Equinix is just weeks from opening a towering new glass-lined data center at Science Park Amsterdam, a global interconnection hub that’s mere milliseconds by high speed cable from most major markets in Europe. But another key destination for customers at Equinix’s new AM4 facility will be the digital edge.
The digital edge is where business is done today. It’s where commerce, population centers and digital ecosystems meet. It’s where a company’s network needs to interconnect the people, locations, clouds and data that drive digital business.
Companies today need to place their IT infrastructures at the digital edge on a global scale, because that brings them as close as possible to their users (employees, partners and customers) and the digital services that drive their business. Locating your IT at the digital edge means you’re achieving the lowest-latency, highest-quality interconnection possible.
Our new data center in Amsterdam is part of Equinix’s efforts to help our customers thrive at the digital edge. Our global colocation and interconnection platform, Platform Equinix™, already includes 175+ facilities in 44 markets on five continents. The minute AM4 opens July 5, it will greatly expand our customers’ opportunities at the digital edge, not just in Amsterdam, but regionally and globally.
More room for more interconnection
The Netherlands is ranked by the European Commission’s Digital Economy and Society Index as the 4th-most advanced digital economy in the EU, and that makes Amsterdam a top destination for global enterprises. With the opening of AM4, we’ll have a lot more room for them.
AM4 is a $190 million, twelve-floor facility that stands nearly 230-feet tall. It will support more than 1,500 cabinets during its first phase and 4,200 at full buildout. Check out our progress on construction in this video.
The new building becomes our second facility (after AM3) at Science Park Amsterdam, an important low-latency gateway to Europe. Companies there can reach 80% of Europe within 50 milliseconds. Customers at AM4 will also have access to the 700+ companies, 150+ networks and leading cloud service providers in our other Amsterdam data centers, as well as the AMS-IX and NL-IX exchanges.
In other words, AM4 will be rich with opportunities for interconnection. Our customers aren’t just demanding that, they absolutely require it to compete.
Digital disruption at the digital edge
The global switch to digital business has pushed data traffic to unheard of levels and forced companies to re-think and revamp their IT architectures. The traditional model, in which data travels back and forth between dispersed users and a distant, centralized data center, just doesn’t work when everything depends on fast, secure traffic flow. Distance adds latency, there’s no way around that. And latency is a business-killer at a time when people and employees expect on-demand, reliable connectivity on any device in any location. Latency also makes instant collaboration across ecosystems impossible, even though it’s essential to how businesses deliver services and create value. But companies can solve the latency problem by focusing on their business’ digital edge.
The only way to achieve the lowest latency is to take advantage of the shortest, most direct interconnection possible between your users and digital services. For today’s enterprises, that happens at the digital edge, where all their users and services reside.
An Interconnection Oriented Architecture™ (IOA™) strategy is a proven and repeatable framework to help you place your IT at the digital edge. An IOA prescribes proximate, secure, direct interconnection at strategic geographic locations to grow your digital business. Learn how to implement this strategy by reading our IOA playbook. And remember, an IOA approach isn’t possible without a wide variety of physical data center locations in top markets worldwide where companies can deploy their IT infrastructures. That’s why Equinix has been focused since our inception on expanding colocation options globally.
When AM4 opens, it will give businesses access to a dynamic interconnection hub, Platform Equinix, that hosts an array of digital ecosystems and customers, both regionally and worldwide. And it will strengthen a growing market that is already seven data centers strong.
Read more about our Amsterdam data centers.
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