CREATING AN INTERCONNECTED

CLOUD SERVICEA look at the strategy behind superior service delivery.

CONTENTSTABLE OF

1 CLOUD ADOPTION TODAY

2-3 A SERVICE DELIVERY STRATEGY

4 CRITICAL CONNECTIONS

5-6 WHY EQUINIX

7-9 MICROSOFT AZURE CASE STUDY

10-11 MARKETO CASE STUDY

12-14 CLOUDSIGMA CASE STUDY

15-16 FOURSQUARE CASE STUDY

17-18 CONCLUSION

Data security concerns

Regulatory and compliance issues

Concerns over cloud technology evolution

Lack of clarity regarding business benefits

Lack of cloud strategy and governance

1

2

3

4

5

As more and more customers rely on cloud computing, providers need to be prepared to tackle the challenges that are inherent to widespread cloud adoption and optimize their service performance. That performance will make or break a cloud service provider in today’s competitive cloud landscape. And, if delivered successfully and consistently, can also differentiate providers from the pack.

Achieving an optimal level of performance isn’t simple. It’s a multifaceted challenge, and Cloud Service Providers (CSP) have many customer requirements to meet. Providers must be able to demonstrate proven and auditable processes and expertise on security, data privacy and compliance to satisfy enterprise customers.

TOP 5 IMPEDIMENTS TO USING CLOUD SERVICES1

EXPECTATIONSAS CLOUD ADOPTION GROWS, SO DO USER

CLOUD ADOPTION TODAY 1

Source:1Ovum Cloud Services Business Trends Survey, January 2014

At the center of the service delivery strategy is the global data center.

Customers are conducting business in locations around the globe, using more devices than ever before, and they will demand consistent, secure, compliant, high-level performance of their cloud services across a range of devices. CSPs must take responsibility for the end-to-end performance of the service they offer to attract and retain new customers.

Larger enterprises will be looking for increased emphasis on service reliability and security.1

CSPs must have a comprehensive delivery strategy in place, one that addresses the need for secure and consistent high-speed performance globally. And one that is rooted in world-class facilities with proven high-availability infrastructure and a robust ecosystem of partners for CSPs to leverage, guaranteeing end-to-end seamless performance of their service.

Source:1Cisco Global Cloud Index, 2012-2017

A SERVICE DELIVERY STRATEGY 2

CLOUD SERVICESDELIVERING ENTERPRISE-CLASS

REQUIRES A HOLISTIC STRATEGY

VIEWING THE GLOBAL DATA CENTER PROVIDER AS A STRATEGIC PARTNER

Cloud Service Providers can’t separate service delivery from the data center. For CSPs, forging a partnership with a global data center is critical to the performance and distribution of their cloud-based services.

Of course, not all data centers are created equal. Even if all data centers operated at 99.999% global uptime — which many don’t — CSPs must also consider the location and ecosystem they will join. In other words, where the data center sits matters. Multiple geographically dispersed facilities can mean faster and truly consistent delivery, resulting in more satisfied customers. The ecosystem a data center can offer is also critical because it can allow the CSP to architect end-to-end offerings with the help of solution and network providers. These custom end-to-end offerings enable CSPs to create high-performance solutions to and from users; extensive backup; data archiving; and failover capabilities.

When choosing a data center, CSPs need to plan for growth and changing landscapes. CSPs must be able to scale systems and infrastructure to meet changing demands, enter new markets, and ensure that their services have maximum reach, all while reliably maintaining performance as customer numbers grow. That flexibility can also translate into hybrid service offerings, which will likely become the norm for many enterprises. CSPs should look to the data center as a platform that enables them to offer deployment model flexibility to best serve their customers’ varied requirements.

3A SERVICE DELIVERY STRATEGY

If the global data center is the foundation of a service delivery strategy, then the quality of connections it provides is what allows CSPs to execute that strategy and deliver optimal cloud services.

To succeed in today’s world, simple connection is not enough. CSPs need interconnection – the ability to connect to end customers, networks and each other in an instant. A truly global data center should offer the CSP a robust and inter- connected ecosystem, providing access to their choice of Network Service Providers to achieve the high level of performance that customers are demanding. And forging relationships with other Cloud Service Providers, Managed Service Providers and System Integrators within the ecosystem can also help in optimally delivering cloud services. Because the ability to connect via private connections rather than the public Internet can address security concerns.

These interconnections can only have maximum impact on cloud service delivery if they are consistently available to customers wherever they may be — so location matters. Proximity is key to performance, and is not just a nice-to-have. CSPs are often required to establish a presence in certain markets to ensure regulatory compliance or in response to cultural sensitivities for that region.

THE CRITICAL IMPORTANCE OF CONNECTIONS

CRITICAL CONNECTIONS 4

THE BEST CONNECTED DATA CENTERS IN THE WORLD

There is only one global data center provider than can make this claim: Equinix. We run more than 100 data centers in 32 strategic markets spanning five continents, so we can immediately deliver proximity and regional expertise. We’re also a place to find connections to other providers. Equinix is home to more than 1,000 network service providers and the most extensive choice of private line providers. We also host nearly 500 other CSPs and enablement partners such as Managed Service Providers and System Integrators.

More than 4,500 customers trust us to house their IT, and we enable 135,000 connections between them, making us the leading global interconnection platform. With thousands of businesses around the world making Equinix their home, we offer more prospective customers for cloud services than any data center platform. Our vastly interconnected ecosystem enables any cloud service delivery strategy, giving CSPs the flexibility to meet evolving customer demands.

WHY EQUINIX 5

• Cross Connects link CSPs to a dynamic ecosystem of business partners, content providers, networks, carriers and Internet service providers (ISP)

• Metro ConnectTM helps CSPs stay connected with partners and their own operations across town

• Equinix Cloud ExchangeTM, an advanced interconnection solution, enables seamless, on demand and direct access to multiple clouds and multiple networks around the globe

• Equinix Internet Exchange fosters peering relationships around the globe to exchange traffic and lower connectivity costs

EQUINIX CLOUD EXCHANGE SPANS THE GAP

From so many connections, CSPs can create a truly interconnected cloud, one with optimal performance and the proximity and partners that enable CSPs to offer true end-to-end service performance. Equinix has become a destination for hundreds CSPs, where they can directly connect with every major global network and ISP to satisfy their peering, transit and traffic exchange requirements. Equinix has designed solutions that make it easy to connect quickly and efficiently to reach business partners and end users:

These interconnection options provide a platform for CSPs to grow and thrive — in any market they need to serve. Previously, large CSPs that owned or could make significant investments in infrastructure enjoyed an advantage, but this is no longer the case. Equinix is home to CSPs of all sizes — from Microsoft Azure to smaller local players — because it’s a place where they can find the interconnection they need to optimize performance and prepare for growth. A few examples follow.

WHY EQUINIX 6

As enterprises begin to build out hybrid cloud environments, many seek a seamless bridge between public cloud providers and their physical data centers. Microsoft® Azure ExpressRoute — building on physical infrastructure residing in Equinix data centers and available via the Equinix Cloud Exchange — creates that bridge and links customers to Azure, Microsoft’s flexible and open cloud platform.

The combined solution from Azure ExpressRoute and Equinix enables customers to create private connections across five continents between Azure data centers and a customer’s on-premise or colocation infrastructure. And because these connections don’t go over the public Internet, they are faster and more reliable, with lower latencies and better security than typical public Internet connections.

With the Equinix Cloud Exchange, Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute delivers secure connectivity and real-time provisioning to its customers. Enterprises can fully integrate between cloud services, internal applications and their IT infrastructure, while experiencing flexible and dynamic bandwidth. Which means they can benefit from the scale, flexibility and cost-effectiveness of the cloud — without the complexities historically associated with traditional network interconnection.

MICROSOFT AZURE CASE STUDY 7

MICROSOFT AZUREDELIVERING CONNECTIVITY AND CUSTOMERS:

PARTNERS WITH EQUINIX

The enhanced security of a private connection to Azure allows enterprises to move and manage employee and customer information without ever using the public Internet.

Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute and Equinix provide customers with a stable and fully redundant path to and from the cloud, which means:

• Established, private connection to Azure

• Seamless automated provisioning

• Flexible connectivity options

• Redundant and diverse connectivity

• Industry-leading service level agreements (SLA)

• Global presence and support

MICROSOFT AZURE CASE STUDY 8

• Lower-cost solutions

• Faster go-to-market and time-to-market

• Less complexity and lower risk

• More integration and functionality

• End-to-end platform capability

• Complex use cases

-Steve Martin Microsoft Azure General Manager

“Enterprises are drawn to hybrid cloud to benefit from cloud computing efficiencies, while maximizing their existing infrastructure. With 57 percent of fortune 500 companies already using Microsoft Azure, combined with Equinix’s global data center footprint, we look forward to working together to help customers bridge their cloud and on-premises technology to build hybrid environments with enterprise-grade control and reliability.”

MICROSOFT AZURE CASE STUDY 9

One year after deploying with Equinix, Marketo increased its gross margins on subscriptions and services by 19 percent.

MARKETO PARTNERSWITH EQUINIXDELIVERING PERFORMANCE AND PROFITABILITY:

Marketo®, a leading provider of marketing automation software, had grown rapidly during its first seven years in business. But with growth came the realization that its managed hosting environment was both inflexible and costly. As Marketo started facilitating billions of marketing interactions monthly, it knew it needed a more efficient way to accommodate subscriber growth and service enhancements in existing markets.

To serve more customers and deliver more services without adding costs, Marketo took control of its data center operations and set up a distributed SaaS infrastructure with Equinix. Creating this highly efficient, scalable and reliable technology platform meant that Marketo was able to expand its services and subscriber base with unprecedented ease and speed — all without raising costs, thanks to its partnership with Equinix.

MARKETO CASE STUDY 10

• 19 percent year-over-year increase in gross margins for subscriptions and services

• More than 20 percent improvement in end-user application experience

• Transfer times for 2+ petabytes of data reduced from multiple days to a single day

• Flexibility to expand with Equinix locations in 32 markets worldwide

“Marketo’s executive team views

our data center strategy not just

as a technical achievement, but

as a great story in how to bring

a SaaS business to profitability.

“Having a good brand with good

security best practices and state-

of-the-art data centers was a key

part of the message we wanted

to convey to our customers. The

Equinix name has a lot of

credibility.”

-Nick Bonfiglio Marketo Vice President of Operations and Privacy

One year after deploying within Equinix, Marketo has gained greater control over its data center operations. This high degree of control and customization helped Marketo optimize its technologies and processes, resulting in:

MARKETO CASE STUDY 11

As an innovative IaaS public cloud provider, CloudSigma was already growing fast, and it had ambitious plans for global growth. That desire for growth led CloudSigma to partner with Equinix — a global provider that could help CloudSigma realize its aggressive plans for expansion.

Upon launch, CloudSigma had worked with different data center providers in Zurich and Las Vegas. The company soon realized that its providers’ limitations could constrain its growth. Its European provider didn’t operate data centers on any other continent. Its North American provider had only one location. Expanding beyond these locations would mean dealing with additional data center providers and not providing an ideal or consistent experience for its customers.

With data centers strategically located around the globe, Equinix gave CloudSigma the flexibility to scale with customer demand worldwide. And it allowed CloudSigma another important advantage: connections to thousands of networks, IT service providers and customers. Which meant connections to plentiful growth opportunities from one data center provider.

Working with Equinix, CloudSigma was able to win new business by increasing global visibility and bringing the company closer to market leaders within Equinix’s interconnected ecosystem.

DELIVERING BUSINESS GROWTH:CLOUDSIGMA PARTNERS WITH EQUINIX

CLOUDSIGMA CASE STUDY 12

• Increased sales by capitalizing on access to Equinix ecosystems

• Reduced time to market by 50 percent • Simplified administration with centralized

contracts and a single global account manager

• Service reliability by colocating in facilities with industry-leading 99.999% uptime

• Flexibility to deploy a small or large footprint, as needed at each site, and scale as required to meet SLAs

By partnering with a global data center provider, CloudSigma could immediately become a global cloud player. It could also rapidly scale because of Equinix’s infrastructure, which resulted in:

Partnering with Equinix meant CloudSigma could deal with one service desk, one sales representative, and one set of terms and conditions, no matter where it was doing business.

CLOUDSIGMA CASE STUDY 13

-Robert Jenkins CloudSigma Chief Executive Officer

“Our data center provider must be a strategic partner who allows us to rapidly expand wherever opportunity and demand take us. Equinix offers that and, most importantly, shares our vision for the future of the cloud. We trust Equinix is the right partner for long-term success.”

CLOUDSIGMA CASE STUDY 14

As it launched its popular social networking site, Foursquare built its technology foundations on Amazon Web Services (AWS). But like many PaaS providers, the company hit technical and performance constraints with its AWS-only infrastructure as its user base and business grew.

Limits in transaction processing capacity, network transmission speed and disk performance meant that adding the resources to sustain Foursquare’s rapid growth came with a considerable price tag. The infrastructure also meant that Foursquare didn’t have the control over technology platforms and better visibility into network performance that it wanted.

Foursquare’s technology platform needed to grow out of the public cloud and migrate to a hybrid computing model while continuing to use the Amazon public cloud for data warehousing and spikes in computing workloads. The company chose Equinix’s Ashburn, Va., data center location as the home base for its hybrid cloud, creating a cutting-edge private cloud and integrating it with existing AWS services.

“The direct connection we got to the Amazon cloud in Equinix allowed us to migrate our infrastructure to our own machines while maintaining reliable, low-latency access to legacy systems in AWS.

The migration was seamless, and it has allowed us to more than double the number of requests processed while holding operational costs fixed.”

-Robert Joseph Foursquare Director of Site Reliability Engineering

FOURSQUARE CASE STUDY 15

DELIVERING PERFORMANCE AND SCALABILITY:FOURSQUARE PARTNERS WITH EQUINIX

• Synchronization of its massive 6+ terabyte data set nightly in six hours, or five times faster than using a public network connection

• Twice the transaction processing capabilities while keeping costs flat

• The best of both worlds with efficient, customized computing capabilities of a private cloud and the scalability and on-tap features of AWS

• A portfolio of virtualized IT services potentially made up of many clouds, only feasible and efficient inside data centers that house a high concentration of cloud services and networks

• Integration of new cloud services and features quickly and easily, all while keeping capital expenses flat thanks to Equinix’s cloud- and network-rich data centers

By working with Equinix, Foursquare could efficiently and affordably manage and analyze huge amounts of data. Thanks to Equinix’s fast, reliable and direct connections between its private and public cloud environments, Foursquare can ensure predictable, low-latency access to core services like SQL. It could also achieve:

“Equinix was the smart place to build Foursquare’s cloud. We gained direct access to AWS and are ideally positioned to add to our cloud capabilities as our company grows.”

-Robert Joseph Foursquare Director of Site Reliability Engineering

FOURSQUARE CASE STUDY 16

AND A GLOBAL FOOTPRINTINTERCONNECTIONCREATES A WORLD OF OPPORTUNITY FOR CSPS

The benefits that Cloud Service Providers and their customers realize when working with the right data center provider are certain: A interconnected ecosystem means access to a broader customer base, as well as a broader choice of Network Service Providers and other CSPs to expand their cloud offerings.

With the most connected data centers in the most locations around the world, Equinix has redefined the data center from space and power to a core component of a successful service delivery strategy. And Equinix has the most connections to put that strategy into practice.

The world’s top networks, carriers and ISPs have established strategic points of presence (PoP) sites at Equinix International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data centers all over the globe. Equinix boasts the largest number of networks under one roof of any data center provider with over 10 million square feet of data center capacity across 32 strategic markets in the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific. These connections enable CSPs to perform at the highest possible level.

CONCLUSION 17

GET CONNECTED NOW.Learn more about the Equinix connected community at:

EQUINIX.COM

© 2014 Equinix, Inc.Cloud eBook v1214 EB-EN MB-MS 1114Q214