The award reflects Equinix's success in delivering a global data center platform where customers can rapidly reach new markets.
The Datacenter Leaders Awards recognize innovation and leadership in the European data center industry. The judging panel comprises renowned industry experts, including data center owners, operators, vendors, consultants, and media representatives from across Europe.
The Business Leader of the Year category recognizes individuals who have successfully built a data center business case for key stakeholders. Schwartz has been instrumental in driving Equinix's growth in the region. His vision is to deliver business value by helping companies accelerate time to market and achieve growth through access to a high-quality global platform: interconnected data centers.
This year, Equinix executed its largest expansion program in Europe to date, opening eight International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data centers in the region. At Equinix IBX data centers, customers connect to a robust industry ecosystem to ensure the fast and reliable delivery of their content and applications to their strategic partners.
In addition, Equinix has launched and expanded its European Carrier Ethernet Exchange service, which enables local, regional, and global carriers offering Ethernet-based services to easily interconnect and deliver services on a global scale. For financial customers, Equinix's collaboration with Deutsche Börse, one of the world's leading stock exchanges and electronic trading platforms, helped create a roadmap for the establishment, construction, and operation of a global financial hub at the Equinix data center (FR2) in Frankfurt.
"It is a great honor to receive this award from such a prestigious organization," said Eric Schwartz, President of Equinix Europe. "This is an award for our team across Europe, who have worked tirelessly to redefine the value proposition of the traditional data center. It's by going beyond localized services and demonstrating how a single, global data center platform can enable organizations to scale their operations worldwide that Equinix has truly excelled. Judging by some of the biggest names in our industry, we are thrilled to have been recognized in this way."
Ad van de Noort assumes the role of CSO EMEA at LAPP Group
On January 1, 2026, Ad van de Noort officially assumed the role of CSO EMEA at LAPP Group. Since June 2025, he had been leading sales for the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) region on an interim basis.
