As organizations in Latin America embrace digital transformation, they’re increasingly adopting technologies like AI, ML and IoT to drive innovation and business growth. These emerging technologies involve large datasets and can put heavy demands on existing IT infrastructure. A strategic approach to data storage in modern enterprises often includes both public and private infrastructure.
In a recent survey of business and IT leaders in Latin America, Frost & Sullivan found that 70% of Latin American companies say that a successful, competitive business requires a strategic, seamless hybrid or multicloud environment. And 48% of surveyed companies plan to adopt multicloud within the next two years.[1]
Hybrid multicloud environments have become a crucial foundation for enterprise IT, allowing companies to experience the best of both worlds in public and private infrastructure. They can take advantage of the flexibility and simplicity of public cloud when it makes the most sense and leverage the greater control afforded by private infrastructure for more sensitive workloads.
With more Latin American companies adopting hybrid multicloud strategies in the near future, they would do well to explore the benefits of private storage solutions located in proximity to public clouds. With cloud adjacent storage, you can ensure high-speed cloud connectivity while optimizing costs and protecting sensitive and regulated workloads.
The benefits of a hybrid storage environment
Both public cloud storage and private storage have pros and cons. Public cloud offers flexibility, speedy deployment and consumption-based pricing, enabling organizations to scale up and down easily when their needs change. However, challenges can arise when it’s time to move those workloads out of the cloud. You may encounter significant data egress fees or risk getting locked into one cloud vendor.
Sometimes, the public cloud isn’t the best fit for a workload due to security and data sovereignty requirements. For example, public cloud storage may involve too much risk in industries with highly sensitive data like healthcare. In addition, many regulations require companies to store data in specific geographic locations, but public clouds don’t usually offer that level of control.
Private storage infrastructure, on the other hand, offers greater security and control but can require more upfront capital investment. There’s no one-size-fits-all storage solution, so as companies in Latin America implement their hybrid multicloud strategies, they’ll need to consider the storage requirements of a given workload and choose accordingly.
6 benefits of cloud adjacent storage from Equinix
As you seek to balance storage requirements like high performance, operational efficiency, and data security and control, cloud adjacent storage in Equinix International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data centers offers the following advantages:
- Global availability: Equinix has 260 data centers in 33 countries, including Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. Our platform has 3000+ cloud and IT service providers, making it easy to create cloud adjacent infrastructure wherever you do business. Equinix offers more cloud on-ramps than any other operator.
- Cost optimization: By storing your data on private infrastructure in a colocation facility or on a Storage as a Service solution instead of in the cloud, you can reduce data egress, transit and access costs. Through Equinix Managed Solutions, you can deploy an enterprise-class storage solution to minimize hidden charges.
- Regulatory compliance: More data localization regulations are appearing in Latin America—such as the Brazilian General Data Protection Law and the Colombian Protection of Personal Data Law. Thus, it’s important to be on a platform that supports regulatory compliance via strong data residency controls.
- Boosted security: For sensitive data, putting it in private storage enables independent backup and recovery, more robust protection against ransomware and other cyberattacks, and single-tenant storage solutions from industry leaders.
- A consistent data plane: With storage services at Equinix, you get a consistent data plane, from the edge to core infrastructure to the cloud. Therefore, you can streamline data management because you don’t need redundant copies of data in the cloud.
- Flexible deployment options: At Equinix, you can deploy Storage as a Service solutions with Equinix Managed Solutions or one of our storage partners such as Pure Storage, NetApp or Dell Technologies. You choose between a customized, secure cage or a cabinet for colocation deployments. You can also deploy cloud adjacent storage through Equinix Metal® in some locations.
These benefits are especially advantageous to Latin American businesses as they invest in data management solutions that will support emerging technology initiatives now and in the future.
Compliant backup for a healthcare company
Companies are already putting cloud adjacent storage from Equinix to work in Latin America. For example, a large healthcare organization in Brazil needed a backup and recovery solution that would support its business continuity objectives. It also needed protection for critical healthcare data stored in databases.
The healthcare company put cloud adjacent storage infrastructure in three IBX data centers. It used redundant Equinix Fabric® software-defined interconnection services to connect its three Equinix locations as well as Equinix Internet Access for connectivity to its on-premises environment. The company got a fast data recovery solution that’s flexible and scalable, and with lower OPEX-based spending compared to competitor offerings.
Learn more about how cloud adjacent storage at Equinix can help your organization optimize storage performance, availability and cost by exploring Equinix storage solutions.
[1] Frost & Sullivan, The State of the Cloud: Maximizing Business Success through Cloud Computing, AI, and Data in Latin America, February 2024.
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