UNCOVERING THE LAYERS
adjacent data centres at the Edge, which
deliver improved control, auditability,
compliance and security of AI/ML data,
and low-latency connectivity to remote
data and compute infrastructures.
Furthermore, Equinix predicts that greater
interconnection and data processing
capabilities will pave the way for new
digital data marketplaces, where data
providers and buyers can transact easily
and securely at scale within vendor-
neutral data centres at the Edge.
The rise in cybersecurity
threats will require new data
management capabilities
The World Economic Forum has ranked
breaches in cybersecurity as one of the
top risks facing our global community. No
company or individual is immune to the
cybersecurity challenges we face today or
in the future. The financial loss attributed
to cyberattacks continues to impact
economies worldwide.
With the increase in cyberattacks and
data privacy and protection regulations,
most companies are now moving towards
accessing cloud services over private
networks and storing their encryption
keys in a cloud-based Hardware Security
Module (HSM) at a location that is
separate from where their data resides.
This HSM-as-a-Service model allows
them to increase the level of control
over their data, to strengthen resiliency
of operations and to support a hybrid
technology architecture.
In 2020, Equinix predicts that new data
processing capabilities such as multi-party
secure computation, fully homomorphic
encryption (operating on encrypted data)
and secure enclaves (where even cloud
operators cannot peer into the code being
executed by a cloud consumer) will move
towards the mainstream and will allow
enterprises to run their computation in a
secure manner.
Data regulation will influence
enterprise IT strategies
Today, many enterprises buy and sell data
in order to get a competitive advantage,
but these enterprises must adhere to
government regulations for personal data
privacy and protection.
What started with the EU’s General Data
Protection Regulation (GDPR) is now
transcending into other local regulatory
frameworks such as the California
Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) among
many others and is putting more pressure
on enterprises to ensure data compliance.
In fact, there are 121 countries that have
either already announced or are in the
process of formulating data sovereignty
laws that prevent the movement of
their citizens’ personal data outside the
country’s boundaries.
In 2020, Equinix believes we will see
further complexity in protecting personal
data as global trends toward stricter or
new data privacy regulations continue to
gain momentum, making it more difficult
for global companies distributed across
multiple markets to navigate.
In a recent survey commissioned by
Equinix of over 2,450 IT decision makers
across the world, 69% of the global
respondents listed ‘complying with
data protection regulations’ as a top
priority for their business, while 43%
of them reported ‘changing regulatory
requirements around data privacy’ as a
threat to their company.
In 2020, Equinix predicts IT strategies
will increasingly focus on data privacy,
with continued application of the secure
discovery, classification and encryption of
personally identifiable information (PII).
Equinix believes HSMs will be an integral
part of a data security architecture and
strategy for encrypting PII and providing
an exceptionally high level of security for
safeguarding data.
Digital Transformation will
provide a foundation for a
more sustainable world
According to an Equinix Survey, 42% of
IT decision makers agree that the
‘greenness’ of a company’s suppliers has
a direct impact on their buying decisions.
Equinix anticipates that with increasing
pressures on the world’s resources and
the increasing desire by many companies
to cut emissions, Digital Transformation
could begin to set the world’s economy
on a progressively sustainable footing.
In 2020, sustainability will likely be an
initiative for world-class organisations
as stakeholders increasingly look to
digital businesses to lead and innovate
in areas of environmental responsibility
and sustainability.
Equinix further predicts that digital and
technology innovations will provide
companies with the opportunity
to overcome barriers, such as the
geographic dispersion of supply chains
to the complexity of materials and
deconstructing products.
Machine-to-machine and data analytics
enable companies to match the supply
and demand for underused assets and
products. The cloud, in combination with
mobile, can dematerialise products or
even entire industries. Equinix anticipates
that as businesses depend on data centre
resources to connect with customers and
run many aspects of their operations,
they will look to vendor-neutral colocation
data centre providers who are committed,
vocal and proven champions for advancing
environmental sustainability. ◊
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Issue 12
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