We’ve all read about the exponential growth in cloud computing in recent years, and nowhere is that more evident than Europe today. In an independent study commissioned by Equinix of over 1,200 senior IT professionals across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), more than seven in ten (71%) said they were likely to move more of their business functions to the cloud in the coming years.[i] And IDC predicts that European enterprise spend on hybrid cloud data services will reach nearly $65 billion through 2022 as a result of digital transformation.[ii]
Given this bright outlook, Equinix is delighted to be sponsoring Google Next ’19 London this week for our third consecutive year. We will be showcasing developments in our partnership since Next San Francisco in April, including the integration of our Key Management as a Service (KMS) with Google Cloud, as well as Network Edge, our new virtual network services platform.
IDC predicts that worldwide spend on all the technologies and services that enable digital transformation, including cloud, is projected to reach $2.3 trillion by 2023.
Digital transformation spurring cloud expansion in Europe
Cloud is a key enabling technology for digital transformation and European spend on digital transformation is expected to remain healthy. IDC predicts that worldwide spend on all the technologies and services that enable digital transformation, including cloud, is projected to reach $2.3 trillion by 2023. Western Europe will be the second largest market, after the United States in 2019, followed closely by China, which is expected to move into the number two spot by the end of the forecast.[iii] Even more telling is the current state of cloud adoption – in 2018, over half (56%) of large enterprises in the European Union (EU) used cloud computing according to Eurostat. And a significant number of European enterprises used advanced cloud services to run financial, customer relationship and business applications.[iv] So it’s no surprise that European enterprise interconnection to Cloud & IT Providers is expected to grow by 116% annually between 2018 and 2022 according to the
Expanding the Equinix and Google commitment in Europe
Equinix and Google are committed to supporting the growing demand for cloud services across Europe. Google recently announced that they will be opening a new cloud region in Warsaw, Poland to meet increasing cloud demand across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). This will be the seventh Google cloud region in Europe after London, Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands, Frankfurt and Zurich. In his blog discussing the expansion, Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud said, “Today’s announcements complement Google’s long-standing commitment to Poland and neighboring countries. With this new region, Google Cloud customers operating in CEE will benefit from low latency and high performance of their cloud-based workloads and data.[v]
Equinix also continues to grow our presence in Europe with eight facility expansions planned over the next 12 months including new cloud connectivity locations in Sofia and Hamburg. With recently completed locations in Lisbon, Brussels, Barcelona and Istanbul, this will complement the 19 European locations where businesses can already connect to Google Cloud via Equinix Cloud Exchange Fabric™ (ECX Fabric™) today, including four low latency locations (London, Zurich, Amsterdam, Frankfurt) within 5ms or less from the nearest Google Cloud region, perfect for high value, hybrid applications.
European enterprise interconnection to Cloud & IT Providers is expected to grow by 116% annually between 2018 and 2022 according to the Global Interconnection Index (GXI) Volume 3, a study published by Equinix.
These expansions underscore our commitment to the European region as thriving hub for digital business. Since we first invested in Europe in 2007, we have continued to add new reach and capabilities to Platform Equinix® across Europe. In June we announced the launch of Network Edge, which is currently available in Europe in our London, Amsterdam and Frankfurt locations with more to come next year. Network Edge is a set of virtualized network services sitting inside Equinix you can turn up in minutes without any deployment of physical assets. This is ideal for businesses looking to access the Equinix ecosystem of service providers, carriers and enterprises with faster time to market or for those who want to enter new markets quickly without needing to manage physical infrastructure.
In addition to Network Edge, this week we are also thrilled to announce the integration of Equinix SmartKey™ with Google Cloud. Coming soon to beta, the new offering, External Key Manager (EKM), will enable enterprises to protect data in Google Cloud BigQuery and Compute Engine (GCE) with encryption keys stored and managed outside of Google’s infrastructure. Accessible on Platform Equinix®, it provides secure key storage, encryption and tokenization services; addressing performance and governance, risk and compliance (GRC) requirements at the digital edge, close to clouds and carriers. External Key Manager provides an audit trail of key access, use and location, enabling you to meet your strictest governance requirements.
To learn more about these developments or how you can build best-of-breed hybrid and multicloud architectures with Equinix and Google Cloud, please stop by and see us at booth F20 at the London ExCel Convention Center November 19-21. Check out the full agenda for Google Next ’19 UK and schedule a meeting with our team.
To learn more about how to keep your data in the cloud secure, download the Key Management as a Service white paper.
You can also register for free trials of Network Edge and Google Cloud via ECX Fabric.
[i] Equinix, 7 out of 10 Businesses Moving More to the Cloud Despite Two Thirds of IT Leaders Fearing Security Risks, Nov 2018.
[ii] IDC, European Infrastructure Trends: 10 Tectonic Shifts in European Infrastructure for 2019 and Beyond, Oct 2019.
[iii] IDC, Worldwide Spending on Digital Transformation Will Reach $2.3 Trillion in 2023, More Than Half of All ICT Spending, According to a New IDC Spending Guide, Oct 2019.
[iv] Eurostat, Cloud computing services used by more than one out of four enterprises in the EU and Cloud computing – statistics on the use by enterprise, Dec 2018.
[v] Google Cloud, Accelerating cloud adoption in Poland with key partnership and a new cloud region, Sept 2019; Google Cloud Locations.
Subscribe to the Equinix Blog