The Perception of Words: Cloud vs CDN
The word cloud has become the most overused and overrated word in technology, even surpassing the dreaded word “Paradigm Shift” that was used a decade ago. The word cloud is applicable in many cases, like Cloud Apps, Cloud Compute and Cloud Storage. However, cloud has no place in the CDN vernacular. When the word cloud is used to describe infrastructure, the first thought that comes to mind is “that company has 1 or 2 POPs with some severs co-located at Equinix or Rackspace”. Nothing really stands out in the infrastructure. Also, by using the word cloud in the value prop, it simply diminishes the value of the brand because there’s about hundred thousand cloud companies in existence.
Customers already have a difficult time trying to distinguish one cloud company from the next, so why make it harder on them. However, when the word CDN is used, or even better, “Global CDN Infrastructure”, the first thought that comes to mind is global scale, thousands of servers, 30+ POPs located at the major Internet Exchanges, heavy duty global network, vast amounts of bandwidth, and so on. Therefore, a CDN should never use the word cloud in the name or value prop, as that is the fastest way to torpedo the company brand. CDN Nugget #2