Manoj Paul, Managing Director, Equinix India

The data centre market in India is expected to record multifold growth over the coming years and is witnessing increased investment and interest from various players. A key player in the data centre space, Equinix India is offering a host of solutions to its enterprise customers to assist them in their digital journey. Manoj Paul, managing director, Equinix India, talks about the key trends in the data centre space and the company’s offerings in the sector…

What are the key technology tren­ds dominating the Indian data cen­tre space?

We be­lieve the following trends will influence the data centre business in 2022:

  • Cloud-native infrastructure will dominate: Cloud-native technologies will be­co­me more prevalent and accelerated ac­ross every layer of the infrastructure sta­ck. There will also be digital infrastructure orchestration from the edge to the multicloud.
  • Edge-first paradigm will fuel innovation: In 2022, edge-first deployments will continue to gain traction, as will a wave of technology innovations across the infrastructure st­ack. They will add­ress the increasing co­mplexity of scaling and orchestrating distributed infrastructure at the edge.
  • 5G will be powered by optimally pla­c­­ed edge infrastructure: 5G will be a major part of enterprises’ infrastructure dep­loy­ment plans in 2022. Enterprises can reap the be­nefits of 5G by placing applications and “fixed-end” IT envi­ron­ments close to 5G access and core func­ti­ons within a cl­oud-adjacent, richly in­ter­connected data centre.
  • AI will be distributed and move to­ward the edge: There is a gr­o­wing need to deploy AI in a distributed and edge ma­nner for a growing nu­mber of use cases. By 2022, AI deployments at the edge for both AI training and inference will accelerate.
  • Data centres will become grid-positive: In 2022, we expect to see a significant in­crease in grid and sustainability-positive data centre projects. The next generation of data centres will be de­centralised and integrated with communities, serving as resilient ecosystems for computing, con­nectivity, power and heat.

How can businesses become more digitally resilient in the new technology-driven era? Wh­at key solutions is Equinix offering to en­able Indian enterprises to scale their digital infrastructure?

Business resilience is no longer limited to reducing operational risks. When assessing their readiness for unexpected disruptions, organisations need to consider digital resi­li­ency as a key factor. Organisations that prioritise long-term digital resiliency and business success can focus on:

  • Modernising IT infrastructure to support emerging digital applications
  • Harnessing data to extract intelligence to cr­eate new organisational value
  • Using software to drive innovation
  • Reinforcing privacy and security to protect and gain the trust of key stakeholders
  • Enhancing customer experience to ge­nerate more revenue

For Indian enterprises, we have a full ra­nge of interconnection and digital infrastructure services, including Equinix Conn­ect, Equinix Internet Exchange, Metro Co­n­­nect, Equinix Fabric, Equinix Metal, and Network Edge.

How will the recent acquisition of GPX India help strengthen Equinix’s position in the In­di­an market? What will be the company’s focus areas in India in the coming years?

GPX India’s acquisition is the first step into the market for Equinix. It supports our pan-India aspirations. The acquisition will create a network-dense and intercon­n­ecti­on-rich co-location business in India, add­ressing strong demand from our existing network, content, cloud and enterprise cu­s­tomers looking to expand in this growing market and help Indian companies acc­el­erate their digital transformation. It will add more than 1,350 cabinets and an­other 500 cabinets when the second Mum­bai facility is fully built out. The acquisition of these sites will expand Equinix’s total global footprint. In addition, we are working to introduce more interconnection and digital services in India, including Equinix Fabric, Equinix Metal, Network Edge and Equinix Precision Time. We will also continue to wo­rk closely with our partners in India to provide innovative sol­utions for Indian businesses.

How is the Indian data centre market expected to shape up in the coming years? What will be the key growth drivers?

India is a high-growth market experiencing a data revolution. According to JLL, the Indian data centre industry capacity is ex­pected to double by 2023. Mumbai, which accounts for 45 per cent of the total capacity, is expected to add 267 MW between now and 2023. The demand for data centre infrastructure in India is growing exponentially, with big investments being committed by multiple players.

The rise of hybrid multicloud adoption, and increase in data consumption and generation by half a billion digital users in India are driving the need for digital infrastructure significantly. The number of Indian businesses embracing digital transformation is growing, and they are progressing towards increased hybrid multicloud solutions. New technologies such as 5G, edge computing and IoT rely on real-time processing and use huge amounts of data that depend on cloud computing. These data-dense technologies will drive the demand for data centres as they offer more scalable and cost-effective cloud computing.