OREANDA-NEWS. July 07, 2016. Men and women have always flocked to our great cities, whether it was Rome and Athens in ancient times, or Vienna and Paris in the beginning of the 20th century. No matter if we’re working, living, buying or selling, our grandest cities offer us possibilities on a grand scale, with London enjoying a top spot on the tree. London’s draw has always been powerful and vast in its art, culture, business and history. At the start of the 21st century, London added another sector to this list, with the emergence of Tech City UK, the rapidly growing hub of technology start-ups. It was under this umbrella that Equinix hosted “Innovation Through Interconnection,” a major event at the recent London Tech Week 2016.

Going into the event, I was seeking out the truth behind how our customers perceive their infrastructures today and what they see as the crucial elements of a successful infrastructure strategy in the future. They had a lot to say about this topic. Optimizing revenue and removing cost was a top priority. Clearly, a CIO that doesn’t have security very close to the top of the priority list has probably already dropped that ball. And alongside these, we heard a drive towards something that has gained ground as a crucial pillar of the new enterprise IT strategy: Agility.

Tomorrow’s IT infrastructure needs to have agility at its heart. It must support the launch of new services in double-quick time, support in-life changes to existing services with zero impact, and be a flexible platform that enables businesses to scale and expand rapidly as required.

But how do you get there? What do agile IT organizations have in common?

It’s clear from the companies that attended London Tech Week that in many cases, the significant answer is collaboration. It’s the drive to build new partnerships in a new, go-to market channel in your digital supply chain or the integration of someone else’s service into your own offering. One thing is very clear from this event: Collaboration in support of agility is key for success.

And for successful collaboration you need access to two things: The best interconnection and the richest ecosystems. These are the robust pillars on which successful enterprises are choosing to build their future IT infrastructures. Both will help you to turn your systems of record (databases, file systems, etc.) into systems of engagement (social media, cloud, mobile, etc.) that enable you to more quickly leverage opportunities for greater innovation.

For many of the same reasons that people for centuries have flocked to London, we see our customers coming to Equinix. We give them the direct and secure access to networks, clouds, ecosystems and resources. It’s an agile future for the digital economy, where collaboration is king.