2014 is going down as the most innovative period in CDN history, where CDNs began to transform themselves from being a commoditized caching/streaming service play, to a hybrid cloud global infrastructure entity offering complex solutions in Cyber Security, SDN, WAN Services and Content Exchange. In 2015, CDN innovation will take a major leap forward, and the CDNs of in 4th QTR 2015 will look nothing like the CDNs of 2014. Here are some thoughts on the industry.
Reflection on the CDN + SDN + CybserSecurity Trends
- CDN feature set of WAF, DSA, FEO, Instant Purge/Cache, Log Streaming, HLS, Dumb DDoS Mitigation Services, and 1st Gen of SDN+CDN is old news now. Dozens of new features will be rolled out in the new year
- More CDNs will start charging monthly platform fees for value added services because the price/GB model has bottomed out
- Akamai is becoming more dominant. No CDN has made a dent in their armor including Amazon, Level 3, EdgeCast or Limelight
- CDN Ecosystem is no longer a $4B industry that includes only pure-play CDNs, it’s a massive industry that touches nine other technology sectors
- In 2014, CDNs offered dumb DDoS Mitigation Services
- In 2015, CDNs will offer highly intelligent DDoS Mitigation Services that incorporate machine-learning capabilities, algorithm-based technology, and big data analysis to stop APT’s
- CDNs will embrace SDN architecture, and develop features that rivals the SDN innovation of Cisco, IBM, Dell and others
- Google, Apple, Comcast, Yahoo, and Netflix are in the CDN business, and they spend hundreds of millions of dollars on CDN infrastructure
- Network Operators, Mobile Operators and Cable Operators are also in the CDN business. They spend massive amounts on internal CDN like infrastructures
- CDNs are the new “Network Operators of the Middle Mile
- CDN CyberSecurity feature set will continue to evolve and become more like Palo Alto Networks, Bromium and FireEye
Content Delivery Networks Touch Ten Different Industries
