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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
$
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.
$
CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY
$
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.
$
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
$
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.