REDWOOD CITY, Calif., May 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), the global interconnection and data center company, today announced the availability of private connectivity to Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute cloud services at Equinix International Business Exchange™ (IBX^®) data centers in the Miami and Paris markets. This expansion builds on the collaboration between Equinix and Microsoft where Azure ExpressRoute is available through Equinix locations in multiple markets worldwide.

Effective immediately, customers in the Miami and Paris metros can access Azure ExpressRoute directly at all available speeds—the same service that Equinix currently offers for Azure ExpressRoute in 20 other markets globally. Direct access to a cloud onramp via an edge node is the most effective means to ensure performance, reliability and optimal cost efficiency. Customers in other metros can also remotely access Azure ExpressRoute via Equinix Cloud Exchange Fabric™ (ECX Fabric™), an on-demand platform that enables Equinix customers to discover and dynamically connect to any other customer across any Equinix location globally through an easy-to-use portal and a single connection to the Equinix platform.

Highlights/Key Facts

• To date, Microsoft has deployed more ExpressRoute locations with Equinix than with any other provider. Current metros include Amsterdam, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Dublin, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Miami, New York, Osaka, Paris, São Paulo, Seattle, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto and Washington, D.C.
• Private access via Equinix enables Microsoft to deliver the unique capabilities of hybrid cloud, including application services, production and identity management, data and backup and recovery services, and infrastructure services such as virtual networks and traffic management. Customers benefit from a combination of more predictable network performance, flexibility and reliability. With this service, enterprises specifically can implement private connectivity capabilities to build extensible hybrid-cloud strategies that don't scale well over the internet or over typical WAN networks.
• Direct and private connectivity to strategic cloud service providers like Microsoft is essential as digital transformation fuels higher demand for localized digital services at the edge. According to the Global Interconnection Index, a market study published recently by Equinix, the capacity for private data exchange between enterprises and cloud providers is forecast to grow six times faster than public internet traffic between 2017 and 2020.
• Equinix has been a Microsoft Gold Cloud Platform provider since June 2017. The designation recognizes the company's ongoing commitment to helping enterprise customers worldwide achieve seamless, on-demand access to Azure and Microsoft Office 365.

Quotes:

• Ross Ortega, Partner PM Manager, Microsoft Azure Networking at Microsoft Corp.
  "Since 2014, our collaboration with Equinix has allowed us to provide customers with the high-level interconnection and predictable global access they need to architect and deploy their hybrid clouds with a globally consistent experience. We are pleased to expand our Equinix relationship with Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute available in Miami and Paris, allowing more businesses in these growing markets to access these services through the Equinix interconnection and data center platform."
• Bob Breynaert, Global Managing Director, Strategic Alliances, Equinix 
  "In today's global digital economy, interconnecting with digital services and customers at the edge—in multiple and often distant locations—is critical. By expanding our collaboration with Microsoft to bring Azure ExpressRoute to Equinix IBX data centers in more than 20 metros globally, we're increasing the value of Platform Equinix as the location where cloud connectivity happens."

Additional Resources

• The Global Interconnection Index [market study]
• Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute FAQ [website]
• More about Equinix and Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute [website]

About Equinix
Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX) connects the world's leading businesses to their customers, employees and partners inside the most-interconnected data centers. In 52 markets worldwide, Equinix is where companies come together to realize new opportunities and accelerate their business, IT and cloud strategies. www.equinix.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from expectations discussed in such forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to, the challenges of acquiring, operating and constructing IBX data centers and developing, deploying and delivering Equinix services; unanticipated costs or difficulties relating to the integration of companies we have acquired or will acquire into Equinix; a failure to receive significant revenue from customers in recently built out or acquired data centers; failure to complete any financing arrangements contemplated from time to time; competition from existing and new competitors; the ability to generate sufficient cash flow or otherwise obtain funds to repay new or outstanding indebtedness; the loss or decline in business from our key customers; and other risks described from time to time in Equinix filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In particular, see recent Equinix quarterly and annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, copies of which are available upon request from Equinix. Equinix does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this press release.

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SOURCE Equinix, Inc.