Reflections on 2020 – How We Came Together When It Mattered Most

Reflections on 2020 – How We Came Together When It Mattered Most

As I reflect on the extraordinary events of this year, it’s clear we are living in a time unlike any other in our history. It’s also clear that no matter what unexpected thing heads our way, we can come together, in service to each other, our customers, partners, shareholders and the communities in which we live and operate. When it mattered most in 2020…

…We Showed Up

Without question, the COVID-19 pandemic changed every aspect of our lives. For some, the impact has been devastating, and our hearts continue to go out to those suffering or facing great loss.

Despite everything changing, our priorities remained clear: First and foremost, ensuring the health, safety and wellbeing of our employees, customers, and partners; second, keeping our data centers safely operating around the world; and third, continuing to be a source of strength for our communities.

These efforts allowed the ecosystem of Equinix customers to collectively respond to the new challenges introduced by worldwide stay-at-home orders, including helping customers like Zoom and Cisco Webex meet surging demands for their streaming and collaboration services when the world needed it most.

During this period of uncertainty, our business model has proven resilient, providing us with both the opportunity and responsibility to help our communities. Like partners did for Equinix when we were in our early days, we have proudly offered deferred payment and lease options to help our customers in their time of need. In support of local communities and charities, we accelerated philanthropic efforts by donating financial resources and Platform Equinix® services free of charge to organizations supporting the greater good throughout pandemic.

…We Stood Together and Proudly Shared Our Voices

While we’ve all been deeply impacted by COVID-19, we have also seen a much needed spotlight placed on centuries of racial injustice in our world. With a number of recent events triggering waves of social unrest in the U.S., our world has joined in solidarity, giving rise to greater understanding and empathy as a foundation for action.

Within Equinix, we are striving to be a place where every person, every day can confidently say, “I’m safe, I belong, and I matter.” Throughout the year, we created space for courageous conversations to take place at Equinix and it was amazing to see thousands of our employees from around the world boldly step up and generously share their voices to help us build a better world at Equinix and beyond.

Beyond our walls, as a member organization of CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion, we rallied with our partners, and together we contributed some of our best and brightest talent to address these systemic challenges.

As I have said to my 10,000 colleagues before, while we have made progress, the work is clearly far from over. We can and must continue to rise together in changing the fabric of how we individually and structurally address the many forms of injustice and inequity in our society. I’m encouraged by the meaningful progress we’ve made thus far, and I’m energized in knowing we are all in this together and committed to the journey ahead.

…We Reached New Heights, Together

Although the pandemic has transformed our world, our commitment to placing customers at the center of everything we do has remained unchanged. As the demand for digital infrastructure has never been stronger, our focus this year has continued to be on innovating, executing and delivering a trusted platform that digital leaders can harness to power their success, including:

• Extending and evolving Platform Equinix with acquisitions of Bell Canada, GPX India and Packet
• Expanding our global footprint with new IBXs in Dallas, D.C., Milan, Muscat and Perth, and a joint venture with GIC to develop and operate xScale data centers in Japan
• Launching Equinix Metal™, our first automated and interconnected Bare Metal as a Service offering that puts the power of our global network and the Equinix interconnection ecosystem at your fingertips
• Introducing transformative capabilities on Equinix Fabric™ and Network Edge to revolutionize the way you connect digital infrastructure
• Delivering our 71^stconsecutive quarter of revenue growth – translating to nearly 18 years of continuous growth

On the heels of one of the most challenging years in human history, I am grateful for the Equinix community at-large and the power of what we can do, together. It’s been both my honor and my pleasure to be in service to and alongside you this year.

Although there will continue to be many challenges ahead, I am as optimistic as ever about our business and the opportunity ahead. I am grateful for the trust that you have placed in Equinix as the world’s digital infrastructure company and I am more confident than ever that we can reach new heights, together, regardless of the circumstances.

I wish you and yours a blessed holiday season and hope that 2021 is filled with peace, love, prosperity, health and happiness. Please continue to take great care, stay safe and be well.

#InServiceTo