The Shift to the Edge Continues to Accelerate
What’s old is becoming new again. When it began, the internet was distributed. Then, it was centralized. And, today, it’s becoming distributed once again. For 25 years, Akamai has been a key player in each of those phases. And we are once again at the leading edge, like we were when we created the content delivery category, as applications and data move to the edge.
We believe that our position as a Leader was reinforced by the recently published IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Edge Delivery Services, 2024 Vendor Assessment (doc #US51812424, November 2024), which highlights the shift to, and growing importance of, the edge — as well as positions industry providers in the edge delivery services category.
The IDC MarketScape noted that: “As the edge is transforming to be the new center for global ecommerce, a hub for rich media customer experience, and delivery of IoT content, enterprises should consider service providers that are [at] the forefront of innovation at the edge.”
Because of the growing importance of the edge, the IDC MarketScape reframed this evaluation from content delivery networks to edge delivery services. Although it may look like a simple word change, it’s actually indicative of the ongoing shift along the entire continuum of compute that recognizes that data and compute workloads are blending — and getting them closer to users has become a critical requirement to deliver a better experience.
The report cited the shift to edge delivery services as a critical trend and that providers are “leveraging their massively distributed networks to offer cloud computing at the edge and enable a set of low-latency use cases.” This aligns with Akamai’s distributed cloud and edge vision detailed in the How Distributed Cloud Computing Meets Modern User Demand blog post and in the More Power at the Edge: Introducing Distributed Compute Regions announcement.
The IDC MarketScape report evaluated providers in the edge delivery services category. We are gratified that Akamai was named a Leader. The IDC MarketScape stated that “Akamai’s comprehensive portfolio spanning media and web delivery, security, cloud computing, and programmable edge addresses the needs of enterprise segments and the developer community.” The IDC MarketScape also noted “Akamai’s transformation from delivery to security and now to cloud.”
IDC MarketScape vendor analysis model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of technology and suppliers in a given market. The research methodology utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each supplier’s position within a given market. The Capabilities score measures supplier product, go-to-market and business execution in the short-term. The Strategy score measures alignment of supplier strategies with customer requirements in a 3–5-year timeframe. Supplier market share is represented by the size of the icons.
The evaluation looked at all aspects of Akamai, including our delivery, security, and cloud capabilities and vision; our global platform and capacity; customer support and service offerings; customer satisfaction; environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies, in particular sustainability and employee wellness; partner ecosystem; innovation; and financial performance. The IDC MarketScape noted the following strengths for Akamai:
- Global coverage, scale, high performance, and reliability
- Akamai Connected Cloud computing platform, a multilayer architecture, enabling native apps on an open platform while optimizing workload costs
- Extensive security portfolio that spans robust edge security offerings for securing application workloads, applications and APIs, and infrastructure
- Transformation into a channel-first model and that has built a growing ecosystem of independent software vendor (ISV) partners and alliances
- Continuing development in media delivery and extensive support for large live events
- Global support with a strong vertical focus
- Continued innovation in artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML)
This transformation is evident in the ongoing work we’re doing to run Akamai on Akamai. The IDC MarketScape noted: “An internal Akamai innovation is Project Cirrus, which aims to eliminate hyperscaler lock-in and reduce cloud computing costs, notably egress costs by 40%, and improve latency response by 80%. By relying on open source technologies, it can accelerate innovation and application development.” Read How Akamai Slashed Its Public Cloud Costs by 40% for more details on Project Cirrus.
This shift to the edge is accelerating, and it aligns perfectly with Akamai’s distributed cloud and edge vision. We see the cloud and edge worlds coming together and look forward to helping our customers power and protect their businesses by developing and deploying workloads and experiences closer to their users.