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Techday NZ

F5 & Equinix expand partnership for secure global AI workloads

F5 and Equinix have expanded their partnership to provide organisations with enhanced capabilities for deploying and securing AI workloads and modern applications across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. The collaboration brings together the F5 Application Delivery and Security Platform (ADSP) and Equinix's Network Edge and Equinix Fabric, combining digital infrastructure delivery and security services to meet the increasing demands posed by the mainstream adoption of AI within enterprise IT environments. Addressing new infrastructure challenges Organisations navigating the transition to AI and advanced applications often face limitations with legacy infrastructure, such as increased security risks, compliance requirements, and operational costs. The strengthened partnership is positioned to address these concerns by enabling customers to deploy, scale, and secure digital resources globally without the challenges typically associated with physical hardware management. A key aspect of the expanded integration is the availability of F5 Distributed Cloud Customer Edge as a virtual network function (VNF) on Equinix Network Edge. This development allows for swift provisioning of F5's application delivery and security services, leveraging Equinix's global infrastructure and private interconnection options for a wide range of cloud providers. According to F5, the offering is particularly suited for environments demanding low latency and high performance, such as those for AI inference and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), while ensuring compliance with data sovereignty and privacy regulations. Industry perspectives "AI is putting massive new demands on infrastructure, especially at the edge, where latency, security, and control are critical," said John Maddison, Chief Product and Corporate Marketing Officer at F5. "Enterprises need faster, more secure ways to deploy and connect applications and AI workloads globally - without the complexity of managing physical infrastructure. Our expanded partnership with Equinix gives customers exactly that: a flexible, high-performance foundation to support AI-driven use cases and deliver exceptional digital experiences across any environment." Through the virtualised nature of the joint solution, enterprises can avoid long lead times and capital investments required by traditional infrastructure deployments, with instant availability of application security and connectivity services in new geographic markets. Maryam Zand, Vice President of Partnerships and Ecosystem Development at Equinix, drew attention to the pace of AI adoption and the associated risks. She said, "Organisations are racing to adopt AI, but legacy infrastructure can slow them down or expose them to unnecessary risk. By partnering with F5, we're giving our customers a seamless way to scale their AI applications and modern distributed workloads with built-in security, compliance, and performance. This solution can help businesses innovate faster, safeguard their operations, and maintain a competitive edge." Customer and partner benefits F5 and Equinix have outlined a number of benefits that their joint customers can expect. These include support for secure, high-speed connections for distributed AI workloads, the ability to deploy application services in new markets through virtual functions instead of physical hardware, and increased agility to react to changing demands. In addition, unified management tools allow security policies to be centrally enforced across multiple regions, assisting customers with regulatory compliance and streamlining operational efficiency. Customers of Equinix can now deploy F5's application delivery and security services directly using the Equinix Network Edge interface. Meanwhile, F5 customers gain simplified access to Equinix's global network and low-latency private connections to major cloud platforms. The companies emphasise that existing purchasing models can be used to access the new integrated solution, which could facilitate adoption among current clients. The companies have also highlighted new opportunities for F5 Unity+ partners, who can now deliver secure and scalable solutions for customers operating in complex hybrid environments, without the need to manage physical infrastructure themselves.