Equinix cited rapid growth in the number of enterprise customers accessing Azure in Equinix’s International Business Exchange (IBX) data centers around the globe.
Specifically, over the past year as the availability of direct connections to Microsoft Azure has expanded to 16 market, Equinix has facilitated hundreds of connections to Azure via its Cloud Exchange. Recent Equinix customers taking advantage of private access to Azure include GE, HarperCollins, Hitachi Data Systems, and Red Lobster, among others.
Some notes:
- More than one hundred companies are currently on the Equinix Cloud Exchange, the company’s interconnection solution that brings cloud and network service providers together with enterprises through private, security-enhanced and high-performance connections. Since launching the service in 2014, Equinix has facilitated hundreds of connections to Azure taking place on Cloud Exchange. The company also offers a number of flexible interconnection offerings, including Cross Connects (dedicated fiber cables), Internet exchange (carrier grade switches connecting many providers) within the data center, and Metro Connect (dedicated Layer 1 and switch-based Layer 2 services) between data centers in the same metro.
- Equinix recently announced that it will be one of the first companies to offer private, managed connections to Microsoft Office 365, including Skype for Business, via ExpressRoute through the Equinix Cloud Exchange.
- Hybrid cloud deployment is on the rise among enterprise customers. In fact, according to Robert Mahowald, program vice president at IDC and head of the SaaS & Cloud Services practice, “More than 65% of enterprise IT organizations will commit to hybrid cloud technologies before 2016, vastly driving the rate and pace of change in IT organizations.”
- Azure is used by 57% of the Fortune 500, and according to a recent report by Synergy Research is experiencing 96% year-over-year growth, and is second in overall market share for cloud infrastructure services.
- Access to Azure via ExpressRoute on Equinix Cloud Exchange is currently available in 16 markets globally, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Sao Paulo, Seattle, Silicon Valley, Washington DC, Amsterdam, London, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo, with Osaka being added later in 2015.
“By providing direct access to Azure via ExpressRoute inside Equinix data centers, we are enabling companies to bridge their cloud and data center strategies and fully realize the benefits of hybrid and multi-cloud. Since we began offering the Microsoft solution just over a year ago, we have witnessed significant growth in connections and companies increasingly benefit from the scale, flexibility and cost-effectiveness of the cloud—all without the complexities associated with traditional network connections,” stated Chris Sharp, vice president, Cloud Innovation, Equinix.
Equinix also noted that it is working with Datapipe, Unitas Global and ScienceLogic to develop custom solutions that further help enterprises create hybrid clouds, maximizing the public cloud through Azure and ExpressRoute, paired with dedicated on-premise infrastructure and services inside Equinix.
http://www.equinix.com/solutions/by-services/interconnection/exchanges/equinix-cloud-exchange
