Equinix Marketplace Seeks to Connect Customers

When carriers and Internet companies go looking for business partners, sometimes they need look no further than the cabinets sitting beside them in the data center. This potential is seen in the Internet itself, which is made possible by physical linkages between networks. But it's hard to form a business relationships in a neighborhood where the other residents may be anonymous to you.

Equinix wants to make it easier for the companies in its data centers to do business with one another. Today it introduced the Equinix Marketplace, a new service that makes it possible for the companies populating its data centers to find business opportunities among the 4,000 other Equinix customers.

Equinix says its marketplace will allow its tenants to offer new services, and enlarge their digital supply chain to improve application performance, reduce cost and generate revenue.

High Performance Business Exchanges

“For many companies and industries, data centers are not just warehouses for storing large amounts of information - they have become high performance business-exchanges where organizations connect with their ecosystem of partners, suppliers and customers in the digital supply chain,” said Jarrett Appleby, chief marketing officer for Equinix.

Equinix (EQIX) isn't the first company to seek to make introductions between customers within their data centers. Telx, which also provides colocation and interconnection services, has held real-world business exchanges for customers for a number of years, and maintains an online portal to facilitate introductions.

Equinix has somewhat broader ambitions, and considerable scale t can leverage in its effort. As the largest player in the colocation and interconnection sector, Equinix has thrived on the "network effect" in which its data centers serve as magnets for customers with similar needs. Equinix facilities serve as ecosystems for thousands of digital enterprise, including more than 700 SaaS and cloud solution providers, 675 high-performance backbone and mobile networks, 450 online media, content and advertising destinations, and 600 electronic trading and financial market participants.

The Equinix Marketplace allows sellers of services - ranging from network connectivity to private clouds to alternative trading systems- to create a profile and storefront in the Equinix Marketplace through which they can promote their services to thousands of companies that are just a cross-connect away in Equinix data centers. Companies looking to buy services can quickly locate a selection of vendors,compare their offerings, and seek more information.

“Platform Equinix has long provided the foundation for vertical market communities to connect and interact," said Appleby. "In 2010 interconnections among our customers grew 27 percent, demonstrating the importance of locating internet infrastructure in close proximity to your key ecosystem members. Now the Marketplace makes it even easier for our customers to connect and do business with one another.”