1. Who are major competitor(s) to Akamai? Focus on one major competitor. Do some research and outline key differences between Akamai and its competitor in terms of services, pricing, technology, target customer etc. Provide some numbers if possible.
1. The three major competitors to Akamai are :
a. Limelight networks
b. Mirror Image
c. Level 3 communications
Difference between Akamai and Limelight networks in terms of:
Limelight’s market share was 10% while Akamai’s was 66% for the Fiscal year 2007.
Services:
Akamai Technologies is a provider of distributed internet content and applications delivery services. The company's key products and services include the following:
Digital asset solutions: Akamai media delivery, Akamai stream Operating System, Electronic software delivery
Dynamic site solutions: Dynamic site accelerator, Dynamic site accelerator enterprise
Application performance solutions: Web application accelerator, IP application accelerator
Professional services: Enterprise services, Standard services
Custom solutions: Other solutions: Site Intelligence Offerings
Limelight Networks provides content delivery network (CDN) services in the US, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company's key products and services include the following:
Products: Audio, video and gaming content
Services: Content delivery, Custom CDN, Network services, Streaming media
Pricing:
Akamai charges more than Limelight. In fact, lower prices compared to Akamai are one of the key strengths of Limelight.
Technology:
Akamai has deployed globally distributed computing platform, with more than 30,000 servers located in more than 900 networks around the world. The company delivers customers' content and computing applications across a system of widely distributed networks of servers. Servers are deployed in networks ranging from large, backbone network providers to medium and small ISPs, to cable modem and satellite providers to universities and other networks.
The company also has more than 1,000 peer relationships that provide it with direct paths to end user networks, which reduces data loss. Akamai uses specialized technologies, such as advanced routing, load balancing, data collection and monitoring to make deployment effective. The company's intelligent routing software is designed to ensure that website visitors experience fast page loading, access to applications and content assembly regardless of global or local traffic conditions. Akamai's Network Operations Control Center has dedicated professionals on a full time basis to monitor and react to Internet traffic patterns and trends.
Limelight:
Each Limelight Networks center houses thousands of servers that do the heavy lifting for content delivery. Whether the deployment requires one server or two hundred, each distribution center has the capacity for the entire catalog. Limelight’s global footprint means the user’s request can be fulfilled from a nearby center — since the content is most likely close at hand.
In order to protect the application servers from the internet, the most common un-trusted network, the proposal suggests a firewall to be installed between the internal network and external router. The firewall would be an Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) firewall, "the ASA is not just a pure hardware firewall. In brief, the Cisco ASA is a security device that combines firewall, antivirus, intrusion prevention, and virtual private network (VPN) capabilities. It provides proactive
Cisco Designs, manufactures, and sells Internet Protocol (IP) - based networking and other products related to the communications and information technology (IT) industry and provide services associated with these products and their use. The company provides products for transporting data, voice within buildings, across campuses and globally. The products are utilized at enterprise businesses, public institutions, telecommunications companies and other service providers, commercial businesses, and personal residences. Cisco conducts its business globally and manages its business geographically. Its business is divided into the following three geographic segments: The Americans; Europe, M...
For many customers, our competitive advantage lies in our global network. We offer enterprise-grade network services in 182 countries representing 99 percent of the world’s economy.
Cisco Systems is one of the largest network communications company in the world. Cisco provides networking solutions that customers use to build a integrated information infrastructure of their own, or to connect to someone else’s network. Cisco also offers an extensive range of hardware products used to form information networks, or to give them access to these networks. Cisco also has it’s own software called IOS software, which provides network services and enables networked applications. Cisco serves customers in a wide range of businesses, such as corporations, government agencies, utilities, and educational institutes, and small to medium size businesses. Cisco sells it’s products worldwide. They serve as many as 115 different countries. They have more than 225 sales and support offices in 75 countries. Cisco strongly believes in the advantages of a global networked business. By using networked applications over the internet and it’s own internal network, Cisco is gaining financial contribution of at least $825 million a year in operating costs savings and revenue enhancements. Today, Cisco is the largest commerce site, with 87% of their orders are transacted over the web.
The tech blog outlines the perspectives, decisions and challenges regarding the software used to create the Netflix service. By going into detail it explains the company’s approach to outages by building software to combat, minimize and prevent downed service and illustrates open sourcing initiatives. Netflix makes known the common metric used and reveals applications like Hystrix and Chaos Monkey as well go in depth to elucidate the AAS reactive auto scaling model and has no hesitation about revealing cases not addressed by it, like outages and variable traffic patterns; However, implementing complimentary technology in a way that promotes synergy enables Netflix to handle unexpected needs efficiently. This section also opens its doors to potential IT professionals that are interested in tackling problems through employment opportunity.
AES distinguishes itself through developing new products and applications at a low cost. It is committed to social responsibility and empowering its employees through its four main principles which include integrity, fairness, social responsibility and fun. It is “different” from other corporations because AES is focused on retaining its core values and culture as the corporation expands in size. The company’s sources of sustainable competitive advantage include technical leadership through its innovative research and development team and its worldwide network of distributors and strategic partners. AES is committed to penetrating international markets, specifically in developing or emerging economies, and constantly improving on product development. The case states that AES believes their competitive advantage is a result of its “agility or speed and its ability to commit to corporate equity and to arrange complex financial transactions.”
Spotify is an on-demand music streaming service that provides a two tiered service to its users. The free service allows users to listen to any song on demand within the application’s music catalogue, but with the presence of ads. The premium service, however, is completely ad free. Launched in 2008 in Sweden, Spotify has grown and currently has over 24 million active users. (Sisario, B) As a result of several deals struck with EMI, Sony, Universal, and Warner Music Group, Spotify currently holds a music catalogue of roughly 20 million songs.
Spotify is one of the most popular streaming services. And since its breakthrough, access to music have never been easier – just type in the name of an artist or a song and press play. The advantage of it is that listeners gets to listen to their wanted music instantly and for free and artist gets paid royalties. But since spotify’s big breakthrough there has been big debates if free music streaming is going to kill the music industry or if it’s going to help it.
...ing developers and businesses an easier way of distributing content to end users while sustaining low latency, high speed of data transfer, and no commitments.
This article features US-based online subscription television shows and movies service provider, Netflix’s plan to expand into Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland this year (Edwards 2014). Europe’s wide broadband penetration coupled with strong middle class and efficient billing systems poised as an attractive market for Netflix. Netflix also understood that to successfully penetrate across the target markets, they would need to tailor their online content library according to local cultural. The company’s previous expansions had been successful in-lined with their goal of attaining global online dominance (Edwards 2014).
Consumers rely on their smartphones and laptops to listen to music on-demand. Although there are many music streaming companies, Spotify was one of the first to let consumers access millions of artist without buying individuals songs or albums. With Spotify, consumers pay for a premium subscription that allows access to every artist, album, and song within their library of
The Internet is a global network connecting millions of personal, institutional and company computers. The number of computers used by the internet is growing rapidly. The United States is connected with over 100 countries worldwide and linked together to exchange of data, news and opinions. The Internet is decentralized design. This means that there isn't just one computer that stores all of the information from the Internet. There are many independent host servers located throughout the US and the world that store the information made available to the global Internet community.
Spotify is on-demand streaming music player. After registration and downloading the desktop application user gains access to more than 20 million songs that are currently available on Spotify [1]. The main characteristic of Spotify’s streaming service is that it does not sell music, but it gives access to it. Streaming digital music is based on agreements with content owners - record labels, digital distributors, aggregators and publisher collecting societies, to whom Spotify pays out royalties [2]. Without these agreements there would be no music to stream. Basically, Spotify has an intermediary role as it distributes music content from right holders to listeners.
The internet is a total of medium¢s which are connected between them with channels of communication. The internet is actually an internet after it connects smaller networks of many countries. The internet rouses the computer and the world of the communications like nothing else before. The invention of the computer, of the telephone, of the telegraph etc, place the stage of this unprecedented completion of faculties. The internet becomes right away a world capability radio broadcast, a mechanism for the distribution of information and a means for the cooperation and the interaction between the individuals and their computers, being indifferent to the geographic place. In 1958 the American ministry of defence created a department called "Advanced Research Projects Agency" – ARPA. Its goal was to create new technologies. In 1968 they created the ARPAnet, a network of computers. For 20 years the internet was a network with precise and enormous in volume computers.
The Internet has revolutionized the computer and communications world like nothing before. The Internet enables communication and transmission of data between computers at different locations. The Internet is a computer application that connects tens of thousands of interconnected computer networks that include 1.7 million host computers around the world. The basis of connecting all these computers together is by the use of ordinary telephone wires. Users are then directly joined to other computer users at there own will for a small connection fee per month. The connection conveniently includes unlimited access to over a million web sites twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. There are many reasons why the Internet is important these reasons include: The net adapts to damage and error, data travels at 2/3 the speed of light on copper and fiber, the internet provides the same functionality to everyone, the net is the fastest growing technology ever, the net promotes freedom of speech, the net is digital, and can correct errors. Connecting to the Internet cost the taxpayer little or nothing, since each node was independent, and had to handle its own financing and its own technical requirements.