Equinix enables mutable global digital supply chains

The announcement of 4th December 2017 about the launch of the Equinix Cloud Exchange^TM Fabric (ECX Fabric) re-enforces their position as the dominant, global inter-connect data centre provider. More importantly, it will offer enterprises the ability to connect securely, quickly, at low latency with a wide range of supply-chain partners, service providers and public clouds across the globe.

We have already seen how direct connect capabilities within a data centre have led to the development of specific trading platforms and ecosystems that rely on secure, very fast interconnectivity. With the announcement of ECX Fabric, Equinix customers can now avail themselves of software-defined network facilities that allow them to connect to any one of the 1,000+ enterprises, cloud and service providers signed up to the existing service Equinix Cloud Exchange^TM. We expect to see a significant take-up of this service from amongst the existing 9,500 Equinix customers, and from new customers.

This service allows enterprises to customise connectivity to partners, customers and suppliers through an interface that provides all the benefits companies have come to expect from “as-a-service” models. This includes real-time provisioning via a portal or API, pay-as-you-go billing increments and the removal of friction in establishing elastic connectivity between metros.

We are now starting to see the fruition of the huge investments made in global, sub-sea fibre cables, coming together with new software-defined networking technologies and interconnect strategies that by-pass traditional public internet connections. These offer exciting opportunities for new, disruptive digital supply chains. They also offer challenges to existing network service providers, who remain in danger of being further commoditised.

These developments are not just of interest to large, global enterprises. Start-ups will be able to take advantage of the small entry-level requirements, simple provisioning and pay-for-usage model to develop global partnerships and supply chains in a secure, highly performant environment that can be adapted as circumstance change, that would have been unimaginable a few years ago.

As we argue over the possibilities of a frictionless border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in the wake of Brexit, these developments highlight the potential for frictionless international trade that will pay less and less attention to physical limitations. In the meantime, we will keep an eye on Equinix as they roll ECX Fabric out globally during 2018 and add new services on top of that infrastructure.