Two of Europe's regional IT companies have entered into a strategic marketing alliance in an effort to boost the capabilities of both and reach more clients. Global data centre company Equinix, Inc. has reached a deal with Capita IT Services, a provider of managed IT services in Europe. The two companies will now embark on joint marketing efforts designed to expand their reach in the growing European cloud market. Capita stands to gain a bit more through access to the Equinix data centre infrastructure. Capita currently provides data centre capability for 100 clients in both the public and private sector, but with access to Equinix they are hoping to see that number go up. As for Equinix, the deal allows them to add hosting and managed services capabilities without having to establish a new division of their business. Right now the company focuses mainly on colocation and cloud services. Adding Capita's managed services will enable them to enhance what they offer to current customers. Along with those managed services comes Capita's expertise in regulatory compliance for business data. At this time the arrangement doesn't indicate any major shake-ups in the way either company does business. In the short-term there will probably be no additional data centre jobs created, though that may change long-term if the joint marketing achieves its goals. Officials at both companies are optimistic that will happen. According to Capita's Mark Brown, cloud computing in Europe has been the subject of aggressive marketing for a while. But he now believes the industry is at a tipping point which should result in an explosion of the cloud market within the next year or so. By engaging in a joint marketing strategy both companies hope to take advantage of increased demand for cloud services when it happens. Some Succeed, Some Fail Strategic alliances between multiple companies in the same industry are nothing new. Such arrangements have been going on for generations; they will likely continue well into the future. What's unique about the arrangement between Equinix and Capita lies in the potential of both companies. For Equinix, it would seem a relatively inexpensive and minor undertaking to add their own managed services rather than join with Capita. By the same token, Capita already has limited data centre resources and could probably expand of them at a moderate cost. But both have determined there's no reason to reinvent the wheel when they can work together for mutual benefit. As a business model a joint marketing strategy is not something that is found frequently in the highly competitive IT world. But it has shown success in other industries. For example, heavy equipment manufacturers in the United States and Europe often work together in strategic alliances to produce equipment bearing one another's brand names and marketed through joint efforts. They've proven it works when both players are on the same page. Here's hoping it works for Equinix and Capita. If they can't stay on the same page it won't last long.