Accessing network services from external networks

A computer program product comprising:

• a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied in the medium, the computer readable program code comprising computer readable program code configured to:
• receive, at a cloud-based server, a bridge setup request from a tenant application in a private communication system;
• in response to the bridge setup request, establish a secure outbound bridge connection and a secure inbound bridge connection between the cloud-based server and the tenant application in the private communication system, wherein the secure outbound bridge connection and the secure inbound bridge connection comprise separate connections;
• establish a communication path between the cloud-based server a cloud-based entity, wherein establishing the communication path between the cloud-based server and the cloud-based entity comprises associating a cloud-side network object identifier, NOID-C, with the cloud-based entity;
• receive a request from the cloud-based entity that is directed to an enterprise service hosted within the private communication system;
• determine an enterprise service identifier, ESID, associated with the enterprise service;
• transmit the request, the NOID-C and the ESID to the tenant application over the secure outbound bridge connection;
• receive a first response from the tenant application over the secure inbound bridge connection wherein the first response comprises the NOID-C, the ESID and a private side network identifier, NOID-P, associated with the enterprise service;
• and
• transmit the response to the cloud-based entity;
• wherein the cloud-based entity comprises a first cloud-based entity, the request comprises a first request, the communication path comprises a first communication path, and the enterprise service comprises a first enterprise service, the computer readable code further configured to:
• receive a second request from a second cloud-based entity that is directed to a second enterprise service hosted within the private communication system;
• bundle the first request and the second request into a transmission block;
• and
• transmit the transmission block including the first request and the second request over the secure outbound bridge connection to the tenant application in the private communication system;
• wherein receiving the first response from the tenant application comprises receiving a second response that is combined with the first response, wherein the computer readable program code further comprises computer readable program code configured to:
• separate the second response from the first response;
• and
• transmit the second response to the second cloud-based entity.

A computer system, comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory coupled to the processor, the memory comprising computer readable program code embodied therein that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to perform operations comprising:
• receiving, at a cloud-based server, a bridge setup request from a tenant application in a private communication system;
• in response to the bridge setup request, establishing a secure outbound bridge connection and a secure inbound bridge connection between the cloud-based server and the tenant application in the private communication system, wherein the secure outbound bridge connection and the secure inbound bridge connection comprise separate connections;
• establishing a communication path between the cloud-based server and a cloud-based entity, wherein establishing the communication path between the cloud-based server and the cloud-based entity comprises associating a cloud-side network object identifier, NOID-C, with the cloud-based entity;
• receiving a request from the cloud-based entity that is directed to an enterprise service hosted within the private communication system;
• determining an enterprise service identifier, ESID, associated with the enterprise service;
• transmitting the request, the NOID-C, and the ESID to the tenant application over the secure outbound bridge connection;
• receiving a first response from the tenant application over the secure inbound bridge connection wherein the first response comprises the NOID-C, the ESID and a private side network identifier, NOID-P, associated with the enterprise service;
• and
• transmitting the response to the cloud-based entity;
• wherein the cloud-based entity comprises a first cloud-based entity, the communication path comprises a first communication path, and the enterprise service comprises a first enterprise service, the operations further comprising:
• receiving a second request from a second cloud-based entity that is directed to a second enterprise service hosted within the private communication system;
• combining the first request and the second request into a transmission block;
• and
• transmitting the transmission block including the first request and the second request over the secure outbound bridge connection to the tenant application within the private communication system;
• wherein receiving the first response from the tenant application comprises receiving a second response that is combined with the first response, the method further comprising:
• separating the second response from the first response;
• and
• transmitting the second response to the second cloud-based entity.