Third of Canadian Businesses Forge Ahead with Expansions Despite Economic Concerns and Supply Chain Challenges

TORONTO – July 6, 2022 – Businesses around the world are planning major investments in digital technologies to support ambitious expansion plans following lessons learned from the pandemic. New 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.

Equinix Surveyed 2,900 IT decision-makers surveyed globally across APAC, EMEA and the Americas, including Canada. The Equinix 2022 Global Tech Trends Survey found that 72% of respondents plan to expand their organization geographically in the next 12 months. In this, a third (33%) of Canadian organizations are considering expansion into a new region, 22% into a new city, and 20% into a new country – 38% appear to be more hesitant to expand in the next 12 months compared to their global counterpart.

Globally, a number of potentially limiting factors and threats to business success were identified when it came to growth, with cyberattacks (70%) and supply chain challenges (59%) highlighted as a particular area of concern. In Canada, the top five threats to business growth include cyberattacks (75%), security breaches and data leaks (72%), global microchip shortage (71%), a shortage in IT talent (70%) and changing regulatory requirements around data privacy (68%).

These continued supply chain issues appear to be driving a need for more virtualization. With growth aspirations underpinned by significant planned investment in digital infrastructure, a third (39%) of respondents said they plan to facilitate global expansion plans by deploying virtually via the cloud, and a small number (5%) are approaching digital expansion using a bare metal solution. Meanwhile, a third (33%) of Canadian IT decision-makers said they expect increased spending on carrier-neutral colocation solutions to facilitate the planned rise in digital deployments, while almost half (48%) said they intend to increase investment in interconnection services as they plan to progress digital transformation and build resilience.

The pandemic also continues to have a significant impact on businesses’ digital strategies. More than half (55%) of Canadian IT leaders say they are accelerating their company’s digital evolution because of the COVID-19 crisis. Indeed, half (50%) confirm their IT budgets have increased as a direct outcome of its legacy—an insight into the now broadly acknowledged necessity for robust digital infrastructure to pivot to evolving business needs in an instant. Furthermore, 62% of respondents believe the technology changes and investments implemented during the pandemic are here to stay.

“Digital transformations have experienced a significant acceleration over the past two years, as organizations had to quickly apply theoretical strategies to remain operational,” said Andrew Eppich, Managing Director, Equinix Canada. “With many Canadian businesses saying technological changes are here to stay, businesses are looking to invest in their digital infrastructure, people and sustainability efforts to fuel their post-pandemic recovery. Canadians are also mindful of the new threats that have emerged and need to take a balanced approach by future-proofing their businesses while investing in the opportunities ahead.”

In addition, the survey revealed:

• Customer and employee experience prioritized: Recognizing digital adoption affects end users, 81% of Canadian IT leaders said enhancing customer experience was a priority. Companies also acknowledged improving employee experience is critical to their transformation journey and retention of talent, with 75% citing this.
• Cloud migration continues: 71% of global IT leaders said they plan to move more business functions to the cloud. Of those respondents, half plan to move more of their business-critical applications to the cloud, and almost half (49%) intend to move security functions to the cloud.
• Hybrid cloud dominates: Hybrid cloud models were the preferred approach for 49% of respondents, but almost a quarter (24%) of digital leaders globally still rely on a single cloud provider or none at all. A neutral Interconnection offering may step in to help here, with 33% of respondents believing it increases flexibility of connectivity, and 32% reporting they use it to enable hybrid multicloud.
• 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 Web 3.0. 64% of respondents said they are moving to an everything as a service (XaaS) model, citing the simplification of IT infrastructure (58%), flexibility (55%) and improved user experience (50%) as the key reasons for doing so.
• Focusing on sustainability: While innovating, digital leaders are keeping a close eye on the sustainability of their IT infrastructure. Two-thirds (67%) of respondents say they are measuring and actively trying to limit the environmental impact of their IT equipment, and almost two-thirds (64%) of Canadian businesses report sustainability is now one of their organization’s most important drivers with commitments made to science-based targets. As such, 58% will only work with IT partners who can meet key carbon reduction targets.
• Federal Responsibility: As Canadian businesses shift to digital-first processes, three quarters (75%) of IT leaders agree that the federal government should be more active in improving national interconnectivity infrastructure by working with leading internet service providers (ISPs) and digital infrastructure vendors.

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

Additional Quotes

Tara Risser, President, Americas, Equinix:

“Following two disruptive years that accelerated digital transformation, many IT decision-makers in the Americas are turning their attention to future-proofing their business, complying with data protection regulations and creating better customer experiences. We believe these priorities could help companies plan for global headwinds and perceived threats, such as environmental impact, cyberattacks and new COVID-19 waves. Business leaders around the world are increasing their digital investment to address these challenges and plan for new and evolving technology adoption, like Web 3.0, digital edge and 5G. As a result, they’re looking to Equinix for its unique interconnection and digital ecosystems that can sustainably underpin their business priorities. Our continued innovation helps business leaders address today’s demands and remain agile and flexible as those demands shift.”

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.

Learn more about The Future of Digital Leadership.

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.

Equinix Media Relations                                                          Equinix Investor Relations
press@equinix.com                                                                   invest@equinix.com