Discovery Communications Chooses Equinix to Enable Real-Time Content Delivery Via The Cloud

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., April 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), the global interconnection and data center company, today announced that Discovery Communications has engaged with Equinix to implement an Interconnection Oriented Architecture™ (IOA™) that will enable the company to transform its digital business to a fully cloud-based, distributed model. By colocating the company's IT infrastructure in Equinix International Business Exchange^TM (IBX®) data centers in Ashburn, London and Paris, Discovery will consolidate 80% of its IT infrastructure, optimize delivery of worldwide content, and accelerate real-time product delivery via fast low-latency connections.

Discovery Communications satisfies curiosity and engages superfans with a portfolio of premium nonfiction, lifestyle, sports and kids programming brands. Reaching more than three billion cumulative viewers across pay-TV and free-to-air platforms in more than 220 countries and territories, Discovery was looking to accelerate its real-time product delivery to meet rising end-user consumption demand, and to integrate IT infrastructure from Eurosport, the leading provider of locally relevant, premium sports and Home of the Olympic Games across Europe.

Highlights / Key Facts

• The deployment process includes consolidation of 80% of Discovery's critical back-office support systems, applications and network connectivity, and it provides access to Equinix Media Cloud Ecosystem for Entertainment (EMCEE™) which supplies a gateway to media services in the public cloud.
• Leveraging an IOA on Platform Equinix™, Discovery gained a localized delivery of cloud-supported services with secure, direct connections to effectively reduce cost. Developed by Equinix, IOA is a proven and repeatable engagement model that shifts the fundamental IT delivery architecture from siloed and centralized to interconnected and distributed. Only Platform Equinix provides the critical building blocks to implement this architecture – a global footprint of data centers, dense cloud and service provider ecosystems, and the ability to integrate data and analytics at the edge.
• Equinix's global interconnection platform provides media and entertainment companies with industry-leading solutions including Equinix Cloud Exchange, which provides direct access to major cloud service providers including AWS, Google Cloud Platform, IBM Softlayer, and Microsoft Azure and Office 365.
• Equinix, along with Discovery's Senior Vice President of Infrastructure Services, Dave Duvall, will be discussing the new media & entertainment industry at the digital edge during a fireside chat at the NAB Show 2017, at 12pm PT on April 25 in the CMIP Theater.The NAB Show takes place April 24-27 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Quote

• David Duvall, Senior Vice President of Infrastructure & Support Services, Discovery Communications:
  "The cloud is the future for digital media and entertainment – the agility and cost advantages are immense. O nce we started our digital journey, it was quickly apparent that we needed a neutral interconnect partner who would enable us to connect our entire ecosystem physically and virtually, allowing us to scale up or down to address current and future requirements. Equinix has been key to Discovery's success with this digital transformation, and we look forward to expanding our network with Equinix as we grow our global business.
• Tony Bishop, Vice President, Global Vertical Strategy and Marketing, Equinix:
  "In this connected era, industry leaders like Discovery are rethinking content from creation to distribution in order to drive innovation and manage a global digital supply chain for an on-demand, multi-screen customer base. The IOA approach provides a robust, secure and neutral framework for Discovery's new cloud-based paradigm, enabling the company to achieve the agility, efficiency and quality of experience they need to be successful in the digital age."  

Additional Resources

• Connecting the New Digital Media Ecosystem [info paper]
• IOA for EMCEE [white paper]
• Discovery Communications Digital Journey with Equinix [video]

About Equinix
Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX) connects the world's leading businesses to their customers, employees and partners inside the most interconnected data centers.  In 41 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.