Equinix Announces New Plans to Open Flagship Data Center In Milan
Due to open in Q1 2021, leading data center and interconnectivity firm Equinix yesterday announced plans to open their fourth Italy based data center to be known as ML5, the International Business Exchange™ (IBX®).
The expansion is expected to further enhance digital transformation and development opportunities for Italian organisations, in addition to supporting global company strategies in their operations within the country. Featuring state-of-the-art innovation and modular construction in alignment with Equinix’s Flexible Data Center (FDC) principles, the $51M site will expand the companies portfolio of what are considered by the firm as some of the most energy-efficient data centers in the world. Sustained by 100% renewable energy, M15 will be designed to LEED Gold Standard and aligned with global environmental standards.
Emmanuel Becker, Managing Director, Italy, Equinix says: “This latest investment shows our continued support for the Italian market as a strategic interconnection point. With this new site, we are further providing for companies in Italy looking to expand both locally and internationally.”
Judith Gardiner, Vice President, Growth and Emerging Markets, Equinix explains: “Italy is a key growth market for Equinix in EMEA, particularly in the areas of automotive and financial services. This expansion supports the increasing demands we’re seeing from companies in Italy and the wider region to accelerate their digital transformation — which has only accelerated in the wake of COVID-19.”
Equinix’s existing IBX data centers within the region currently support 160+ companies, with ML5 IBX enabling organisations undergoing a digital transformation to interconnect with strategic business partners within Equinix’s global ecosystem of nearly 10,000 customers including some of the largest cloud providers around the world such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Oracle and Google.
Becker adds: “Data centers are crucial for connectivity and are at the heart of the country’s economic model — especially in this critical period. Our goal is to continue to expand and offer more services to help companies extend their IT operations to the digital edge.”
Playing a key role in Italy’s economy, Equinix’s Milan based data centers host critical digital assets of global financial services firms and is home to the country’s only stock exchange, Borsa Italiana.
Gardiner states: “ML5 will play a key role in helping businesses thrive in the evolving digital economy, through the formation of an interconnected metro area where customers can seamlessly connect with strategic business partners in Italy and across the world.”
For the latest in global Data Center news, insights and interviews, sign up to Data Centre Magazine.
