Equinix expands collaboration with VMware on SD-WAN

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Sept. 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), the global interconnection and data center company, today announced an expanded collaboration with VMware to help enterprises accelerate digital transformation. As part of this expansion, VMware will offer its SD-WAN Edge as a virtual network function (VNF) on Equinix's Network Edge. VMware is also extending its presence in Equinix International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data centers across the Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East to enable greater connectivity for customers on a global scale.

As enterprises worldwide pursue digital transformation initiatives, they increasingly embrace cloud-style models and services to meet their objectives. With employees and customers dispersed across geographic locations and different cloud providers, there is unrelenting pressure on enterprise networks to become more agile, flexible and easier to deploy and manage. To meet these evolving demands, Equinix is collaborating with VMware to offer an easy-to-consume solution to enterprises, service providers and partners that empowers remote workforces, reduces disruption, and increases business continuity efforts for companies at the digital edge.

The VMware SD-WAN™ by VeloCloud® solution now available on Equinix's Network Edge is an enterprise-grade virtual SD-WAN edge service that helps enterprises manage their own direct peering relationships with the cloud service providers of their choice via Equinix Cloud Exchange Fabric® (ECX Fabric®) or Equinix Marketplace. It allows enterprises to enhance application performance for remote users within minutes, and without any upfront capital expenses. By delivering fast, optimized and secure site-to-applications at the edge via private interconnection, enterprises can deploy the solution to gain the consistent and predictable network performance required to meet their digital business needs.

Highlights/Key Facts:

• Designed to accelerate digital transformation for global businesses, Network Edge by Equinix offers enterprises a new way to deploy virtual network services, within minutes, at the digital edge without a physical data center deployment or hardware requirements.
• Network Edge enables companies to reduce capital expenses and scale IT and network services globally by virtually deploying a digital-ready infrastructure. By utilizing network functions virtualization (NFV), Network Edge offers customers the choice of virtual network services from multiple vendors.
• The VMware SD-WAN by VeloCloud solution delivers high-performance, reliable branch access to cloud services, private data centers, and SaaS-based enterprise applications. Offered on Network Edge, global companies can bring their own VMware SD-WAN license and deploy the solution in minutes, optimizing network connectivity between site and applications while eliminating the complexities of managing hardware and connecting to multicloud environments. 
• Expanding on VMware's secure-access service edge (SASE) vision, Equinix and VMware will also enable provisioning and accessibility of SASE components via Network Edge, ECX Fabric and other connectivity options available through a single pane of glass on the VMware Orchestrator portal.
• Equinix has been collaborating with VMware since 2013 to enable hybrid cloud infrastructures, helping Global 2000 enterprises and partners address the increasing volume and complexity of application workloads and data. 
• Equinix is a Gold-level sponsor at VMworld 2020, taking place September 29 – October 1, 2020. During the virtual event, Equinix will showcase its digital transformation solutions in the Equinix Booth, located in the VMworld 2020 Virtual Hub. Additionally, Equinix speakers will be participating in session #VCNE3168S during the event titled, "Accelerate Your Journey to the Hybrid Multicloud: VMware and Equinix Achieve Scale at the Edge."

Quotes:

• Sanjay Uppal, Senior Vice President & General Manager, VeloCloud Business Unit, VMware
  "We are thrilled to work with Equinix to help enterprises accelerate their digital transformation initiatives and offer new world-class capabilities within the Equinix IBX facilities. With VMware SD-WAN Edge now available as a virtual network service on Equinix's Network Edge, enterprises, partners and service providers alike will be able to have unique, globally available network solutions optimized for intrinsically secure access to any public, private or SaaS cloud for remote and branch users."
• Bill Long, Senior Vice President, Product Management, Equinix
  "An entire architectural shift driven by data transformation is happening across the IT landscape today. By expanding our collaboration with VMware to deliver an innovative new solution that empowers remote workforces, reduces disruption and enables business continuity, we can help companies deploy a digital ready infrastructure at the edge within minutes in order to accelerate their digital transformation efforts anywhere in the world."
• Brad Casemore, Research Vice President, Datacenter Networks, IDC
  "Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the long-term growth prospects for the SD-WAN market remain exceptionally robust. Driven by the ubiquitous imperative of digital transformation, a growing number of organizations worldwide are looking to scale initial deployments, which often begin with a limited number of sites, to encompass all branch offices supported by their WAN. As they do so, they prize agility, resilience and operational simplicity. VMware's SD-WAN by VeloCloud solution, now available on Equinix's Network Edge, is designed to address those needs and help organizations dynamically scale their IT infrastructure in lockstep with the demands of digital business."