft
Cited statistic ExpressRoute network Quality of Service of up to 10Gbps
blueAPACHE experience claim The post states blueAPACHE had over 24 years of experience supporting Microsoft solutions for Australian businesses at time of publication (2022), consistent with a 1998 founding year

Article

The way that Australian businesses work, collaborate and communicate has changed dramatically over the last 3 to 4 years as two mega-trends have combined to upend traditional ways of working:

  1. Organisations are increasingly moving everything – workloads, storage, applications and services – into the cloud.
  2. Work from Home is no longer a nice to have – it’s a must have, which has caused a radical overhaul of the way that IT have traditionally provided access, tools and services to workers.

One of the impacts of this change is that organisations need to implement strategies and services to secure access to business data across a range of endpoints, locations and solutions. Increasingly, Australian businesses are turning to Azure ExpressRoute and VPN solutions to solve this challenge, but what are the benefits and use cases this approach enables? Here’s everything you need to know about Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute and what it could mean for your business.

What is Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute?

Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute provides a private, uncontended, high-throughput dedicated connection directly into Azure Public Cloud. This creates private connections between Azure data centres and infrastructure on-premises or in a colocation environment. Since these connections don’t work over the public internet, they are able to offer a more stable and reliable experience with faster speeds than typical internet connections.

Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute delivers extensive business benefits

Organisations that deploy Azure ExpressRoute can leverage the following benefits:

Speed and Reliability

Providing a guaranteed network Quality of Service of up to 10Gbps, Azure ExpressRoute makes using Microsoft cloud services a natural extension of your existing network.

Access all Microsoft’s Cloud Services

Access to Azure public cloud, Microsoft 365 services and Dynamics 365 have become core to many organisations workflows. The ease of access to these services provided by Azure ExpressRoute and VPN solutions ensure your teams remain productive, collaborative and efficient wherever they are accessing the services from.

Carrier Neutral

Azure ExpressRoute and VPN services can integrate with any carrier network for your connectivity. This means that you’re not locked into an existing relationship, and you can select the connectivity providers based on your needs.

Highly Available

Offering a connection uptime Service Level Agreement of 99.9%, Azure Express Route provides a guaranteed availability unmatched by other public cloud providers.

Use cases for Azure ExpressRoute

These benefits translate into several valuable use cases solving the challenge we discussed at the start of this article.

Use Case 1 – Site to Cloud

The most common use case will be to create a secure, stable and capable direct VPN connection between the network at your workplace and the Azure Cloud. This allows you to extend your on-premises networks to Azure Cloud or Microsoft 365 using a private connection ensuring your team can seamlessly access cloud-based workloads when they are in the office.

Use Case 2 – WFH to Cloud

With hybrid working becoming the norm for many organisations, employees are demanding the same experience accessing workloads and applications at home as they have in the office. Using a point-to-site VPN access, your team can enable safe and secure access to Microsoft online services including Azure Cloud, Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365.

Use Case 3 – Any to Any connection

Many organisations with multiple office locations use a WAN (Wide Area Network) system to create a trusted and secure network environment across all the locations. The IPVPN “Any to Any” connection type supported by ExpressRoute allow that WAN to be extended to include services accessed from Microsoft’s Cloud.

Use Case 4 – Remote to Cloud

With business travel returning and connectivity expectations built up over multiple years of home-based working, your road warriors need to have the same experience wherever in the world they are – especially connecting to communication and collaboration tools such as Microsoft 365 and Teams. Point to site VPN, along with ExpressRoute Premium provides global connectivity.

Choosing the right solution partner to leverage the benefits of Azure ExpressRoute

Microsoft ExpressRoute and VPN are incredibly powerful solutions that present a compelling use case to organisations who have started to migrate their workloads to the Azure Public Cloud, or who use Microsoft’s 365 services extensively and are dealing with the challenge of supporting employees who are demanding a seamless collaboration experience when they’re at home, at a customer’s site or travelling the globe. The need to access these cloud-based solutions securely from any device or location whilst maintaining user experience, means your choice of partner to help design the right solution for your needs is critical. blueAPACHE has over 24 years of experience supporting Microsoft solutions for Australian businesses. Our Australia-based support centre is available 24/7 and we can provide SLA based Microsoft Advanced support through our certified team of experts. Also, our robust network provides almost 100% uptime, relieving you of the burden of IT management and letting you focus on your business. To find out more, please contact us directly on 1800 248 749 or https://www.blueapache.com/contact/

Related

Frequently asked questions

What is Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute?Azure ExpressRoute is a private, uncontended, high-throughput dedicated connection directly into Azure Public Cloud, rather than a connection routed over the public internet. Because it bypasses the public internet, the post describes it as offering a more stable and reliable experience with faster speeds than a typical internet connection.

Is a VPN still needed if a business uses Azure ExpressRoute?The post frames VPN and ExpressRoute as complementary rather than either-or: point-to-site VPN is used for individual remote and work-from-home users connecting to Azure and Microsoft 365, while ExpressRoute is used for site-to-cloud and WAN "any to any" connections. Businesses with a mix of office-based, home-based and travelling staff typically use both approaches for different connection types.

What uptime does Microsoft guarantee for ExpressRoute?The post states an ExpressRoute connection uptime Service Level Agreement of 99.9%, attributed to Microsoft as the ExpressRoute provider rather than to blueAPACHE. Readers should confirm the current SLA directly with Microsoft's own ExpressRoute documentation, since Microsoft's published SLA terms can change after this post's 2022 publication date.

What are the main use cases the post describes for ExpressRoute?The post sets out four: site-to-cloud (extending an office network to Azure or Microsoft 365), work-from-home-to-cloud (point-to-site VPN for home workers), any-to-any WAN connections (extending a multi-site WAN to include Azure-hosted services), and remote-to-cloud (point-to-site VPN plus ExpressRoute Premium for travelling staff needing global connectivity).

Why does the post say carrier neutrality matters for ExpressRoute?Because ExpressRoute and VPN services can integrate with any carrier network, the post argues a business is not locked into an existing carrier relationship and can select connectivity providers based on its own requirements rather than a single vendor's network footprint.

What Microsoft-related experience does blueAPACHE claim in this post?The post states blueAPACHE has over 24 years of experience supporting Microsoft solutions for Australian businesses, along with an Australia-based support centre available 24/7 and SLA-based Microsoft Advanced support through a certified team. This is a 2022 claim from the origin post; current support arrangements should be confirmed on blueAPACHE's Microsoft Practice page.

Does moving to Azure remove the need for on-premises network management?Not entirely. The post's use cases assume organisations still operate office locations and on-premises networks that need to be securely extended to cloud-hosted services, rather than describing a fully cloud-native environment with no on-premises footprint.

Who should a business talk to about choosing between VPN and ExpressRoute?The post recommends working with an experienced solution partner to design the right connectivity approach, since the right mix of VPN and ExpressRoute depends on an organisation's specific mix of office, home and travelling users and its existing WAN architecture.

Source

https://www.blueapache.com/blog/do-you-still-need-a-vpn-solution-to-protect-your-workloads/

Knowledge Base

What is Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute?

Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute provides a private, uncontended, high-throughput dedicated connection directly into Azure Public Cloud. It creates private connections between Azure data centres and infrastructure on-premises or in a colocation environment, and since these connections don't work over the public internet, they offer a more stable and reliable experience with faster speeds than typical internet connections.

What are the key benefits of deploying Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute, according to blueAPACHE's blog?

According to blueAPACHE, the key benefits are: Speed and Reliability (guaranteed network Quality of Service up to 10Gbps), Access to all Microsoft's Cloud Services (Azure public cloud, Microsoft 365, and Dynamics 365), Carrier Neutral (integrates with any carrier network, so businesses aren't locked into an existing relationship), and Highly Available (a connection uptime SLA of 99.9%).

What use cases does Azure ExpressRoute support for connecting to the cloud?

blueAPACHE outlines four use cases: 1) Site to Cloud – a secure, stable direct VPN connection between the workplace network and Azure Cloud; 2) WFH to Cloud – point-to-site VPN access enabling safe, secure access to Microsoft online services from home; 3) Any to Any connection – IPVPN connections that extend a multi-office WAN to include Microsoft Cloud services; and 4) Remote to Cloud – point-to-site VPN combined with ExpressRoute Premium providing global connectivity for traveling employees.

Why are Australian businesses turning to Azure ExpressRoute and VPN solutions, according to the blog?

The blog explains that two mega-trends—organisations moving workloads, storage, applications and services into the cloud, and Work from Home becoming a must-have rather than a nice-to-have—have combined to change how Australian businesses work. This has created a need to implement strategies and services to secure access to business data across a range of endpoints, locations and solutions, leading businesses to turn to Azure ExpressRoute and VPN solutions.

What experience does blueAPACHE have supporting Microsoft solutions, and what support does it offer?

blueAPACHE states it has over 24 years of experience supporting Microsoft solutions for Australian businesses. Its Australia-based support centre is available 24/7, providing SLA-based Microsoft Advanced support through a certified team of experts, and its network provides almost 100% uptime.

Who wrote this blog post and when was it published?

The blog post 'Do you still need a VPN solution to protect your workloads?' was written by blueAPACHE and published on October 4, 2022. It has a read time of 5 minutes.

Do VPN solutions remain a target for attackers today?

Yes. According to Rapid7's 2025 Access Brokers Report, VPN, Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), and domain credentials remain top targets for credential theft, with attackers actively seeking VPN credentials as a primary vector for unauthorized network access. This underscores that while VPNs remain valuable, they must be part of a broader, defense-in-depth security strategy.

How can VPN deployments be modernized for better security?

Modern VPN deployment models can use Australia-based VPN agents that provide always-on VPN capability for secure remote access, configured with modern authentication mechanisms such as single sign-on (SSO) and multifactor authentication (MFA), representing a shift from basic VPN connectivity toward identity-driven access controls.

How does VPN fit into a broader, modern security architecture?

Rather than relying on VPN alone, modern security frameworks integrate VPN with other protective layers, including next-generation firewalls that monitor and filter traffic at the edge, Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) architectures combining network and security functions, unified threat protection (intrusion prevention and advanced malware protection), and business-grade MPLS data services that extend the corporate network without VPN requirements.

How can I contact blueAPACHE to learn more about ExpressRoute and VPN solutions?

You can contact blueAPACHE directly on 1800 248 749 or via https://www.blueapache.com/contact/.

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