Global Study Finds Number of Interconnected Enterprises to Double by 2017

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Oct. 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Equinix, Inc. EQIX, the global interconnection and data center company, today unveiled the findings of its Enterprise of the Future survey, which uncovered a rapidly accelerating global demand for interconnection that will transform IT strategies over the next two years. Studying the priorities and perspectives of more than 1,000 IT decision makers across 14 countries, the Enterprise of the Future survey revealed significant momentum towards the adoption of interconnection-dependent IT strategies by enterprises seeking to drive revenue growth. By 2017, 84 percent of IT leaders surveyed will deploy IT infrastructure where interconnection – defined as direct, secure physical or virtual connections between a company and its partners, customers and employees – is at the core, compared to only 38 percent today. The survey also indicates that interconnection can create millions of dollars in value. A full report of the findings, "The Enterprise of the Future: Unleashing the Interconnected Enterprise," is now available for download here.

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In the interconnected era business models are increasingly interdependent and consumers and employees alike consider anytime, anywhere, any device connectivity the standard. Organizational expansion, ubiquitous user access and the sourcing of external business and IT services to cloud-based providers are forcing enterprises to have more points of engagement with more end users and business partners across an ever-widening physical and logical footprint. Existing IT architectures were not built to support this level of dynamic engagement and distributed coverage, and the Enterprise of the Future survey shows enterprises responding with a massive strategic and behavioral shift away from centralized corporate resources to distributed, interconnection-centric IT infrastructure.  

The number one business priority for nearly half of the survey respondents is to drive revenue, and interconnection was at the core of all the strategies cited as key to achieving this goal. In fact, 3-in-5 businesses believe interconnection with employees, partners and customers is "very important" to their company's ability to compete. Nearly half of the companies surveyed are currently pursuing direct connections to cloud platforms, with the vast majority (about 4-in-5) seeing this as a critical need to address within five years. And, most notably, of the enterprises already deploying interconnection strategies, more than one-third are reaping a total value of more than $10 million from revenue gains and cost savings. 

Highlights / Key Facts

• More than 1,000 IT decision makers (CIOs, CTOs, chief architects and network and application vice presidents) from the following countries were interviewed for this survey: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Dubai, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Netherlands, Singapore, Switzerland, U.S., and U.K.
• The survey found that the top strategies IT leaders are using to drive revenue are all dependent on interconnection. The No. 1 revenue growth strategy, cited by nearly 69 percent of respondents, is deploying infrastructures to support new product offerings. Other essential interconnection-driven strategies include: creating new channels or systems of engagement between the enterprise and its customers, partners and employees; deploying infrastructures in new geographies; and embedding or distributing intelligence (analytics, data, content) across business processes, regions or office locations to gain greater customer insights and make faster, more accurate business decisions.
• Multi-cloud interconnectivity is a prominent worldwide business strategy, with 86 percent of the companies planning to interconnect to multiple clouds across multiple locations over the next five years. Being able to directly and securely connect to cloud providers, bypassing the public Internet, eases security concerns.
• Security topped the list of enterprise IT concerns, with 64 percent of survey respondents reporting that security worries could drive them to consider re-architecting their IT infrastructure over the next 12 months.
• Analysts agree that interconnection is crucial for enterprise success. In fact, a recent Forrester study, "The Total Economic Impact of Equinix Interconnection Solutions," showed that interconnection yields a 300 percent return on investment, payback of that investment within 4.2 months and a 40 percent average reduction in latency. These findings align with the Enterprise of the Future survey results, which determined that more than a third of the companies responding realized greater than $10M value from interconnection via revenue opportunities (58 percent) and cost savings (42 percent).
• Executing an interconnection strategy requires an Interconnection Oriented Architecture™, which shifts the fundamental delivery architecture of IT from siloed and centralized to internetworked and colocated. Equinix's interconnection platform provides the critical building blocks needed to implement an Interconnection Oriented Architecture across a global infrastructure with unmatched ecosystem density and vendor neutrality.

Quotes

• Lance Weaver, CTO, Cloud, GE

"Applications, employees and data are rapidly moving outside the traditional borders of the data center but the expectations for a secure, frictionless and high-performance experience are higher than ever. You can't meet those expectations without a level of interconnection that's just not available over the public Internet alone."

• Jim Davis, analyst, The 451 Group

"With the rise of services that depend on network speed and reliability, we believe the demand for interconnection facilities will continue to grow, particularly globally and in markets outside of the top 10 in the U.S., as content pushes further to the edge of the Internet."

• Tony Bishop, vice president vertical marketing, Equinix:

"Traditional enterprise IT infrastructures are not equipped to compete in this new interconnected era without fundamental change. With Equinix's Interconnection Oriented Architecture, we enable enterprises to take a transformative approach to interconnecting people, locations, clouds and data, which is essential to market differentiation and growth."

Additional Resources

• Download the complete Enterprise of the Future report [webpage]
• The Total Economic Impact of Equinix Interconnection Solutions, Forrester study [analyst report]
• Interconnection 101, by 451 Research [analyst report]

About Equinix

Equinix, Inc. EQIX connects the world's leading businesses to their customers, employees and partners inside the most interconnected data centers.  In 33 markets worldwide, Equinix is where companies come together to realize new opportunities and accelerate their business, IT and cloud strategies. http://www.equinix.com/.

Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from expectations discussed in such forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to, the challenges of acquiring, operating and constructing IBX centers and developing, deploying and delivering Equinix services; unanticipated costs or difficulties relating to the integration of companies we have acquired or will acquire into Equinix; a failure to receive significant revenue from customers in recently built out or acquired data centers; failure to complete any financing arrangements contemplated from time to time; competition from existing and new competitors; the ability to generate sufficient cash flow or otherwise obtain funds to repay new or outstanding indebtedness; the loss or decline in business from our key customers; and other risks described from time to time in Equinix's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In particular, see Equinix's recent quarterly and annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, copies of which are available upon request from Equinix. Equinix does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this press release.

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SOURCE Equinix