Running a business in today’s market is not for the faint of heart. Unpredictable market conditions, economic instability, the ongoing tug-of-war over workers returning to the office in person, and the expectation to do more with less as budgets shrink are weighing on IT leaders. Yet, the digital economy continues to flourish, with more businesses than ever expanding their digital footprints for competitive advantage. Flexibility, agility and speed are critical for success, as is deploying digital infrastructure that includes a robust portfolio of colocation data centers and interconnection and digital services on a vendor-neutral platform.
The IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Datacenter Services 2023 Vendor Assessment[1] recognizes the crucial role of colocation and interconnection service providers as companies increase their reliance on efficient digital infrastructure. These providers must be able to facilitate the high-density workloads associated with the massive adoption of artificial intelligence while simultaneously meeting the growing demand for sustainable facilities and renewable power sources.
As in previous years, the IDC MarketScape considers what’s driving the continued growth of the colocation and interconnection sector and assesses the capabilities that top colocation and interconnection providers currently offer and their plans for future developments. We’re proud that the IDC MarketScape recognizes Equinix as a Leader in worldwide data center services, with the report noting, “The company has delivered excellent service for the past 25 years and is an essential platform for interconnecting with network operators, cloud operators, and other digital service providers.”
IDC MarketScape – Worldwide Datacenter Services 2023 Vendor Assessment
Read this competitive assessment of providers in the space to learn more about Equinix’s platform capabilities and strategy.
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As we celebrate 25 years of service in 2023, our commitment to progressing the future of digital infrastructure is stronger than ever. To that end, we remain focused on enabling customers to achieve outstanding outcomes quickly and easily by delivering a global platform for interconnecting and deploying infrastructure at software speed.
In this blog, we’ll share a snapshot of what customers can achieve when they deploy digital infrastructure on Platform Equinix®.
IDC MarketScape vendor analysis model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of ICT suppliers in a given market. The research methodology utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each vendor’s position within a given market. The Capabilities score measures vendor product, go-to-market and business execution in the short-term. The Strategy score measures alignment of vendor strategies with customer requirements in a 3-5-year timeframe. Vendor market share is represented by the size of the icons.
Digital infrastructure progresses from its roots in colocation
Digital infrastructure is critical to enabling businesses to innovate, drive differentiation and operate in every major market worldwide. When Equinix established our first vendor-neutral, multitenant data center 25 years ago, we pioneered a new approach to digital infrastructure. One of the first steps was expanding from standalone colocation to include data center services that simplify infrastructure management. Our customers now access their equipment remotely and securely, saving time and staff resources.
Introducing virtual interconnection services such as Equinix Fabric® led to more secure and seamless ways of connecting with other data center locations, partners, cloud and network providers, customers and ecosystems. Most recently, we developed new digital infrastructure services that customers use worldwide to assemble infrastructure on demand—in minutes—from an ecosystem of providers. All these services are part of our diverse portfolio on Platform Equinix, which we continuously build on to meet new requirements such as automation and on-demand capabilities.
Building on a foundation of colocation and data center services
Our 251 data center facilities are a combination of Equinix International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) colocation data centers and Equinix xScale® hyperscale sites that are the cornerstone of Platform Equinix. These facilities are spread across 70 metros in 32 countries on six continents.
Equinix data center services include real-time monitoring, remote services, preconfigured cabinets, security and our data center infrastructure management SaaS application that provides API-based, real-time access to operations data via a single portal. The xScale portfolio includes joint ventures with GIC—the sovereign wealth fund of Singapore—and PGIM Real Estate, with 10 builds under development. When completed, hyperscalers will have access to 800MW of capacity across 36 facilities.
We have also invested heavily in expanding the use of high-efficiency technologies and sustainable infrastructure. In 2022, Equinix reached 96% renewables coverage globally, making it the fifth consecutive year in which the company achieved greater than 90% coverage.
More power requires greater efficiencies
For over 20 years, IT infrastructure has been cooled by traditional techniques—fans and air conditioning. But the meteoric rise of data-intensive workloads, like those needed for generative AI and machine learning, requires high-performance compute hardware. More powerful hardware produces more heat—which inspires more innovative ways to cool, like liquid cooling.
Various technologies that leverage the efficiency and effectiveness of liquid cooling are emerging as enterprise-ready alternatives to air cooling. Liquid cooling is not new to Equinix. We’ve been working for years to provide liquid cooling capabilities for customers and partners within our data centers. We support air-assisted liquid cooling solutions in all markets and direct-to-chip liquid cooling in 45 markets across all regions. This year, you’ll see us roll out a standardized, enterprise-ready approach to liquid-to-the-rack cooling in targeted markets across the globe.
Expand your options with physical and virtual connections
Equinix Fabric software-defined interconnection is available in over 55 metros, offering 200+ on-ramps to the top six cloud service providers. Cloud adjacency allows businesses to move workloads between an on-premises environment and multiple clouds while limiting data egress costs.
Equinix Fabric makes it quick and easy for businesses to set direct, private connections between the different elements of their hybrid infrastructure and ecosystem partners. The solution offers Layer 2 and Layer 3 connectivity to an ecosystem of thousands of service providers and supports up to one hundred Gbps ports, with interconnection bandwidths ranging from 10 Mbps to 50 Gbps.
Customers can also use physical interconnection services such as Equinix Internet Exchange®, Equinix Cross Connects and Equinix Metro Connects® for Layer 1 and Layer 2 connectivity between Equinix data centers to meet the ongoing demand for public and private peering on Platform Equinix. Equinix Internet Exchange enables networks, content providers and large enterprises to exchange internet traffic through the largest global peering solution across more than 35 markets.
Land and expand instantly with digital services
Businesses must be prepared to adapt to changing market conditions in an instant. Equinix digital infrastructure services enable customers to deploy on-demand virtual services and devices at disparate locations and provide on-demand infrastructure.
Network Edge from Equinix offers virtual network functions (VNFs) to deliver a broad array of services and devices, including SD-WAN, multicloud edge routers, edge firewalls and load balancers, in collaboration with industry-leading vendors like Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Aviatrix and F5 NGINX.
Equinix Metal® is a dedicated Bare Metal as a Service (BMaaS) offering that enables companies to rapidly build cost-efficient server resources with vendor partners, including Dell, Nutanix, NVIDIA and VMware.
Equinix Fabric can be used with Network Edge services and Equinix Metal to connect to multiple cloud service providers directly and securely. We’re continuously enhancing our digital services offerings in collaboration with our best-in-class vendors.
Deploy your digital infrastructure when and where you need it
Businesses can establish an immediate presence anywhere they have customers by deploying and replicating digital infrastructure worldwide. A company based in Rio de Janeiro can expand its digital business to Madrid with a few clicks on the self-serve Equinix web portal—without investing in building its own data center. Setting up a virtual network can also help customers avoid challenges with importing hardware.
Finally, participating in our ecosystem can help you discover thousands of industry-leading cloud service providers, network service providers and SaaS partners to help take your infrastructure to the next level. You can connect with industry-specific vendors that complement your products and services, including those already deployed wherever you need them.
As the world’s digital infrastructure company®, Equinix will continue providing worldwide data center colocation and interconnection services that help our customers future-proof their businesses.
Learn more about how Equinix and other colocation and interconnection service providers are evolving the digital infrastructure ecosystem in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Datacenter Services 2023 Vendor Assessment.
[1] IDC, “IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Datacenter Services 2023 Vendor Assessment,” Doc # US49435022e, October 2023.
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