Architecting Enterprise to Cloud Connectivity for Mission Critical Applications

Abstract

Mission-critical applications increasingly depend on cloud infrastructure, yet traditional connectivity approaches fail to meet demanding performance and resilience requirements. This paper's key contribution is a unified three-layer framework, Physical Diversity, Intelligent Control, and Operational Governance, that integrates quantified performance benchmarks for mission-critical enterprise-to-cloud connectivity. Unlike existing approaches that address physical redundancy, QoS, or monitoring independently, this framework explicitly models cross-layer dependencies and provides actionable guidance for achieving sub-second failover, differentiated service quality, and predictable multi-cloud operations. Analysis of representative enterprise deployments demonstrates 99.99% availability with 30-40% cost optimization through intelligent routing, alongside 50% MTTR reduction via cross-domain governance. The framework enables network architects to balance technical complexity, cost constraints, and operational readiness across hybrid cloud environments.