Of the respondents, 31% said this would be to a new city, 33% to a new country and 38% to a new region entirely.
This comes despite concerns of a looming recession, talk about the end of globalisation and supply chain challenges currently hampering businesses worldwide.
The global sentiment was echoed by UK-based IT decision-makers, with 43% planning expansion into a new region.
Although, this pales in comparison to APAC and the Americas. Both regions were more optimistic, with 82% and 78% intending to expand across geographies.
Russell Poole, managing director for Equinix in the UK said: “While there have been innumerable challenges over the last two years, the survey reveals some positives that can be taken, such as more than half of UK respondents confirming their digital evolution has accelerated and IT budgets have increased as a lasting result, as well as 62% reporting the changes made under duress in a time of need were sound decisions that will remain in place, at a time when many businesses pan-industry are reconsidering hastily implemented systems.
“It remains an Equinix remains committed to support our digital partners in their evolutionary journeys through the utilisation of the multiple problem-solving platforms we offer.”
Despite continued plans for expansion, supply chain issues were still highlighted as an area of concern in the study. 59% said their business was plagued by supply chain issues and shortages while 57% specified the global microchip shortage as a threat to their business.
These issues appear to be driving the need for more virtualisation, with growth aspirations underpinned by significant planned investment in digital infrastructure.
Almost half (47%) of respondents said they plan to facilitate global expansion by deploying virtually via the cloud, while the UK came in lower at 40%.
The pandemic also continues to have an impact on businesses’ digital strategies with more than half of global and UK IT leaders saying they are accelerating their company’s digital evolution because of Covid-19.
