Growth in private data outpaces public internet to reach 5,000TB by 2020 - data

By Nick Flaherty www.flaherty.co.uk

The capacity of private data exchange between businesses is projected to outpace the public Internet, growing at nearly twice the rate and comprising nearly six times the volume of global IP traffic by 2020, according to the first Global Interconnection Index.

The private internet of M2M data and file exchange will dwarf the public internet of the World Wide Web or the dark web. This Interconnection Bandwidth is expected to grow at a 45 percent CAGR to reach 5,000 Tbps by 2020, dwarfing Global IP traffic in both growth (24 percent) and volume (855 Tbps)1. It is also expected to grow faster than Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), the legacy model of business connectivity, by a factor of 10 (45 percent to four percent).

The study by Equinix analysed the adoption profile of thousands of carrier-neutral co-location data centre providers.  As business models become increasingly digital, distributed and dependent on the real-time engagement of many more users, partners and service providers, the Index is a powerful new research tool that highlights how companies are translating digital transformation into action and creating entirely new ways of connecting with their customers, partners and supply chain.

The Index will provide an annual baseline to track, measure and forecast the growth of Interconnection Bandwidth, defined as the total capacity provisioned to privately and directly exchange traffic with a diverse set of counterparties and providers at distributed IT exchange points.

"Some of the greatest technology trends of our lifetime, including mobile, social, cloud and the explosion of data, are creating disruption on the scale of the Industrial Revolution," said Sara Baack, Chief Marketing Officer for Equinix. "In this new reality, it's a 'scale-or-fail' proposition and companies are succeeding by adopting Interconnection, locating their IT infrastructure in immediate proximity to an ecosystem of companies that gather to physically connect their networks to those of their customers and partners. Interconnection helps fuel digital transformation by supporting multicloud consumption at scale, improving network latency and performance, enabling greater operational control, and reducing security risk."

Interconnection Installed Bandwidth Capacity (Tbps)
	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	CAGR
Region
US	472	654	913	1,275	1,795	40%
EU	335	473	681	987	1,451	44%
AP	246	355	519	759	1,120	46%
LATAM	92	154	249	395	626	62%
Total Region	1,144	1,636	2,363	3,417	4,991	45%

The Index also forecasts Interconnection Bandwidth by use case for both enterprises and service providers. The largest use case is associated with traditional IT deployment models, in which businesses connect to network providers as an intermediary path to reach business partners and customers. 

However, the fastest growing use case is enterprises connecting directly to a range of cloud and IT service providers, confirming the shift of IT infrastructure from centralised, enterprise-owned data centres to decentralised, physically dispersed multi-cloud environments. 

Telecommunications is projected to be the second largest segment, with the need to provide coverage in many new locations and support the proliferation of connected devices and sensors. The third largest segment is projected to be cloud and IT services.

Interconnection Installed Bandwidth Capacity (Tbps)
	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	CAGR
By Industry
Banking & Insurance	144	230	367	590	958	61%
Telecommunications	319	409	523	662	826	27%
Cloud & IT Services	221	314	445	607	820	39%

www.equinix.com

•