Digital service providers within industries like telecommunications, cloud and IT services, content and digital media and technology providers are forecast to increase private connectivity bandwidth five times by 2023, according to the Global Interconnection Index (GXI).
Equinix said the growth is driven by greater demands from enterprises to close digital gaps at the edge.
"As interconnected services, cloud providers, distributed cloud, edge services and SaaS offerings continue to proliferate, the rationale to stay only in a traditional data centre topology will have limited advantages,” wrote David Cappuccio, distinguished VP analyst, Gartner and Henrique Cecci, senior director analyst, Gartner.
“This is not an overnight shift, but an evolutionary change in thinking how we deliver services to our customers and to the business.
“This trend, coupled with the new reality that outside factors might limit physical access to the data centre (such as emergency quarantine), is driving new thinking in infrastructure planning.”
The report also forecasts that overall interconnection bandwidth will achieve a 45% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2019 to 2023.
The expected growth is driven by digital transformation, and specifically by greater demands from enterprises extending their digital infrastructure from centralised locations to distributed edge locations.
The capacity of this connectivity is equivalent to 64 zettabytes of data exchange, according to the report.
"Digital leaders have to prepare for post-pandemic recovery by planning and implementing the right digital transformation initiatives now," said Claire Macland, SVP of marketing, Equinix.
"We believe those that have a foundational infrastructure which helps bring together all the right places, partners and possibilities will gain a business advantage over the long term."
