The move to multicloud and the edge tops business priority lists, but adoption still behind ambitions, say IT leaders

LONDON, Apr. 08, 2020 – Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), the global interconnection and data centre company, today published the findings of a global survey exploring IT decision-makers’ insights into the biggest technology trends shaping the worldwide economy. The results of the study—which gathered responses from nearly 2,500 participants from 23 countries in the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific—show companies were already preparing for a more connected world, ahead of the dynamically changing environment triggered by COVID-19.

Findings revealed there are significant ambitions by businesses to embrace a multicloud approach, but that adoption is still at less than 20% worldwide, and at 14% in the UK. Globally, one in two (50%) IT leaders, compared to just below half (45%) of respondents in the UK, state they are prioritising moving their infrastructure to the digital edge—where population centres, commerce, and digital and business ecosystems meet and interact in real time—as part of their organisation’s overarching technology strategy.

Nearly three-quarters (71%) of global respondents said they plan to move more of their IT functions to the cloud, compared to 68% in the UK. Two-thirds (66% globally, 59% in the UK) of these plan on doing so within the next 12 months, despite nearly half (49% globally, 43% in the UK) of respondents still seeing perceived cybersecurity risks around cloud adoption as posing a threat to their business.

Cloud strategies considered include a dispersed multicloud approach where a single company will use different cloud providers for different functions. This is a major trend emerging in the marketplace and corroborated by the study. 45% of global IT leaders, compared to 36% in the UK, say their technology strategy includes moving to a multicloud approach, which will have significant implications for the industry as businesses continue to diversify their portfolio of cloud providers. But while there is clearly a strategic shift underway, multicloud adoption is far from ubiquitous: fewer than one in five (17% globally, 14% in the UK) IT decision-makers said their business is currently deploying across multiple clouds. Hybrid cloud deployments—whereby companies use a combination of one or more public cloud providers with a private cloud platform or IT infrastructure—are more commonplace, with 34% of IT decision-makers globally already having hybrid strategies in place. This figure drops significantly in the UK to 22%.

To cater to the rapid adoption of hybrid multicloud solutions, Equinix recently announced it has acquired bare metal automation platform leader Packet. Coupled with Equinix’s flagship cloud connectivity platform, Equinix Cloud Exchange Fabric™ (ECX Fabric™), which supports hybrid multicloud strategies by directly, securely and dynamically connecting distributed infrastructure and digital ecosystems globally, the service enables companies to bypass the public internet and make the move to the digital edge—whilst avoiding unnecessary cybersecurity risk.

Implementing an interconnected fabric of network and cloud hubs at the digital edge in this way simplifies the complexity of hybrid IT and provides the choice, scale and agility required for current and future digital business requirements. By providing this critical infrastructure in 55 markets across the world, Equinix is ensuring its customers are better equipped to securely reach everywhere, interconnect everyone and integrate everything that matters to their business.

Highlights/Key Facts

• The survey of 2,485 IT decision-makers across 23 countries was conducted online between 1 and 16 August 2019.
• 71% of IT decision-makers globally plan to move more IT functions to the cloud in the future. This figure is at 68% in the UK. Key functions being moved to the cloud include productivity tools, legacy applications and databases.
• Of the IT leaders planning to move these functions to the cloud, two-thirds (66% globally, 59% in the UK) plan on doing so within the next 12 months.
• 49% of IT decision-makers surveyed globally see perceived cybersecurity risks around cloud adoption as being considerably threatening to their business, compared to 43% in the UK.
• 45% of IT leaders around the world (36% in the UK), are planning to move to a multicloud technology strategy, but only 17% (14% in the UK) said they are currently deploying across multiple clouds.
• Globally, 44% of IT infrastructure is currently on the cloud. In the Americas this figure is higher at 49%, while in EMEA it is just 40%. Asia-Pacific matches the global average at 44%.
• In the UK, 42% of IT decision-makers say their IT infrastructure is currently on the cloud—a figure ahead of the EMEA average, but behind globally.
• 50% of IT decision-makers globally, compared to 45% in the UK, cite moving their infrastructure to the digital edge as one of the biggest priorities of their technology strategy. This figure jumps to 60% in the Americas.
• The third volume of the annual Global Interconnection Index (GXI) forecast that private connectivity at the edge would grow by 51% compound annual growth rate (CAGR)—exceeding a remarkable 13,300+ Tbps by 2022.
• By combining Equinix’s Network Edge services with ECX Fabric™, businesses can deploy virtual edge devices and interconnect them to clouds and network providers located in new global markets with low latency—extending their reach to potentially thousands of new business partners around the world.

 

Quotes

• Tim Hinchley, Head of Cloud and Infrastructure Architecture, the Driver and Vehicles Standards Agency (DVSA):

“It’s interesting to see this further confirmation that the shift to the cloud is something that is happening across industries and countries. DVSA is embracing new technologies to improve road safety—whether that's through better, bigger services for 40 million customers a year, or through targeted, data-led enforcement. Our partnership with Equinix has allowed us to move a number of our business-critical applications into the public cloud. Leveraging ECX Fabric enables us to scale up and out as much as we want and whenever we need—vital for an agency working across 400 sites, from the Shetlands to the Scilies. From a network connectivity perspective, being able to jump from cloud vendor to cloud vendor, whenever we please, offers our IT and overall strategies real flexibility, helping us provide world-class digital services.”

• Sue Daley, Associate Director, Technology & Innovation, techUK:

“Multicloud services are delivering massive business benefits to organisations through the scale and flexibility they provide. However, as this research shows, multicloud adoption is still less than 20% worldwide. With organisations keen to embrace the opportunities of innovative technologies such as AI and the Internet of Things, and as they consider their recovery strategies from the current pandemic, the cloud will provide the digital tools and infrastructure needed to make this happen. Helping organisations to understand the benefits of moving to the cloud and accelerating their adoption of cloud services is imperative. To get this right, it’s important to understand existing concerns about moving to a multicloud environment and find ways to overcome these concerns. Continuing to build trust in the security of cloud services, for example, is crucial and this is why the research launched today is so important.”

• Richard Villars, Vice President, Datacenter & Cloud, IDC:

“As enterprises respond to the challenges posed by COVID-19, they are focusing on maintaining and enhancing their products and services through delivery of better digital experiences and faster capitalisation on real-time data; all of which depend upon more effective use of many different cloud environments and the extension of IT resources to edge locations near where we are working and living. For most organisations, however, these goals remain a challenge as their IT teams struggle to find access to the right cloud and edge environments. Companies like Equinix, that provide a broad portfolio of facilities and connectivity options as well as easy access to a broad array of hybrid and multicloud service providers, are in a strong position to help enterprises respond to new needs in both the core and edge of their business.” 

• Claire Macland, Senior Vice President, Global Marketing, Equinix: 

​“A worldwide shift towards hybrid multicloud deployments was well underway ahead of the COVID-19 outbreak, with enterprises looking to gain a competitive business advantage through scalable solutions accessible from dispersed locations. The results of this study, however, showed there remained a gap between businesses’ ambitions and implementation of cloud adoption. It will be interesting to see how quickly this accelerates given current digital demands. Rearchitecting IT infrastructure, including the adoption of cloud, is a pivotal reason companies come to Equinix—to deploy hybrid multicloud architectures which securely transmit data over dedicated, private networks; thus, optimising IT infrastructures whilst shrinking attack surfaces.”

• Russell Poole, Managing Director UK, Equinix:

“The use of cloud in the enterprise IT sector has increased significantly in recent years. As this survey shows, this upward trajectory is set to continue as companies look to increase their as-a-service offering and diversify their portfolio of cloud service providers. Our Equinix Cloud Exchange Fabric (ECX Fabric) has been crucial in guaranteeing real-time and secure access to the cloud for businesses operating across a wealth of different verticals, such as financial services and IoT, enabling companies to leverage hybrid multicloud infrastructures in a secure, scalable environment.”

 

About the study
The independent study, commissioned by Equinix, surveyed 2,485 IT decision-makers in 23 countries across the Americas (Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Mexico, U.S.), EMEA (Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, UAE, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, U.K.) and Asia-Pacific (Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore). Respondents were selected for participation from Dynata’s online panel. The survey was conducted online between 1 and 16 August 2019.

Additional resources
Equinix 2019-20 Tech Trends Survey [report] 
Global Interconnection Index Volume 3 [report] 
IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Colocation & Interconnection Services Report [report] 
Learn more about Equinix Cloud Exchange Fabric™ [website] 
Equinix Completes Acquisition of Bare Metal Leader Packet [press release] 
DVSA Deploys to the Cloud, Reduces Latency with ECX Fabric [case study]

About Equinix

Equinix,Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX) connects the world's leading businesses to their customers, employees and partners inside the most-interconnected data centers. On this global platform for digital business, companies come together across more than 50 markets on five continents to reach everywhere, interconnect everyone and integrate everything they need to create their digital futures. 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^® data centers 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 data centers; 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 Contacts

Michelle Lindeman (Americas)
+1 (650) 598-6361
mlindeman@equinix.com  

Annie Ho (Asia-Pacific)
+852 2970-7761
annho@ap.equinix.com

Jess Sullivan (EMEA)
+44 7876 712861
Jess.Sullivan@eu.equinix.com

Equinix Investor Relations

Katrina Rymill 
+1 650-598-6583
krymill@equinix.com

Chip Newcom
+1 650-598-6262
cnewcom@equinix.com