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PREPARATION BEGINS

AT THE CENTERHOW A STRATEGIC DATA CENTER HELPS YOU

FACE FUTURE TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGES HEAD-ON.

MORE THAN A DATA CENTER, YOU NEED A STRATEGIC CENTER.

Connectivity. Bandwidth. Latency. Security. These are challenges we are all familiar with in today’s business landscape. What is less familiar—and therefore what many companies aren’t considering—is the role their data center plays in transforming those often-perceived challenges into strategic opportunities.

The businesses that thrive amid fluctuating technology demands are

not only keeping a finger on the pulse of current trends, they have

the infrastructure in place to handle whatever changes might come.

And they’re doing so by treating their data centers as a strategic

asset—a hub from which providers and performance can all stem.

Are you ready for what’s next? According to analyst forecasts and

IT executives, the five key trends affecting our state of technology

are mobility, consumer technology, cloud services, hyperdigitization

and globalization. In the following pages, you’ll learn how these

trends are affecting current networks, and why a strategic data

center is key to not only surviving, but thriving, today and in the future.

Cloud Services

Consumer Technology

GlobalizationMobility

Hyperdigitization

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MOBILITY

By 2017, 5.2 billion people will be connected

through mobile devices. That’s a majority of

the world’s population who will be streaming,

sharing, downloading, sending, receiving and

opening up a world of potential customers

for the prepared enterprise. This also means

that a majority of the population will be

tapping into our networks all day, every day.

Although mobile essentially bypasses the

greater potential for security issues posed by

the public bandwidth that would otherwise be

used, it’s still important your organization have

a reliable infrastructure.

The Surge in Mobile Data Traffic Is Coming From Every Direction.

By 2016, there will be 18 times more

mobile data traffic as there was in 2011.1

u 50 billion connected

devices worldwide

by 20202

How to Make Sure You’re Prepared.

u Know your traffic sources.

As the fastest driver of IP growth,

it’s no secret that mobile data

traffic is coming from a multitude

of directions. The new generation

of mobile users is more demanding

than ever, sharing a massive amount

of video and photos and running

bandwidth-intensive apps. Apps

for customers. Apps for employees.

Apps for everyone and everything.

And now that it’s officially upon us,

the Internet of Everything (IoE).

There’s a new mobile phenomenon emerging,

and it’s already causing quite a stir: the

Internet of Everything. Networked devices,

such as security cameras, navigation systems,

home appliances and payment systems have

already become fixtures in our everyday lives.

Soon, everything that can be connected will

be: cars will talk to gas pumps, shirts will talk

to washing machines, healthcare monitors will

link to social networks.

Possibly needing only a single mobile handset,

we will soon find ourselves interacting with

hundreds—if not thousands—of mobile devices.

u Get ready for the IoE.

Sources:1 Cisco Visual Network Index (VNI) study, “The Zettabyte Era,” May 2012.2 Cisco infographic, “The Internet of Things.”

u Localize the data center.

Though great in theory, a mobile-centric world will put more pressure

than ever on IT infrastructure. Taking advantage of new markets, plus the

increasing demands of current ones, will require a more distributed and

powerfully architected network. One that is capable of both reaching and

satisfying all of your mobile users—anywhere, at any time, and at any level

of digital demand.

The key is simple geography. The closer your network is to your users, the

better application performance it will deliver. Localizing traffic is far more

scalable than keeping your equipment in locations that are nowhere near

either the content being served, or the users trying to access it. When

you have proximity on your side, you don’t have to constantly increase

capacity to allow your users to get what they need—they get it where they

already are, and with as little latency as possible. And you get full access to

markets all over the world.

u Go with the flow.

Traffic isn’t going anywhere but up. By 2016, there will be 18 times more

mobile data traffic as there was in 2011. The challenge for businesses will

be to make sure their infrastructure can support both the growth in the

amount of traffic and the need for global reach. To remain competitive

in the coming years, enterprises will need to implement a progressive IT

strategy that enables employees and customers to work and consume

efficiently from anywhere.

How To Make Sure You’re Prepared.

u By 2017, mobile data traffic is predicted

to grow 13-fold globally2

Sources:1,2 Cisco Visual Network Index (VNI) study, “The Zettabyte Era,” May 2012.

u Global smartphone

subscriptions will

reach 4.5 billion

by 20191

MOBILITY

How to Meet—and Exceed—Ever-Growing Expectations.

When you think about the explosion of apps

like Instagram, Facebook and Yelp, as well as

subscription-based services, such as Spotify,

Dropbox and Netflix, it’s easy to imagine

how selling “services” has become one of the

world’s fastest-growing markets. The beauty

of this sort of digital consumption is that

consumers and brands can interact with one

another more directly. But the quality of these

interactions must be stellar or the relationships

will likely be short-lived. Apple and Amazon

have raised the bar, and now consumers expect

more from their brand experiences than ever.

With so many variables to accommodate,

those expectations create a lot of pressure.

As Brand-Consumer Interactions Increase, So Does Pressure to Perform.

u Know the expectations.

Today’s digital consumers expect the maximum quality and maximum

experience, in the minimum amount of time. Even a relatively small latency,

or lag, in the experience can send them searching elsewhere. To add to the

pressure, the extended periods of time consumers are engaging with their

brand means there’s a greater opportunity for delivering a poor experience

somewhere along the line—and consumers aren’t any more forgiving.

u Stay ahead of those expectations.

Strive to be an early adopter of mini-trends that are beginning to surface. Brands

are benefiting from perks like product customization at time of manufacture,

which delivers customized goods and experiences in real time. Plan ahead—

these types of trends put new pressures on real-time supply chain performance.

Every link in that chain must be architecturally sound in order to meet demand

and customer expectation. See the following pages for examples with PayPal

and Jamba Juice, as well as Redbox.

u Every 100ms of latency costs

Amazon 1% in sales

u An extra 500ms of latency in

performing searches dropped

Google’s traffic by 20%

CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY

Both PayPal and Jamba Juice have a shared database that

identifies a PayPal user and serves up the closest Jamba Juice

location in real time.

Jamba Juice has another database that recognizes the user

(from previous purchases) and serves up real-time specials,

coupons, even flavors, that it thinks the user might like.

Once the customer makes the payment, PayPal verifies and

obtains the payment from the bank.

PayPal sends the funds into the Jamba Juice

POS system.

The POS system displays the customer’s

Facebook picture, order history, current order

and customized coupons.

If just one of these links were to fail, or even slow

down a few seconds, the entire transaction could

fail if the customer became unhappy with the wait

or process in general.

PayPal and Jamba Juice created a mobile app that allows customers to make

an order that will be ready for pickup at a specified time. The steps below need

to be executed flawlessly to deliver a satisfying on-demand experience.

PayPal’s “Order-Ahead Pickup” at Jamba Juice.

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CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY

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Redbox allows customers to hold a DVD at a desired

location through the site or app. This includes a lot of

factors that need to come together to complete the

transaction create a seamless and enjoyable customer

experience: geolocation, interaction with the Redbox

location, ability to upsell in case the product isn’t

available, and quick payment acceptance. And all of this

must happen in real time, and intelligently, to create a

seamless and enjoyable customer experience.

If the system stalls before or during the transactional

process, not only will a sale be missed, but the user

might develop a negative brand perception based on

the bad experience.

Redbox’s Holding Service.

CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY

u Apps make up a $10B market, and are doubling each year1

How to Meet—and Exceed—Ever-Growing Expectations.

u Stengthen at the core.

Whether it’s being able to get a product customized and delivered in real

time, or just delivering consistent experiences between the brand and

the consumer, it all starts at the center of the IT infrastructure: the data

center. As in the PayPal-Jamba Juice and Redbox examples, the key to

success is a distributed architecture. Your network should be designed so

that it’s as close as possible to each link in the supply chain—especially

your end-users—to ensure the best consumer experience. As your

technology demands grow, so do the capabilities and security of your

network. You need a data center to support and facilitate the consistent

high-quality and real-time brand experiences consumers will increasingly

expect.

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Sources:1 VMware vFabric Blog article, “Powering Mobile Architecture with vFabric,” Sept. 9, 2012.

It’s clear the cloud is here for the long haul,

and everyone and everything is adjusting

accordingly. Cloud customers are beginning

to make the cloud a vital part of their IT

strategy, rather than for select cases. They’re

also becoming savvier, and in turn, more

demanding—expecting to interact, work and

play whenever, wherever, and however they

choose. As we head toward worldwide cloud

adoption, it’s estimated that by 2017, the

percentage of workloads migrating to the

cloud will increase by 500 percent.

In short, the cloud is evolving. It’s not enough

anymore for enterprises to simply use it

when they feel like it, or make it up as they

go. To thrive in tomorrow’s IT environment,

enterprises need to see the cloud as king,

and begin aligning their cloud strategy

accordingly while maintaining the security of

the private cloud.

CLOUD SERVICES

u Choose hybrid.

Gartner suggests that enterprises should design private cloud services with

a hybrid future in mind and make sure future integration/interoperability is

possible.3 With a healthy mix of user control and flexibility, it’s no wonder

hybrid clouds are fast becoming the IT infrastructure model of choice and

are expected to reach new adoption heights in 2014. But not just any hybrid

cloud will do. The ones that offer enterprise-grade security and direct access

to key network providers give your applications that extra boost

in performance.

u Leverage interconnection opportunities.

To take advantage of the huge community of security, storage and cloud

providers available in the cloud ecosystem, position your infrastructure in

neutral data centers where you have the most choices among providers.

Connecting directly with those services will give you the flexibility you need

to adapt, grow and manage your infrastructure in the hybrid environment.

It’s Time to Give the Cloud More Clout.

A More Evolved Cloud Needs a More Evolved Strategy.

u Start with a distributed data center.

As cloud services continue to grow, causing the demands on IT infrastructure

to become more complex, you will need the support of a more capable data

center with a more selective and intentional cloud strategy. The model of

distributed data centers allows you to tap into cloud services and build a

cloud strategy with the guidance and infrastructure you need to form the

ultimate hybrid cloud with the highest performance imaginable. Data centers

like these are hyperconnected, housing robust and thriving ecosystems that

give you unprecedented access to your users, customers, partners, providers

and target markets.

Sources:1,2 Cisco, “Global Cloud Index: Forecast and Methodology, 2012–2017.”3 Gartner, “Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2014.”

u By 2016, two-thirds of all

data center traffic will come

from the cloud2

By 2017, the percentage of workloads migrating to the cloud will increase by 500%.1

CLOUD SERVICES

ü

CONNECT WISELYChoose from a wide range

of suppliers, services andnetwork options.

INCREASE AGILITYAdd new systems and services quickly. Spin up and tear down

workloads as necessary.

ACCELERATE DEVELOPMENTBreak the six-to 18-month app dev cycle by testing in the readily available public cloud, where initial costs are low. Then

move apps to the private or hybrid cloud for better performance and cost savings.

REDUCE COSTSpend less—a lot less—on your cloud

operations with the most efficientmix of owned hardware, public cloud

services and private cloud securityand management capabilities.

RIGHT-SIZE YOUR NETWORKBuild a base in the private cloudand leverage the public cloudfor usage peaks.

IMPROVE PERFORMANCELeverage more capability,smoother manageability and fasterperformance of IT network andsystems infrastructure.

GLOBALIZEPlace app servers close toglobal users and connectdirectly with relevantnetworks to provide anoptimal end-user experience.

MOBILIZESupport an increasingly mobileworkforce—and customer base—bydelivering apps and content in highvolume at high speed.

How the Cloud Benefits Your Business.

Are You Ready for the Data Deluge?

u Prepare to store more metadata.

Digital purchasing creates more opportunity to stimulate

revenue and loyalty among customers through data collection,

customization and targeting. With data storage comes security

concerns, but it’s possible to place physical security appliances at

interconnections among databases, application servers and Web

servers, establishing a level of security comparable to a private

network.

u Embrace the Internet of Everything.

Don’t forget that wherever the Internet can expand,

it will, and is probably already on its way. The same

goes for virtual purchasing and the need to capture

relevant data around consumption patterns and

preferences.

u Promote the data center to center stage.

In a growing digital economy, IP traffic, the

number of parties involved throughout the

transaction process, and the experience demand

are expanding at such a colossal level that there’s

a need for a fundamental change in network

architecture—one that can meet data demands

and scale over time. The ability to do so hinges

on having a strategic data center in place. It

should offer the right balance of providers for

bandwidth requirements and overall digital

performance to achieve the best user experience.

Millennials are entering the customer base

in droves. At 79 million strong, they’ve

surpassed baby boomers to become the

largest generation in U.S. history. They are

a new type of consumer: They embrace

the digital age. And now, they’re driving it,

as concepts like the Internet of Everything

(IoE)—which is bringing people, process

and data together to make networked

connections more relevant and valuable than

ever before—become a reality.

The millennials’ comfort with purchasing

non-physical products, or services that are

all or almost entirely digital, is one of the

biggest factors stimulating hyperdigitization,

the economic shift toward virtual goods and

services. And as the sheer volume of IP traffic

and data increases, so does the need for an

infrastructure that can keep up today and in

the future.

The Rise of the Millennials and the Digital Economy.

By 2020, roughly a quarter of the GDP will be generated by the force of digital activity.1

HYPERDIGITIZATION

u Hyperdigitization will generate $1 trillion growth in annual revenue

u 83% of millennials sleep with their phones within reach2

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Sources:1 Gartner report, “Top 10 Forces to Impact Outsourcing and IT Services Industry.”2 PBS NewsHour article, “Millennials Study Captures Snapshot of Young America,” Feb. 24, 2010.

It’s only a matter of time before signals, cables

and fibers connect every single one of us

across the entire world. And as our world

becomes “flatter,” there will be an increased

demand from users everywhere to achieve

the maximum digital experience. Workforces

traveling abroad will expect optimal

performance from critical internal applications,

no matter where they’re located.

It’s because of these inevitable demands that

many of today’s enterprises are either already

globalizing or are planning to do so. Not to

mention the fact that once-untappable markets

will be ripe for business. For an ambitious

enterprise with a true-global reach, potential

opportunities for growth will be literally limitless.

Rising Up to a Flatter World.

GLOBALIZATION

Strategize Before You Globalize.

When it comes to government-business relations and data, the rules not

only vary, they can be constantly changing. How do you stay on top of it all

as you globalize? One way is to work with truly global partners. Seek out

network and cloud providers, as well as data centers, with global reach and

experience in the countries that you operate in today and plan to expand to

in the future.

Studying current global growth trends, as well as growth forecasts, is critical

if globalization is your plan. For instance, the implementation of tiered

mobile data packages last year as well as offload rates led to slower growth

in some regions than previously anticipated by analysts.

Having a presence across the globe is possible, and it’s possible to penetrate

new markets. A strategic data center with true reach can help you deliver

a local-grade experience to global markets—because you’ll be where your

customers are, reducing latency and providing a better user experience.

You’ll simply be able to conduct business more seamlessly and expand as

your needs and opportunities do.

u Understand local regulations.

u Review regional growth.

u Expand to a global data center.

Sources:1,2 Cisco Visual Network Index (VNI) study, “The Zettabyte Era,” May 2012.

MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA

CENTRAL & EASTERN EUROPE

ASIA PACIFICLATIN AMERICA WESTERN EUROPE

49%57% 39% 31% 27%

NORTH AMERICA

Regional IP traffic growth rates by 20161

These regional trends highlight the need for enterprise CIOs to develop a scalable

global architecture that can accommodate faster growth in developing regions.

more global IP traffic

as many devices connected to IP networks as the global population

4X

3X

more mobile data traffic 18X

22%

Projected Technology Growth Between 2011-20162

Mobility. Consumer technology. Cloud services. Hyperdigitization. Globalization. These and other emerging technology trends have the power to cause real problems or

inspire real opportunity for your enterprise. The key to ensuring the latter is recognizing that the

data center must do more than store racks and cages. It’s the foundation from which connectivity,

bandwidth, latency and security stem—and as such, must be every bit as scalable, localized, global

and strategic as the rest of your IT strategy. Do that, and the rest will fall into place.

READY TO ADD STRATEGY TO YOUR DATA CENTER?CONTACT US NOW >>

Not quite ready? Learn More about the global reach, expertise, state-of-the-art facilities

and unrivaled ecosystems and expertise of Equinix. The only partner that gives you the true

strategic asset you need to face the future head-on.

WELCOME THE FUTURE OF TECHNOLOGY WITH A STRATEGIC DATA CENTER.