Homerun Akamai. Next at bat, Limelight Networks

Ernie February 6, 2014

Akamai Akamai knocked it out of the ball park today. They exceeded expectations and their stock price jumped 20% . For a company the size of Akamai, especially a CDN, this is a rarity. In one day they surpassed the

Apple CDN and Open Source

Ernie February 5, 2014

The Apple CDN Team needs to decide whether to go the open source route, or build a caching platform from scratch. I’m sure Apple is currently using some form of caching software in their web environment. However, building a highly

Deep Dive: The Apple CDN

Ernie February 5, 2014

Over the last day or so, there has been a ton of press regarding Apple’s plans to build out a CDN. According to Dan Rayburn, and what he heard from his sources, Apple wants to improve the download performance and

Impact of Apple Building a CDN

Ernie February 4, 2014

On 2/3/14 Akamai’s stock price dropped 3.5%. Some suggested that an article from Dan Rayburn, regarding Apple building out it’s own CDN, might have caused the drop. However, it’s hard to say since the overall stock market dropped more than

Annual Revenue per CDN Customer

Ernie February 4, 2014

An article published by Barron’s stated that Akamai has 5,000 customers. The new data point allows me to update my previous estimate, in order to calculate the annual revenue per customer; then compare the metric across four CDNs, to see

Deep Dive: Aryaka Networks

Ernie February 3, 2014

Aryaka Networks, the leading provider of WAN as-a-service is on to something big. They’ve signed up hundreds of customers, and are growing rapidly, to the tune 416% in 2013. Critics might argue that it’s easy to accomplish spectacular growth when

Netflix and Net Neutrality

Ernie February 2, 2014

On January 22, 2014, Netflix’s Reed Hastings (CEO) and David Wells (CFO) wrote a letter to shareholders on the 2013 results; Netflix ended up with 44 million members, and expects 48 million members by end of Q1. As of 2/1/14

The Revival of Speedera Networks

Ernie February 1, 2014

Aryaka Networks, is the Akamai of the WAN as-a-service Industry. It’s years ahead of the competition in its segment. Ajit Gupta (CEO) and Sonal Puri (VP Marketing), have created something very special, and extremely disruptive. There is only one company

Most Disruptive Startup in CDN Ecosystem

Ernie February 1, 2014

Over the last month, I’ve researched more than a dozen startups, that partake in the CDN ecosystem. The startups included CDNs, OVPs, File Transfer Platforms, WAN as-a-service, and Cloud Security companies. All startups mentioned in my blog are disruptive, offering

Akamai’s WAN Opportunity, Glue Networks

Ernie January 31, 2014

In October 2013, Akamai announced a strategic partnership with Cisco, whereas Akamai would add its CDN functionality into the Cisco Routers, making Akamai a B2B CDN or WAN as-a-service; offering a first-mile to last-mile file delivery and caching service. The

Cool Startup: Glue Networks

Ernie January 31, 2014

Glue Networks, a cloud-based Software-defined WAN (SDWAN) based in Sacramento CA, has raised $29M in funding. The company was founded in 2007, making them one of the first cloud-based WAN Service Providers, also known as WAN as-a-service. The executive team

Cool Company: Pertino

Ernie January 30, 2014

Pertino, a cloud-based WAN platform based in Los Gatos CA, started in 2011 and has raised $29M in funding. The founding team are from Packeteer, a network appliance company acquired by Blue Coat Systems. Pertino identifies itself as a cloud

Deep Dive into Fastly’s Pricing Model

Ernie January 29, 2014

Fastly is awesome CDN that is growing by leaps and bounds. They remind me of Cotendo and EdgeCast in their early years. They’ve hired experienced Sales Engineers and Sales Reps that understand the business. CDN experience is a key requirement