Equinix 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™ (ECX 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. 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. 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.
