Cloudscene, the global directory of colocation data centres, cloud service providers and network fabrics, has released the results of the Q4 2017 data centre operator leaderboard, and revealed the fast 50 markets to colocate in 2018.
For the fourth consecutive quarter, Equinix has dominated all leaderboard regions, retaining the number one position across the North America, EMEA, Oceania and Asia market.
The colocation giant demonstrated its strength throughout the 2017 year, with Equinix’s overall leaderboard score growing 9.04% from Q1 to Q4, 2017. Second-placed Interxion also grew significantly, with a 24.67% increase in their EMEA leaderboard score since Q1, 2017.
The final leaderboard for 2017 resulted in considerable movement due to the introduction of new eligibility criteria, which requires all leaderboard entrants to be carrier-neutral data center operators.
“Carrier neutrality is an area that continues to be of critical consideration in the colocation decision-making process. We need to focus on and celebrate data center operators and facilities that embrace customer and carrier access on a non-discriminatory basis," said Bevan Slattery, serial tech entrepreneur and founder of Cloudscene, Megaport and Superloop. To find out more about Cloudscene's inception, CLICK HERE.
“Discussions with key members of the industry led to Cloudscene’s decision to only accept carrier-neutral operators for our quarterly leaderboard, while leaving the Cloudscene directory listings completely open and available to all operators.”
The change has resulted in the exclusion of a small number of operators, which has paved the way for new carrier-neutral entrants.
“Industry feedback regarding carrier neutrality has led to the removal of SUNeVision’s Mega-i and Mega Plus facilities in Hong Kong and all PIPE Networks and AAPT facilities for Q4, 2017, affecting Cloudscene’s Oceania and Asia leaderboards,” added Bevan.
In addition to the neutrality criteria, data center operators are ranked according to data center density (total facilities in the region) and connectivity (total service providers across all data centers in the region).
Selected from a pool of more than 5,800 service providers listed on Cloudscene, the results for Q4, 2017 are as follows:
This quarter, Cloudscene has also released the Fast 50 markets to colocate in 2018. Based on total data centres, service providers and network fabrics, Europe dominated the top three positions with London, Frankfurt and Amsterdam ahead of Washington DC and Hong Kong, who appeared in fourth and fifth place respectively.
“Hong Kong has been on my radar for some time, but to see it make the top five now and stand alongside colocation royalty such as London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Washington DC is a testament to the great things to come from this market in 2018,” added Bevan.
Colocation markets within the APAC region accounted for 18% of the Fast 50 list, with Sydney, Singapore and Tokyo also appearing in the top 20. Cities across Europe and North America each contributed 40%, with South America standing at just 2%. For the complete list of Fast 50 Markets to Colocate in 2018, CLICK HERE.
