Equinix to Extend Customer Access to Alibaba Cloud in 17 Markets

Data Center and Co-locationComputingNews

By AIT News Desk On Jul 8, 2020

API integration with ECX Fabric allows streamlined access to Alibaba Cloud across the Americas, Asia-Pacific and EMEA

Equinix, Inc. the global interconnection and data center company, announced it will extend access to Alibaba Cloud, the digital technology and intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group, through Platform Equinix^® for customers from 17 metros globally, including Dubai, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Jakarta, London, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, as well as US metros such as Chicago, Dallas, Denver. This expansion, along with its API integration with Equinix Cloud Exchange Fabric, will help enterprises from these global markets easily and privately connect to Alibaba Cloud on Platform Equinix.

Alibaba Cloud is the third largest global provider of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) and the largest in Asia-Pacific, according to Gartner.¹ With the partnership, Alibaba Cloud can also enjoy secure, direct access to a robust, interconnected ecosystem of more than 9,700 customers, including 1,800 network providers and over 2,900 cloud and IT service providers globally to enhance performance, lower latency, and increase reliability for its customers.

As a key enabler of digital transformation, cloud has been heavily adopted by multinational enterprises as they seek to modernize and mobilize their IT systems. According to Gartner, IaaS is expected to reach $62 billion in 2021 globally, and is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24% during the forecast period 2019-2024.² To deliver on the expectations of transformation, it is critical for enterprises to ensure they can securely and seamlessly access multiple cloud service providers (CSPs), such as Alibaba Cloud.

In view of increasing market demand, Alibaba Cloud has also integrated its API with ECX Fabric™ to streamline the process for enterprises to facilitate private and direct connections to Alibaba Cloud. Through a single portal, customers can create and manage private connections to Alibaba Cloud on demand in any of the 45 ECX Fabric metros, in minutes.

Highlights/Key Facts

Alibaba Cloud provides a comprehensive suite of cloud computing services to businesses worldwide, which include Elastic Compute Service, Storage, Relational Databases, Big Data Solution and CDN. Its rich and diverse ecosystem ranges from e-commerce and payments, to logistics and supply chain management solutions.
Alibaba Group’s market share in the global IaaS market climbed to 9.1% in 2019, up from 7.7% in 2018, according to Gartner.³ To support its growing international business, Alibaba Cloud distributes its IT infrastructure on Platform Equinix in 17 metros across the Americas, Asia-Pacific and EMEA:
- Nine American metros: Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Seattle, Silicon Valley and Washington D.C.
- Five Asia-Pacific metros: Hong Kong, Jakarta, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo
- Three EMEA metros: Dubai, Frankfurt and London
Alibaba Cloud’s API integration with ECX Fabric enables seamless, streamlined access for customers. Enterprises can establish a secure connection between their network and Alibaba Cloud through a single portal in minutes. This allows enterprises to maintain private clouds and manage sensitive data within Equinix IBX data centers in proximity to Alibaba Cloud, while taking advantage of its flexibility, scalability and cost-savings benefits.
As global IT decision-makers respond to an increasingly dynamic world, many are accelerating their digital transformation efforts and continuing to prioritize the adoption of hybrid multicloud solutions. Platform Equinix has more than 40% of the public cloud on-ramps in markets where it operates, which is the highest share in the world, making it essential for any enterprise deploying hybrid multicloud at the edge.
Available in more than 170 International Business Exchange™ (IBX^®) data centers across 45 metros, ECX Fabric is an on-demand, SDN-enabled interconnection service that allows any business to connect between its own distributed infrastructure, and that of any of its 2,100 users, including the world’s largest network service and cloud providers, on Platform Equinix.
Direct and private connectivity to strategic cloud service providers is essential as digital transformation fuels higher demand for localized digital services at the edge. According to the Global Interconnection Index (GXI) Volume 3, a market study published by Equinix, interconnecting to multiple clouds and IT services across multiple edge locations and cloud regions represents the next largest and fastest use of interconnection bandwidth and is predicted to grow 13x by 2022.

Quote

Shunmin Zhu, Researcher of Network Products, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence

“Equinix’s global platform and ever-expanding footprint has made it easy for Alibaba Cloud to grow into new markets and offer our customers access to a rich ecosystem of cloud service providers via Platform Equinix and Equinix Cloud Exchange Fabric. This valuable and growing collaboration enables us to deliver further flexibility and security, while also bringing our services closer to businesses, without having to compromise on speed or performance.”

Royce Thomas, Senior Vice President, Global Account Management, Equinix

“We are glad to deepen our collaboration with Alibaba Cloud in new metros around the world. In today’s digital economy, delivering cloud computing has become a top priority for enterprises. As such, direct access to cloud service providers, like Alibaba Cloud, via high-speed, low-latency connections is helping enterprises gain a competitive advantage and fully realize the benefits of the cloud. We are happy that we share the common goal with Alibaba Could to help enterprises locate services, interconnect to them and build valuable relationships with their business partners. With this extended reach, we will continue to partner with Alibaba Cloud and support more enterprises to accelerate their digital journey across the globe.”