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© 2017 Equinix, Inc.
8 PREDICTIONS FOR IT IN 2018
© 2017 Equinix, Inc.
The public blockchain at the heart of various cryptocurrencies is very different from the private
blockchain we see appealing to more companies in 2018. The key difference is that private
blockchain networks are “permissioned,” rather than open, so private blockchain
networks have more secure digital identity management, greater levels of trust and
the ability to permit far greater levels of transactional throughput.
#1: PRIVATE BLOCKCHAIN NETWORKS TAKE HOLD AND MULTIPLY
© 2017 Equinix, Inc.
#2: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE-BASED APPLICATIONS SURGE INTO THE MAINSTREAM
The advent of big data, AI-focused processors and deep-learning algorithms has enabled AI to power
advances like smart homes, factories and cars, which have broad appeal. AI systems need to
interpret and fuse data from multiple sources, and they also need to be distributed, with
model building happening in clouds and model deployment based at edge
locations to satisfy real-time processing requirements.
© 2017 Equinix, Inc.1 Gartner Press Release, Gartner Says 8.4 Billion Connected “Things” Will Be in Use in 2017, Up 31 Percent From 2016, February 7, 2017
#3: INTERNET OF THINGS APPS ACCELERATE COMPUTING SHIFT TO THE DIGITAL EDGE
Gartner expects the number of connected things worldwide to rise from 8.4 billion today to 20.4
billion by 2020.1 In 2018, as these devices multiply, the computation needs at the heart of the
Internet of Things (IoT) will increasingly shift to the digital edge.
© 2017 Equinix, Inc.
#4: A NEW ARCHITECTURE FOR SUBSEA CABLE SYSTEMS BECOMES PROMINENT
Subsea cables are a key component of the internet, as nearly all global data traffic touches one, and
investment in new cables is increasing amid massive projected growth in that traffic. We
see a new architecture taking hold that will improve costs, deployment agility and
interconnection benefits.
© 2017 Equinix, Inc.
#5: SDN/NFV TECHNOLOGIES TRANSFORM WIDE AREA NETWORKS
A fundamental shift in enterprise acceptance of software-defined networking (SDN) and network
function virtualization (NFV) technologies is underway, and it’s changing how large
enterprises architect their wide area networks (WANs) to increase their cloud access
services. This shift will gain strength in 2018.
#6: COMPANIES LOOK FOR A GLOBAL DATA CENTER PLATFORM TO MEET EMERGING DATA
SOVEREIGNTY AND AUDITING MANDATES
© 2017 Equinix, Inc.
Several major data privacy, security and sovereignty regulations will be enacted in 2018, and all will
have major implications for businesses. The enforcement of data sovereignty laws across the
world will make it necessary for organizations to have data centers in multiple regions in
order to store data locally.
© 2017 Equinix, Inc.
#7: THE MULTICLOUD TREND LEAVES COMPANIES IN NEED OF HYBRID IT PLATFORM
As multicloud becomes more prevalent, we see an increasing enterprise need to bring its management
under control on a hybrid IT platform. Companies are distributing their applications over multiple
clouds, based on the best cloud for the job. In addition, businesses are increasingly relying
on redundant clouds to support business continuity and disaster recovery initiatives.
© 2017 Equinix, Inc.
#8: DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION (DX) PLATFORM STRATEGIES PROLIFERATE
ACROSS ENTERPRISES
We see DX platform companies investing more in open application programming interfaces (APIs)
and customer/partner-facing development portals in 2018. An external-facing, API-enabled DX
platform speeds up the development and integration of digital services and enables
more intelligent tools for IT automation and orchestration.
© 2017 Equinix, Inc.
Every business can and should leverage Interconnection to stay competitive in the digital age. Start with the Global Interconnection Index, a new global baseline to track, measure and forecast Interconnection Bandwidth. See all the detailed trends, insights and implications of Interconnection among your peers and around the world—and then take the next step.
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