OREANDA-NEWS. October 22, 2015. Equinix’s latest research on cloud migration in our Enterprise of the Future report indicates an enterprise push toward multiple cloud services is imminent. Now, we’re teaming up with Rackspace to help companies make it happen.

Today, we announced a collaboration with Rackspace, the No. 1 managed cloud company, to offer private access to Rackspace cloud services from Equinix data centers across North America. This direct access to Rackspace will come either through cross connects or the Equinix Cloud Exchange, an offering that enables simultaneous access to multiple cloud providers from a single port.

Availability on the Equinix Cloud Exchange allows Rackspace to provide their customers with an agile mix of Rackspace hosted applications, such as database replication, along with the ability to build out a multi-cloud strategy via the Exchange’s supported leading cloud service providers. In addition, existing Equinix customers can now add Rackspace managed services to their hybrid or multi-cloud deployments on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform via RackConnect Global, and we’re working to add more cloud providers to the mix.

It’s all designed to enable customers to experience the full benefits of hybrid and multi-cloud solutions in a secure and high-performing environment.

“We are making it easier for customers to access and deploy the cloud infrastructure that makes the most sense for them,” said Equinix Chief Development Officer Mark Adams.

Rackspace services will initially be available through the Equinix Cloud Exchange in Chicago, Dallas, and Washington, D.C. Future expansion is planned for EMEA and Asia-Pacific.

“RackConnect Global inside Equinix will give our customers new hosted cloud services, and Rackspace customers will benefit from access to any cloud provider on the Cloud Exchange, thus making multi-cloud a reality,” Adams said.

Better multi-cloud enablement meshes nicely with the priorities of respondents to our recent Enterprise of the Future survey. The survey of 1,000 IT decisions-makers found that nearly half of respondents are currently pursuing a multi-cloud strategy and that by 2020, 86% of those companies will have deployed multiple clouds across multiple locations.

The survey also uncovered accelerating demand for the interconnection our partnership with Rackspace provides. In the interconnected era, businesses have the ability to collaborate faster, at more depth, and with a broader geographic range than ever. But that can’t happen without interconnection – direct and secure, physical or virtual connections between an enterprise and its increasingly mobile partners, customers or employees.

Companies know they need interconnection – the survey indicates the percentage of interconnected enterprise worldwide will more than double to 84% by 2017. Equinix’s new partnership with Rackspace offers an optimal route to the flexible, high-performance cloud interconnection the enterprise is after.

“With this new collaboration, Rackspace continues to simplify interconnection to multiple clouds in a way that enables our customers to reap the full benefits of the hybrid cloud – cost savings, scalability and increased performance – in a managed and secure way,” said Rackspace Chief Technology Officer John Engates.