Witnesses Of Silent Industry Revolutions. Equinix’s EMEA Boss On Evolution, Acquisitions And Success
Equinix caters to more than 50 markets on five continents, evolving the world into a different place that is creating a plethora of opportunity. Bergen is one month into his new role at Equinix after leading sales for the company for six years and recalls the tremendous growth he witnessed.
“This is an exciting business because we get to witness silent revolutions in different industries happening at Equinix. For example, we have a good overview of what is happening in the insurance industry, where we see a silent revolution of analysing big data through to preventing calamities. We see industries like automotive linking with each other because of the digital transformation that is occurring, and driving innovation as a result,” he explains.
“Another great example is Brexit because the strategy of Equinix is to go with its customers anywhere they want to go at any point in time, whatever the outcome of Brexit is, it may lead to certain businesses moving from London to somewhere else, and we will enable the customers to do so. Moving from the sales leadership role I was currently in, to my present role, I am able to touch so many more customers, employees and people in the business alike.
“Equinix is a company that has such a huge growth track record and potential that is all about scaling, and with scaling comes complexity. One of my priorities is to put the customer at the centre, which in a larger organisation, would appear to be more of an effort to simplify the business.”
Bergen had the privilege to work for Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, in his past as a CEO in Silicon Valley.
“Ending up on a table with him he asked me the following questions: What is your biggest mistake in life? What did you learn from it? If you didn’t learn anything, you didn’t do anything useful in the first place. I thought this was a very great question, and I was very open about it and got the job within 20 minutes,” he said.
“What I bring to Equinix is exactly that. Learning from experiences whether they were good or bad.
Also, I have always been intrigued about what drives people, and that has developed into what drives teams, and I have seen the power of building strong teams, to which there is nothing more rewarding.” Bergen went on to explain that Equinix has always been led by IT professionals, adding that the entire leadership of Equinix truly understands cloud, connectivity, network applications, and the digital transformation.
“Many of our competitors have real estate people – they know better than anyone, how to build, lease, buy, and deploy real estate. That is a very different way of looking at this business,” he said.
“Success is driven by putting the right person in the right position.
“What you see in a company that has been growing as fast as Equinix is that the business sometimes outgrows the people. I want to put a lot of emphasis on talent management, as it is one of the key success factors of a business. The big change that we see everywhere is that companies have a tendency of going global. They move to other countries and continents, and they themselves physically go global. The second change we see is because of the cloud.”
Bergen explained that one of the ways Equinix is able to witness industry revolutions is through the launch of its cloud fabric, which allows its customers to seamlessly connect to their partners anywhere in the world.
“You can be in an Amsterdam IBX and connect to a customer, provider or partner in Paris without ever leaving the Equinix infrastructure. This has been put in place globally. When looking at the organisation side of things, we are adapting our organisation to move from concrete-based structures towards global structures,” he added.
“We are creating a global operations organisation because customers want the same IBX everywhere. They have no desire to have either a Dutch IBX or a French IBX – they want the exact same high-performance entity everywhere.”
Equinix’s investment in the EMEA market has been massive. Equinix acquired IXEurope back in 2007 for $482m.
They then bought Telecity Group for $3.6bn in 2015, which added a tremendous treasure of assets to the company, putting them on the EMEA map in an unprecedented way.
“We are now in 15 countries ranging from Dubai, Oman, to Helsinki, Bulgaria, Istanbul and all the big markets,” added Bergen.
“The investment has been really massive. In the six years, I have been with Equinix, we have tripled the revenue, which is only partly because of acquisitions, as we have an extremely strong and organic growth rate.” With acquisitions, comes challenges.
“We do acquisitions quite often, and those acquired companies often do not 100% adhere to the standard of Equinix. To have seamless processes and systems in place is the continuous challenge we face because of the acquisitions. However, we have developed that into an art, and we have been really good at it,” he highlighted.
“I tell people I have been CEO or in roles where I drive the business in the US – but I have never been in a company where I rarely ever have to visit a customer to apologise for the servers, which is rather unusual. This is what lets me know that Equinix is good at building high-quality IBX facilities.
“An example of this is when there was the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan, Equinix was the only data centre provider that stayed up and running. Likewise, when the notorious Hurricane Sandy hit New York in 2012, we were the only data centre provider in New York that stayed up.
“We also see more customers including big cloud providers that use the smaller countries where we are present, as areas where they can first deploy with Equinix through our cloud fabrics, without actually investing in those regions. They wait until they see a good momentum with those customers locally, and then they invest. This is extremely attractive to them, as they do not want to run the risk of investing $100m or more in data centres, and then having to undo it because it did not take off.”
Bergen added that the worst thing for a data centre provider is to build a data centre and it remains empty. That is something you rarely recover from.
source dataeconomy
Industry: Data Centre
Latest Jobs
-
- Account Manager - IT Services
- Germany
- €90000 plus OTE and Car
-
Are you a deal closer with a hunter mindset? Do you know how to uncover business pain points, and turn them into long-term digital transformation partnerships? Our Client are growing their sales force across Germany and looking for an ambitious, straight-talking Account Manager to take the lead on new client acquisition. You’ll focus on mid-sized to large enterprises across Germany helping to shape their digital future with tailored IT solutions in Workplace, Cloud, and Security. • Drive Growth: Own the full sales cycle for new business across your region. • Solution Sell: Build bespoke offers in Security, Digital Workplace and Cloud solutions • Build Relationships: Establish a solid pipeline through smart prospecting, marketing-driven leads, and your own network. • Represent a brand known for trust, delivery, and tech excellence—with 4,000 employees globally and a growing team within Germany. What You Bring • Proven new logo sales experience in the IT services space (not hardware!) • Deep knowledge in one or more of: Cybersecurity, Digital Workplace, or Cloud • Confidence to lead enterprise deals and pitch directly to senior stakeholders • Fluent German and good English skills Sind Sie ein Abschlussprofi mit Hunter-Mentalität? Wissen Sie, wie man geschäftliche Pain Points identifiziert und in langfristige Partnerschaften zur digitalen Transformation verwandelt? Unser Kunde baut derzeit sein Vertriebsteam in ganz Deutschland aus und sucht eine ambitionierte, ehrliche Persönlichkeit als Account Manager, die den Lead bei der Neukundengewinnung übernimmt. Ihr Fokus liegt auf mittelständischen bis großen Unternehmen in Deutschland, denen Sie mit maßgeschneiderten IT-Lösungen in den Bereichen Workplace, Cloud und Security den Weg in die digitale Zukunft ebnen. Ihre Aufgaben • Wachstum vorantreiben: Verantwortung für den gesamten Vertriebszyklus im Neugeschäft Ihrer Region. • Lösungsorientierter Vertrieb: Entwicklung individueller Angebote in den Bereichen Security, Digital Workplace und Cloud-Lösungen. • Beziehungen aufbauen: Aufbau einer stabilen Pipeline durch gezielte Ansprache, marketinggenerierte Leads und Ihr eigenes Netzwerk. • Marke repräsentieren: Werden Sie Teil eines Unternehmens mit 4.000 Mitarbeitenden weltweit und einem stark wachsenden Team in Deutschland – bekannt für Vertrauen, Verlässlichkeit und technologische Exzellenz. Was Sie mitbringen • Nachgewiesene Erfahrung in der Neukundenakquise im Bereich IT-Services (kein Hardwarevertrieb!) • Fundiertes Wissen in mindestens einem der Bereiche: Cybersecurity, Digital Workplace oder Cloud • Selbstbewusstes Auftreten im Umgang mit Enterprise-Deals und Entscheidungsträgern auf Top-Level • Verhandlungssichere Deutschkenntnisse und gute Englischkenntnisse
-
- Senior SOC Analyst Level 3. Microsoft Security stack | Ability to achieve SC Clearance
- London
- To attract the right person
-
Job Title: Senior SOC Analyst Level 3. Microsoft Security stack | Ability to achieve SC Clearance Location: Hybrid remote | London / Berkshire Overview: Senior SOC Analyst Level 3 to join a specialist Managed Security Services business. You will be responsible for advanced threat hunting / triage, incident response etc with a strong focus on the Microsoft Security Stack. Key Responsibilities: Lead and resolve complex security incidents / escalations Conduct advanced threat hunting using the Microsoft Security Stack. Build, optimise and maintain workbooks, rules, analytics etc. Correlate data across Microsoft 365 Defender, Azure Defender and Sentinel. Perform root cause analysis and post-incident reporting. Aid in mentoring and upskilling Level 1 and 2 SOC analysts. Required Skills & Experience: The ability to achieve UK Security Clearance (SC) – existing clearance ideal. (Sorry no visa applications) Current experience working with a SOC environment Microsoft Sentinel: Development and tuning of custom analytic rules. Workbook creation and dashboarding. Automation using Playbooks and SOAR integration. Kusto Query Language (KQL): Writing complex, efficient queries for advanced threat hunting and detection. Correlating data across key tables (e.g., SignInLogs, SecurityEvent, OfficeActivity, DeviceEvents). Developing custom detection rules, optimising performance, and reducing false positives. Supporting Sentinel Workbooks, Alerts, and Playbooks through advanced KQL use. Deep understanding of incident response, threat intelligence and adversary techniques (MITRE ATT&CK framework). Strong knowledge of cloud and hybrid security, particularly within Azure. Additional Requirements: Must hold or be eligible to achieve a minimum of Security Clearance (SC) level. Nice to have certifications (e.g., SC-200, AZ-500, GIAC) are desirable. Strong problem-solving and analytical skills. Excellent communication for clear documentation and team collaboration. Please follow Wheaton’s Law.
-
- New Business Sales Hunter | Cyber Security (UK Based)
- London
- To attract the right person
-
New Business Sales Hunter needed | Cybersecurity (UK Based) Are you looking for uncapped commission, a fun and sociable team that drives success with no politics? If so...You must Be UK based - and able to achieve UK SC clearance. (sorry no visas) Have a demonstrable history of sales success in Cyber Security Follow Weatons law. The role: Seeking a proven New Business Sales Hunter to join an established, successful and expanding cyber security firm. New business focused - £1m GP year one target (ramped). Sell a blend of security services & professional services. Ideal experience selling some or all of the following Cyber strategy & risk management Managed detection & response (MDR) Penetration testing Compliance & audit support You: Strong cybersecurity/IT services sales track record. Confident selling into mid-market & enterprise. UK based - London commutable 1x per week. Hunter mindset, full sales cycle ownership. Don't just send an email to apply give me a call on 07884666351
-
- CyberArk Architect
- London
- Upto £110,000 plus bonus and benefits
-
Are you ready to lead from the front and drive innovation in the Identity & Access Management (IAM) space? We’re looking for a seasoned CyberArk Architect who has CDE-CPC ideally or experience with privilege Cloud, someone who can lead with vision, execute with precision, and inspire teams to deliver excellence. As a key leader in our organisation, you’ll bring your strong business acumen and a technology-focused, innovative mindset to the table. You’ll be driving strategic initiatives, shaping transformation programs, and empowering teams to think big and deliver even bigger. Acting as a subject matter expert in CyberArk Leading strategic transformations in: Identity Governance Privileged Access Management (PAM) Access Management Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) Building and maintaining strong, collaborative relationships within the team Communicating clearly and confidently — both written and verbal — to deliver updates, raise potential issues, and share insights If you are interested in the above position we are looking for people with: deep expertise and a successful track record in IAM strategy, delivery, or assurance with CyberArk Hold relevant certifications such as CDE in Privileged Cloud or Guardian Have experience in a client-facing role (preferred, but not essential) Thrive in a hybrid working environment and are available to work from our or client London office three days a week Lead with clarity, communicate with impact, and adapt quickly to changing priorities