What with it being finals and all that, I totally forgot about Sunday Stills...whoops. Anyway, the theme today is 'Technology'. Having just finished a major presentation in my accounting class on a company called Akamai Technologies Inc., that of course is what first came to mind. :)
So no I don't have any stunning photos at the moment, but I can tell you to go look up http://www.akamai.com/ They are an absolutely AWESOME company, they help the entire internet run better but particularly specialize in helping their customers' websites run better. Below is the essay version of my part of our presentation.
Have you ever booked a flight online, downloaded music, videos, or software from the internet, checked the daily headlines on the web, or done online banking? If so, then you’ve probably used some part of the services offered by Akamai Technologies without knowing it. Akamai Technologies, Inc., is a business offering internet technology to companies worldwide. Akamai’s website states that "Akamai routinely delivers between 10-20% of all web traffic." 10-20% might not sound like a lot, but it is a large amount when you think of the traffic across the globe. Akamai’s website has a page that shows a visualization of all internet traffic right at this moment. The earth’s continents are shown in green, and internet activity, around the world, is shown in orange and red – and a lot of that traffic is right here in California. 20%, or 1/5, of all of the activity worldwide is going through one company – Akamai.
Akamai has five main categories of services, called ‘solutions’. First is Application Performance, which is broken down into three subcategories: Web Application Accelerator, IP Application Accelerator, and Site Analyzer. Web Application Accelerator and IP Application Accelerator are very similar – one helps specific programs run better on the internet, one helps the entire internet to run better. This will be explained in greater depth in the technology portion of the essay. Site Analyzer monitors websites and applications to help your company understand better what works for your customers and what doesn’t.
The next section is Advertising Decisions, which is broken into the subcategories ADS descriptive segments and ADS predictive segments. ADS descriptive segments, when utilized for a company that markets specific products, monitors for that company what consumers have bought; ADS predictive segments monitor what consumers show an interest in and therefore might buy. Both these services help the company decide which products to market and how best to advertise them.
The third solutions category is Professional Services, divided into two levels: Enterprise Services and Standard Services. Enterprise Services is a package including their high-end consulting service and implementation of their technological advances in getting your company successfully on the internet. Standard Services is simply a more streamlined version of the Enterprise Services: not quite as deluxe but still very helpful.
The fourth section is Digital Asset Solutions, with four subcategories: Akamai HD Network, Akamai Media Delivery, Electronic Software Delivery, and Stream Analyzer. The HD Network delivers video at HDTV quality, partnering with Apple, Microsoft, and Adobe. If you have an iPhone and play videos on it, you’ve used Akamai. The Media Delivery is for businesses that market digital media, such as streaming music or videos; by using Akamai, these businesses can handle more traffic, and provide better quality media, than they would’ve ever been able to using their own servers. The Electronic Software Delivery deals with making software downloads quick and easy, no matter the size or type of file. Stream Analyzer monitors trends in media streaming, so that companies can see what is currently popular and therefore how best to capitalize on these trends.
The final category is Dynamic Site Solutions, which is in two levels: Dynamic Site Accelerator, and Dynamic Site Accelerator Enterprise. Dynamic Site Accelerator, or DSA, typically makes the company’s website perform better – and five times faster! – without needing to buy extra, costly equipment. DSA Enterprise, is simply the deluxe version – all of Akamai’s technological advances put into one package.
Now that you know what exactly Akamai offers, let’s talk about who uses Akamai. Akamai’s website has a long, long list of customers who have discovered how much better their web services can run when using Akamai. Half of the Fortune 100 currently uses Akamai. Another team in our class is presenting Amazon.com, which is a customer of Akamai. Some other big names you might recognize: the NBA which uses Akamai to manage, control, and distribute over 200 million video streams, across the globe, through the nba.com website; Verizon, which utilizes Akamai to stream news, etc., to consumers’ phones without a great deal of extra cost; Weatherbug, which trusts Akamai to deliver their data quickly and reliably, even in the middle of a hurricane; Fox Interactive, which uses Akamai to provide speedy, flawless news and sports streaming, especially during major events; and Myspace, which uses Akamai to handle their volume of traffic while keeping their website performing quickly.
Well there ya go, folks -- no great photographs, but a speech that took me four weeks to prepare. I hope y'all enjoyed that! But if you want to actually see some photographs, mosey over to http://sundaystills.wordpress.com/ and see what everybody else came up with! :)
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