Equinix, a provider of global Data Center services, today announced the launch of phase four of its second Singapore International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data center to accommodate increasing market demand from cloud and financial service providers. Equinix is investing an additional US$28.5 million in the expansion of SG2, increasing the number of cabinets to 3,256.
According to the Singapore Economic Development Board, Singapore is currently home to approximately 50 percent of South East Asia's data center capacity. The fourth phase of the expansion, which is expected to be available by the end of 2012, is timed to meet customer demand in Singapore driven by the growth in cloud adoption.
Equinix continues to see increasing demand for cloud services from local and multinational cloud and financial services customers in the Asia-Pacific region. By leveraging Equinix's network-dense and highly secure platform, customers will gain access to an established, rich ecosystem of companies and as a result benefit from high-connectivity and low latency.
Andrew Khaw, senior director (Industry Development) of the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) said Singapore's robust, secure and well-connected Infocomm Technology ecosystem is ideal for companies to set up critical hub operations here to serve Asia. "As a leading independent data center and Internet exchange provider, Equinix's expansion is yet another testament to the competitiveness of Singapore's ICT sector. In addition, Equinix's close proximity to Mediapolis@One-North contributes to IDA's vision of ICT as a critical differentiator to this flagship initiative to position Singapore in the international digital media industry."
"With more than 10.3 million customers throughout the world, Go Daddy wants to give our customers the best possible Web Hosting and email experience, regardless of their location," said Mikael Erminger, international data centers manager, Go Daddy. "Equinix made it possible for Go Daddy to get online quickly in Singapore. Their infrastructure and regional knowledge helped us succeed."
"Equinix has been a reliable partner, playing an instrumental role in driving our regional business growth. Its high standards of consultancy, service and low-latency connectivity have allowed us to effectively manage multi-market projects across industries," said Grant Kirkwood, chief executive officer at Unitas Global. "With this significant announcement from Equinix, we are confident that we can continue to provide premium service experience to our customers and capture new business opportunities."
"Many businesses in Asia-Pacific are realizing the benefits of cloud as the new way to deliver and consume IT services. In fact, statistics from Gartner have shown that spend on data center services has reached US$10B in the region alone last year," said Clement Goh, managing director, Equinix South Asia. "Cloud adoption in Singapore will accelerate rapidly in the next few years, with many companies such as the financial institutions identifying cloud technology as part of their business plans. With Mediapolis@One-North earmarked as a media hub, the media industry in Singapore is poised for greater growth and will increasingly require cloud facilities to effectively connect and collaborate with their global partners. The expansion of SG2 will enable us to continue to meet strong customer demand and also further reinforces Singapore's position as a global IT hub and home for businesses looking to expand in Asia."
This announcement is part of Equinix's continuing program of measured global expansion to meet demand. Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region, Equinix opened three new IBXs in Hong Kong, Sydney and Tokyo last year and launched an expansion phase in Sydney this year.
