REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Feb. 25, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Equinix, Inc., the global interconnection and data center company, today announced that it has joined the Stanford Platform Lab, a diverse group of leading technology companies, Stanford University computer systems faculty, and top Stanford students, who have come together to drive innovation in next-generation platform and application development.  As an integral part of the group, Equinix will lead technology innovation around interconnection that will continue to help solve the ever-changing needs and demands of enterprise customers looking to adopt hybrid, multi-cloud and Internet of Things (IoT) deployments.

Formed in 2015, the Stanford Platform Lab's mission is to research new technology platforms that will enable future generations of technology applications, particularly as they relate to smart objects and IoT, mobile interconnection, and distributed cloud workloads. Equinix joins companies such as Facebook, Google, Cisco, and VMware who have also joined the Lab to support this initiative.

Highlights / Key Facts

• Equinix's involvement with the Stanford Platform Lab complements the company's ongoing strategy to solve some of the industry's most complex interconnection, hybrid cloud and multi-cloud technology challenges.  Equinix has already made great strides in enabling and easing multi-cloud deployments for enterprise customers via its Equinix Cloud Exchange™ interconnection platform.
• In addition to hybrid and multi-cloud scenarios, Equinix will also be driving innovation around IoT and the next-generation interconnection platforms that will support the explosive growth of smart devices.  Connected devices are growing faster than platforms can keep up.  In fact, Gartner predicts that by 2020, 20 billion "things" will be connected to the Internet*. It is believed that the number of things connected to the Internet now exceeds the number of people connected. With the explosive increase in "smart objects," it is necessary to develop the platforms and interconnection technologies that can solve the data traffic and analytics issues related to this growth.  As part of the Stanford Platform Lab, Equinix will be helping to solve for these issues.
• The Stanford Platform Lab was formed at Stanford University in 2015 with the explicit mission to create and evaluate significant new platforms and stimulate future application waves.  In addition to Stanford faculty and students, the Lab also includes Cisco, Ericsson, Facebook, Google, Huawei, Samsung and VMware.

Quotes

• Ihab Tarazi, CTO, Equinix:

"At Equinix, we have always been committed to innovation, interconnection and collaboration.   We are thrilled, therefore, to be part of this esteemed group of companies and education leaders to support such an important initiative for the technology industry.  By being part of this group, we can continue to help our customers deploy next-generation solutions that solve their cloud needs, and it also enables us to tap into Silicon Valley's top resources and brain power, as well as share our own data center and interconnection expertise,"

• John Ousterhout, Faculty Director, Stanford University

"In the last 15 years, the industry has witnessed tremendous innovation and explosive growth in technology applications.  This growth could not have been possible without the equally innovative platforms created to support them.  We are now at a critical point where we need to ensure the next-generations platforms are in place to support the next phase of application growth.  With Equinix's track record of innovative solutions, specifically related to cloud and IoT, we are thrilled to have them as part of the Stanford Platform Lab and look forward to the exciting ideas and collaboration they will bring."

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 40 markets worldwide, Equinix is where companies come together to realize new opportunities and accelerate their business, IT and cloud strategies. http://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 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's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In particular, see Equinix's recent 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.

*Source:  Gartner press release, November 10, 2015, "Gartner Says 6.4 Billion Connected "Things" Will Be in Use in 2016, Up 30 Percent From 2015"

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SOURCE Equinix, Inc.