The Majority of IT-decision Makers in Finland Consider Cyber Attack As the Biggest Threat To Their Business

HELSINKI, Finland – July 6th, 2022 – Businesses around the world are planning major investments in digital technologies to support ambitious expansion plans following lessons learned from the pandemic. New global findings from an annual survey of technology decision-makers, by Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), suggest a movement toward a less connected world could not be further from the plans of digital leaders across industries and geographies. Despite concerns of a potential looming recession and talk at the World Economic Forum in Davos about the end of globalization, businesses appear to remain bullish about their plans for further global expansion.

Of the 2,900 IT decision-makers surveyed globally in the Equinix 2022 Global Tech Trends Survey, 72% of respondents indicated their organization is planning to expand in the next 12 months, into either a new city (31%), a new country (33%), or a new region entirely (38%). In Finland the majority of respondents are also looking to expand, with 44% rejecting the idea of expanding in the next 12 months.

IT leaders in APAC were particularly confident about global expansion: 82% said their business had plans to expand into new markets, only slightly more than in the Americas at 78%. Perhaps reflecting more caution around economic factors, tech decision-makers in EMEA were less ambitious in terms of expansion plans, with 59% planning to expand into a new market in the next year. In Finland 21% of respondents were looking to expand into a totally new country.

A number of potentially limiting factors were identified by businesses when it came to global growth, with supply chain challenges highlighted as a particular area of concern. 59% said their business was plagued by global supply chain issues and shortages, while 58% specified the global microchip shortage as a threat to their business.

For IT decision-makers in Finland, complying with data protection regulations is the highest priority in their organization’s technology strategy. Eight in 10 also say improving cybersecurity, customer experience and future-proofing the business are a priority.

Given data protection is a top priority and given the current situation in Europe, it is perhaps not surprising that cyber attacks and security breaches and data leaks are top-of-mind considerable threats for the majority of IT decision-makers in the country. 73% of the respondents considered cyber attacks as the most prominent threat to their business. 65% said that security breachers and data leaks are considered as threats. Unsurprisingly 46% of respondents have taken privacy rights as one of their focus areas for the next three years.

According to Sami Holopainen, CEO of Equinix Finland “IT-decision makers in Finland are now grappling with a heightened sense of security in Europe and more strict data protection regulations. It is not surprising that more decision-makers have significant concerns about cybersecurity. Decision-makers now need to ensure that any new digital-first strategy has a strong security component in it.”

In addition, the survey revealed that in Finland:

• Cybersecurity is among the most prominent priorities: Recognizing and complying with data protection regulations was a priority for 87% of the respondents. At the same time most respondents said improving cybersecurity is a major part of their organization’s technology strategy. This mirrors the whopping 73% of respondents who said that cyber attacks are considered as a threat to the organization, accompanied with security breaches and data leaks. Interconnection may step in to help here, with 33% of respondents believing it improves distributed security.
• Cloud migration continues: Majority of IT leaders (68%) said they plan to move more business functions to the cloud in the next 12 months. 37% of the total respondents are looking to move their business-critical applications to the cloud, and almost half (49%) intend to move productivity tools to the cloud. Interestingly, 54% of respondents are looking to move legacy applications to the cloud.

• Hybrid cloud dominates: Hybrid cloud models were the preferred approach for 40% of respondents, but almost a quarter (33%) of digital leaders globally still rely on a private cloud provider.
• Investing in innovation: Many IT leaders are looking to futureproof their businesses and take full advantage of evolving technologies, such as 5G, the internet of things (IoT), and Web3. 56% of respondents said they are moving to an everything as a service (XaaS) model, citing the simplification of IT infrastructure (70%), flexibility (63%) and reduced costs (55%) as the key reasons for doing so.
• Focusing on sustainability: ​​The environmental impact of IT infrastructure is a key consideration for the majority of IT decision-makers in Finland, 57% say they are measuring and actively trying to limit the environmental impact of their IT equipment. 58% say sustainability is now one of their organization’s most important drivers.

To read more about the Global Tech Trends Survey or download a copy, please visit: Equinix 2022 Global Tech Trends Survey

About the Survey
The independent study, commissioned by Equinix, surveyed 2,900 IT decision-makers in diverse enterprises across the Americas (Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Mexico, U.S.), Asia-Pacific (Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Singapore, South Korea), and EMEA (Bulgaria, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Nigeria, Poland, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UAE, UK). Respondents were selected for participation from Dynata’s online panel. The survey was conducted online between March 1, 2022 and March 29, 2022.

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About Equinix
Equinix (Nasdaq: EQIX) is the world’s digital infrastructure company™, enabling digital leaders to harness a trusted platform to bring together and interconnect the foundational infrastructure that powers their success. Equinix enables today’s businesses to access all the right places, partners and possibilities they need to accelerate advantage. With Equinix, they can scale with agility, speed the launch of digital services, deliver world-class experiences and multiply their value.

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^® datacenters and developing, deploying and delivering Equinix products and solutions; unanticipated costs or difficulties relating to the integration of companies we have acquired or will acquire into Equinix; a failure to receive significant revenues from customers in recently built out or acquired datacenters; a 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; risks related to our taxation as a REIT; and other risks described from time to time in Equinix filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In particular, see recent Equinix 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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