By Ivo Ivanov – COO DE-CIX Group AG

Ever since its inception, DE-CIX has been motivated by the ambition to improve the quality of the Internet and access to information around the globe, and to grow new markets. This ambition remains just as valid today, as we pave the way for the 2020’s and 2030’s. In the digital world of today and tomorrow, access to global data flows is as essential for business as the provision of electricity was for the industrial world. DE-CIX, and its customer base that interconnects over DE-CIX’s ever-growing global family of Internet Exchanges, brings connectivity to the world, and will continue to provide access to information and digital services to an increasing number of developed and developing markets in all corners of the world.

DE-CIX around the world – geographically placed where our customers need us to be

To date, we have created and are growing eighteen Internet Exchanges on four continents, including Europe, North America, the Middle East, and India. Our goal for the coming years is to enable new and existing ecosystems in all major telecommunication markets across the globe. The geographic coverage of DE-CIX, paired with the variety of our interconnection services, will allow connected networks, whether they are acting regionally or globally, to get DE-CIX interconnection services customized to their needs from both a geographical perspective and in terms of their respective business models.

Digital is reshaping how business is done

We are at the cusp of a completely new age in global economics, with organizations redefining their activities and their sectors on the basis of digitalization. As they become more digital, organizations will need a new interconnection service regime for their new services. New and transformative technologies, like IoT, Artificial Intelligence, and 5G are accelerating the pace of change in markets around the globe.

Long and well-established digital companies are changing their business models and going into new sectors. The classic network operator as the historical core customer of DE-CIX is no longer just a network operator: tech companies are entering different sectors and the variety of different products is increasing. We no longer have the clear delineation of network operators that we had even five years ago.

But it’s not only the digital companies that are transforming. Old industry is redefining itself and its products in the digital era. Organizations are leveraging their digital strength to reshape their own business models, in turn transforming how business is done within and across entire sectors, including the automotive/mobility, healthcare, finance, and media sectors.

Classic network operators as we know them today are historically the core for DE-CIX, and remain key to DE-CIX’s activities. However, we see a need for new interconnection services for enterprises, paired with cloud connectivity and with global capacity interconnection needs.

Digital markets demand high-performance, flexible, and customized interconnection

For this reason, the DE-CIX platforms and ecosystems need to be able to cater for a variety of different services. The interconnection regime in the future will require flexibility in terms of different interconnection models and will need to cater for different types of capacity needs, such as peering, cloud connectivity, security services, and many more.

To satisfy modern enterprises’ requirements for reliable, high bandwidth, and secure connectivity within their exclusive supply chain networks, DE-CIX is preparing the ground for the “Enterprise-IX”. Enterprise-IX will tailor the benefits of the cutting-edge DE-CIX Apollon connectivity platform to the requirements of digital enterprises, with specialized security services, SLAs, and easy-to-manage connectivity to distributed production facilities and corporate partners. The goal of Enterprise IX will be to generate greater value for verticals through world-class connectivity, allowing them the freedom and flexibility to optimally profit from the digital revolution.

DE-CIX: Growing vibrant ecosystems to serve customers’ diverse needs in connectivity marketplaces across the globe

At DE-CIX, we have created extremely successful and vibrant interconnection ecosystems over a period of decades. We are using these ecosystems to introduce new services following the route of innovation, disruption, and neutrality. At the heart of the DE-CIX strategy is the continued promotion of the direct, cost-efficient, and resource-efficient use of interconnection.

And we at DE-CIX will continue to follow the path of terrestrial and sub-sea traffic flows; new, non-terrestrial dimensions are now being added to global connectivity potential. The combined power of the DE-CIX interconnectivity platforms and the ever-stronger satellite industry can be leveraged to bring connectivity solutions to hard-to-reach corners of the planet, opening up new locations and new market potential for connected customers. With the vision of the “Space-IX”, DE-CIX continues to lead the way in developing innovative connectivity solutions for a changing world, and wants to do justice to its mandate of improving the quality of the Internet and access to information around the globe.

With these approaches and with all our activities, our goal is to improve the quality of the Internet and access to information wherever it is required. Digital infrastructure is essential to allowing people to gain access to information, education, and improved health care services, and to have the chance to enjoy full and equal participation in digital life. This is all the more important in rural areas that do not have proper connectivity today.

We invite everybody who is digital today, or is on the road to digitalization, to think about new ways of using our interconnection services. The DE-CIX ecosystems as a whole and the participants within these ecosystems create the ideas together with us to map the journey into an interconnected digital world.

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About the author

Ivo A. Ivanov is Chief Operating Officer of the DE-CIX Group AG and also – as Chief Executive Officer of DE-CIX International – responsible for the global business activities of the Internet Exchange Operator. Ivo has more than 15 years’ of experience in the regulatory, legal and commercial Internet environment. commercial Internet environment. Ivo joined DE-CIX in January 2007. In recent years, Ivo has been deeply involved in the establishment DE-CIX sites in Istanbul, Palermo, Madrid, Marseille, New York, Dallas, Dubai (UAE-IX powered by DE-CIX) as well as Mumbai (Mumbai IX powered by DE-CIX), and several DE-CIX consultancy projects in Africa, Asia and Europe.

About DE-CIX

DE-CIX – the world’s leading Internet Exchange (IX) operator – provides premium interconnection services and runs a range of carrier and data center-neutral IXs globally. Founded in 1995, DE-CIX serves 1600+ carriers, ISPs and content networks from 100+ countries, including all leading international players in various metro markets in Europe, the Middle East, India and North America. With 6.8+ Terabits per second of peak traffic, DE-CIX Frankfurt is the world’s leading Internet Exchange. For more information, please visit www.de-cix.net.