AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY SOLUTION BRIEF
Automotive industry solution brief on how Platform Equinix re-architects IT to enable real-time data capture, processing and analytics.
CONNECTIVITY FORCES AUTOMAKERS ONTO TOUGH TERRAIN
Automotive companies are increasingly competing on tougher, more expensive terrain, as new "connected" technology, government regulations and consumer expectations force shifts in the industry and cut into profits.
Industry trends
Internet of Things (IoT) platforms and increasing demand for vehicle connectivity and autonomy are intensifying competitive pressures. Automotive companies today not only compete with each other, they also must become more data-driven, cost-efficient digital businesses to keep up with today’s innovations and standards. Key industry trends include:
>> Vehicles are accessing more media and services and are evolving toward greater automation with features, including self-driving and event reporting
>> New entrants from tech and shared mobility are disrupting traditional business and technology licensing and revenue models
>> Government regulations related to safety, emissions and fuel economy are tightening
>> IoT platforms are enabling more efficient maintenance and reducing risks and accidents
>> New business models are exponentially monetizing data for sectors such as auto insurance
By 2020, there will be 250 million connected vehicles sending data to IoT platforms. Automakers will need connectivity to compete.
Lack of information integration across OEM, assembly partner and dealer business processes is creating the following business and technology constraints:
Business constraints
>> Automakers must keep pace with the competition to meet consumer and industry demands for highly connected and automated driving experiences
>> Companies incur opportunity costs as looming fuel economy, emissions and safety mandates divert focus from innovation in other areas
>> Equipping vehicles with the advanced capabilities needed to fully exploit the
benefits of the IoT decreases profitability
>> Automakers often can’t capture consumer value from data-generated vehicles because it is primarily controlled by hardware and software partners
Conclusion:
Automotive companies must collaborate with emerging tech partners on innovative technologies and architectures to invent new business models that keep pace with customers, regulators and competitors.
Technology constraints
>> IT infrastructures are not distributed to the edge, making it impossible to quickly capture, analyze and act on critical real-time data to optimize vehicle operation and maintenance and maximize the consumer experience
>> Siloed IT architectures are not interconnected and cannot deliver high-performance connectivity for the large amounts of data coming from dispersed connected vehicles and their drivers
>> Cloud services can’t be fully exploited because they are incorporated into existing IT architectures, instead of consumed at the digital edge
>> Collaboration relies on "best-effort" connectivity, which increases complexity, lowers performance and reduces security
Conclusion:
IT architectures must deliver globally-distributed IT and interconnection capabilities for real-time data capture, processing and analytics between vehicles and value chain processes to differentiate automotive companies.
Constraints become capabilities when infrastructures shift from being siloed and fixed to integrated and dynamic.
Business and technology need to change. To expedite this transformation and meet the growing digital demands, automotive businesses must re-architect their IT infrastructures. This re-architecture creates capabilities that were previously not possible to achieve.
Business-enabled
>> Proactively respond to data and mass update processes to deliver new services with globally-distributed product and value chain integration
>> Faster, more cost-effective innovation via access to a more competitive ecosystem of industry partners can lower the high price of regulation
>> Collaboration with partners instantly and on a global scale creates efficiencies and controls that balance investments in technology
>> Direct access to vehicle, customer and partner data that can be analyzed in real-time creates opportunities to develop new data-driven customer offerings
Technology-enabled
>> Establish distributed data hubs for analytics processing near major global markets to ensure quick access to real-time insights
>> Re-architect the network to deliver the performance needed at the "last mile" to get closer to connected vehicles and drivers out at the network’s edge
>> Localize cloud services close to where they are consumed over high-speed,low-latency connections for better performance and efficiency
>> Simplify connectivity through direct and secure interconnection that eliminates exposure to public networks
The digital edge is where to localize delivery of cloud-supported services to your customers, employees and partners.
HOW INTERCONNECTION AND EQUINIX ACCELERATE DIGITAL BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFORMATION
>> Shorten the distance between your applications and data, customers, employees and partners
>> Localize traffic and services across all the locations and markets you need to reach and regionalize services globally
>> Integrate and deliver via ecosystem exchanges, leveraging multiple clouds and SaaS providers to increase your rate of change while interconnecting with digital partners
>> Locate data and analytics closer to users for improved response times and distributed scale, reducing the amount of data traversing networks
The Equinix ecosystem advantage
Equinix is where automotive companies and customers come together and leverage an Interconnection Oriented Architecture™ (IOA™) that enables them to harness the power of direct and secure interconnection. The Equinix automotive ecosystem consists of 1,600+ networks, 2,750+ cloud and IT service providers and more than 9,500 global businesses.
Put interconnection first in your digital IT transformation strategy on Platform Equinix™
Automotive businesses need a platform that supports dynamic bandwidth and connectivity to enable the analytics and control needed to provide end-to-end visibility and insight.
PLATFORM EQUINIX brings together the world’s market leaders and innovators on a single, global interconnection platform, accelerating business performance and opportunities.
Learn how to build an interconnection-first strategy and create a blueprint for digital transformation. The IOA Playbook outlines four foundational steps for building a digital platform. Get started today!
