Enterprises to access digital infrastructure using subscription-based services

Europe, the Middle East and Africa make up 24% of the global interconnection forecast, and the region is predicted to grow at a 33% CAGR through 2026.

  • Wednesday, 31st January 2024 Posted 1 year ago in by Phil Alsop

By 2026, 80% of new enterprise digital infrastructure investment is forecast to be operated through a subscription-based model, according to the Global Interconnection Index (GXI) 2024 released recently.

GXI 2024 predicts that in order to meet the ever-growing demands of data-dense technologies such as AI, 5G and edge computing, IT decision-makers are increasingly shifting away from long-term purchases of physical equipment, such as servers, routers and storage arrays, in favour of flexible subscription-based models. This shift from CAPEX to OPEX started with multicloud adoption but is now becoming the norm across all infrastructure out to the edge, providing enterprises with greater agility in architecting their infrastructure everywhere while ensuring they have access to the most efficient technologies.

“Industry patterns have shown that the traditional procurement process of buying your own IT hardware, if that is not your business, is becoming a competitive disadvantage,” said Steve Madden, Vice President of Digital Transformation & Segmentation, Equinix. “The pace of hardware innovation is increasing (especially with GPU technologies), putting pressure on price-performance ratio and infrastructure efficiency. Globally, digital transformation requires businesses to become more agile while adapting to dynamic changes. Subscription models can offer continuous improvement and easier adoption of new technologies already in place.”

Additional Forecast and Trends from GXI 2024

• Digital economy continues to expand: Global interconnection bandwidth is forecast to grow at a 34% five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR), reaching 33,578 terabits per second (Tbps) by 2026.

• Accelerating growth of ecosystems: Organizations are connecting with 30% more business partners in twice as many locations.

• Digital proximity drives business at the edge: Edge infrastructure has shown the highest growth rate, and is expected to expand at over two times the rate of core through 2026.

Industry Perspective:

• Elias Khnaser, Chief of Research, EK Media Group

“In the current dynamic environment, subscription-based access to thriving ecosystem is the only way organizations will be able to build and scale a digital infrastructure capable of sustaining the business transformation resulting from AI, edge and other technologies.”

New report from Drata shows the growing complexity of GRC and mixed sentiments on AI.
Global technology services firm launches remote managed services offering to the channel in response of changing buyer behaviours.
CrowdStrike has released its 2025 Global Threat Report, exposing the growing aggression of China’s cyber operations, a surge in GenAI-powered...
Research reveals and ranks the top reasons SMEs are purchasing cyber security services. These include the need for specialist support to manage...

Report reveals record-breaking year for attacks

Posted 4 days ago by Phil Alsop
BlackFog has unveiled its 2024 State of Ransomware Report, a detailed analysis of ransomware activity from publicly disclosed and non-disclosed...
The latest Nozomi Networks Labs OT & IoT Security Report finds wireless networks woefully unprotected as threat actors continue to gain deep access...

96 percent of ransomware cases included data theft

Posted 4 days ago by Phil Alsop
New research reveals evolving threat tactics, the rising role of business email compromise, and the importance of proactive security measures.
Cyber Assessment Framework promises transformation, but IT leaders demand more organisational funding to move cyber from being a “tick box”...