Now that Akamai is in the WAN as-a-service (WAAS) business, we can compare them to the market leader Aryaka Networks. Aryaka lives and breathes WAAS, and has been doing it longer than anyone else, accumulating 150+ customers along the way, with some of them having hundred plus locations. Aryaka has proven that the WAAS model is here to stay, with a potential market size in the multi-billions. Aryaka offers WAN as-a-service, which is like a B2B Private Internet Network running over VPN that replaces Riverbed appliances, utilizing Internet connectivity as the transport. Akamai offers something similar. The main difference between the two; Akamai requires the Cisco ISR-AE routers at the branch locations, and Aryaka is hardware agnostic. Both have their advantages, but Akamai has Cisco on their side, not a bad deal if you ask me.
 Akamai WAN As-a-Service Features
- Best-in-class routing and security
- Proven WAN optimization technology from Akamai and Cisco
- Application acceleration for backend and front-end applications
- Caching using Akamai’s 150k globally distributed servers
- Internet traffic optimization – 1st mile to last mile
- Leverages Cisco’s huge customer base
- Customer needs the ISR Application Experience Router at the each branch location
- Supports Hybrid Network Architectures: Internet-based WAN and MPLS
- Supports Cisco VPN, Cloud Web Security (ASA Security Appliance) and IPS