Equinix, Inc. has  announced the opening of its new International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data center in Amsterdam at its Science Park campus. The $113M facility, called AM4, supports the increasing demand for interconnection capacity to accelerate business performance.

According to Cisco, global IP traffic is set to increase nearly threefold in the next five years.¹ This growth in IP traffic will accelerate the need for greater connectivity for organizations hoping to create business value as they undergo digital transformation. AM4 enables companies to extend network infrastructure to the digital edge and enhance workload performance by shortening the distance between services and users.

The European Commission's Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) 2017² ranks the Netherlands as the 4th most advanced digital economy in the EU, and the Netherlands also ranks 4th on the Global Competitiveness Index 2016-2017 (WEF).³ Digital infrastructure and interconnection capacity facilitates the flow of global data in and out of this market which opens up new business opportunities across markets and drives the larger digital economy.

The Netherlands has connections to more than 150 global submarine cables networks and Equinix data centers in Amsterdam represent one of the densest network concentrations in the world. This massive amount of network connectivity combined with the latest advancements in data center technology provides Dutch businesses with significant choice when strategizing future IT deployments. For this reason, multinationals looking to expand into Europe also consider Amsterdam a top destination, as it locating there facilitates connectivity to 80% of Europe within 50 milliseconds to maximize performance.

"With its connectivity to continental Europe as well London and the Nordics, Amsterdam has become a key hub for cloud and other service providers to offer enterprise interconnection. European enterprises are starting to realize their current network architecture is no longer optimal for digital transformation as they journey to the cloud. A deployment in a network-dense interconnection-oriented facility such as that being offered in Amsterdam could be a viable option to support their digital transformation," said Penny Jones, senior analyst, European Services at 451 Research.

Today Equinix operates multiple Amsterdam data center campuses and the addition of AM4 further increases capacity to meet growing demand for hybrid cloud, interconnection, and connectivity to business ecosystems across a number of vertical markets and internet exchanges. High connectivity makes Amsterdam Science Park an attractive location and cloud hotspot in Europe, which handles approximately 38% of the Dutch data traffic, making it the second-largest data route in the Netherlands.

The initial phase of AM4 includes space for 1,555 cabinets and is planned to have four expansion phases. At full build the vertical facility will represent a total investment of $189 million and provide 4,200 cabinets across eight floors with more than 125,000 gross sq ft (11,500 square meters) of data center space.

Amsterdam is considered the digital gateway to Europe⁴ and Equinix Amsterdam has more than 700 customers, providing connections to over 150 network service providers and access to an established cloud ecosystem which includes leading CSPs such as AWS, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Office 365, Oracle, and IBM Softlayer. This broad choice of cloud options enable businesses to flexibly create a multi-cloud environment to meet their changing IT needs. Additionally, Equinix brings together buyers and sellers of cloud services via the Equinix Cloud Exchange™ in more than 20 markets globally including Amsterdam.

"The Netherlands is one of the leading drivers of data centers in Europe. Thanks to its excellent connectivity, Amsterdam is the world's largest internet hub, making the digital sector one of the three main ports, next to Schiphol and the port of Rotterdam. Equinix' new data center AM4 ensures that Amsterdam remains the global internet hub and that European organizations are supported in their digital transformation," said Nina Tellegen, director, Amsterdam Economic Board.

Equinix has a long-term goal of using 100% clean and renewable energy for its global platform and continues to make advancements in the way it designs, builds and operates its data centers with high energy efficiency standards. For example, Equinix's Amsterdam data centers at Science Park realize significant energy savings and reduction in their CO_² footprint using an in-ground Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage, instead of mechanical cooling, and has one of the lowest operating PUE's in the retail colocation sector.

1. Cisco Visual Networking Index: Forecast and Methodology, 2016–2021, http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/service-provider/visual-networking-index-vni/complete-white-paper-c11-481360.html
2. https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/desi
3. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GCR2016-2017/05FullReport/TheGlobalCompetitivenessReport2016-2017_FINAL.pdf
4. Dutch Digital Infrastructure 2016, by Deloitte Consulting, November 2016. https://www.dinl.nl/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/17112016-Dutch-Digital-Infrastructure-Report-2016.pdf