Digital Realty has revealed the next step in its plan to help customers unlock trapped value from their data with the launch of ServiceFabric™, an interconnectivity solution and orchestration platform designed to support the wider industry shift to a hybrid, data-centric architecture.
In its industry manifesto titled Enabling Connected Data Communities – originally published in 2021 – Digital Realty laid out its vision: a solutions-based approach and call to action to remove legacy barriers across the interconnection industry and tackle the challenges of Data Gravity[1] head-on. The initiative outlined a new collaborative roadmap to integrate interconnection platforms with multiple partners and build the industry's largest open fabric-of-fabrics connecting centers of data.
ServiceFabric™ Connect, the first connectivity service launched under the new ServiceFabric™ product family, is the company’s next step in realizing this vision. Developed in-house by Digital Realty, the orchestration platform – available to customers immediately in 61 sites and 32 metro markets spanning North America, Europe, and Asia – pulls together network and cloud connectivity elements from multiple sources, including those from Digital Realty and its partners, to instantiate end-to-end services that customers need to fulfill their hybrid IT needs and support business goals.
"Since the launch of our strategic partnership in 2016, we have been proud to support Digital Realty with on-demand cloud connectivity that aligns with our shared vision of empowering businesses with rapid and secure interconnection on a global scale,” says Vincent English, CEO of Megaport. “We are excited to support the evolution of Digital Realty’s interconnection services with the announcement of ServiceFabric™Connect. Being the first integrated ecosystem partner of ServiceFabric™ Connect, we are fully committed to continue innovating with Digital Realty to provide customers with a frictionless on-demand interconnection experience.”
“Today, we’re demonstrating significant progress against our industry manifesto and reiterating the need to remove legacy barriers in the interconnection industry and address Data Gravity. We look forward to engaging with industry participants, especially our strategic connectivity and cloud partners, as we shape our roadmap for a next-generation interconnection fabric that will unlock new opportunities and value for all industries. ServiceFabric™ will incorporate the products of service providers in an open and neutral manner to enable holistic hybrid IT solutions for our enterprise customers. We will be an industry steward championing this shift and, together, we can tackle Data Gravity head-on and build a new era of open, secure and dynamic connected data communities globally,” comments Chris Sharp, CTO, Digital Realty.
"Last July, we announced Zayo’s role in helping power Digital Realty’s next-generation product, PlatformDIGITAL®. and today we are taking yet another big step together with the introduction of ServiceFabric™ Connect, bringing global, secure interconnection to market," says Steve Smith, CEO at Zayo. "We look forward to our continued partnership with Digital Realty and our combined efforts to enable customers to securely accelerate their digital transformation and global expansion."
ServiceFabric™ underpins many of the capabilities of Digital Realty’s global data center platform PlatformDIGITAL®, the ideal meeting place for enterprises with unparalleled access to several densely populated connected data communities including: 1,500+ enterprises, 1,200+ network service providers, and 1,100+ cloud and IT providers, helping to address the challenges associated with Data Gravity.
ServiceFabric™ Connect solves customers’ physical and virtual infrastructure needs in a single platform, enabling those same customers to unlock significant data value that is currently trapped by interconnecting their islands of data. With a counterpart connection, companies are empowered to use one port to connect to anyone, anywhere, at any time through a global platform.
The launch of this new solution marks the next stage of the company’s roadmap, the evolution of PlatformDIGITAL®, and the next step in a series of complementary coverage, connectivity, and service initiatives that Digital Realty is delivering as part of its broader mission to serve customer needs in an increasingly hybrid, data-centric world.