Akamai Increases Software Delivery by More Than 100 Percent

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (www.akamai.com), a service provider for accelerating content and business processes online, today announced significant traction on its global platform for the high-performing and reliable Electronic Software Delivery service.

"The accelerated growth of electronic software distribution is inevitable," said Amy Konary, Director Software Pricing, Licensing and Delivery at IDC. "As key capabilities for Electronic Software Delivery mature and software purchasers look for additional cost savings and management tools, Electronic Software Delivery will increasingly become an integral part of the worldwide software market."

Customer adoption of the Akamai® Electronic Software Delivery solution resulted in an over 100 percent increase in total software downloads delivered in 2004.

Akamai Electronic Software Delivery provides businesses with a highly scalable and cost effective platform for their electronic software distribution needs.
Demonstrating the growth within the electronic software market, IDC estimates that "the value of software delivered electronically worldwide will grow from slightly more than $1.5 billion in 2003 to more than $8.8 billion in 2008."

Related Akamai customers span a variety of industry verticals, and include leading businesses such as ACD Systems, Apple, Ashampoo, Borland, Cognos, Discreet, Intervideo, Norman Data Defense, Roxio Software, Sourcenext and Sybase, among others.

As Electronic Software Delivery grows to become a preferred method by businesses to reach their customers, partners and suppliers, numerous challenges exist for ensuring scalability and worldwide performance.

Many software companies are increasing the frequency of their software application releases to improve functionality and security. As the size and frequency of software updates increase, the volume of traffic associated with downloads is increasing at a corresponding rate.

Anti-virus software companies distribute regular updates to their virus definition files, which allow the system to identify viruses on a daily or weekly basis. These companies have requirements for high volumes of software distribution as well as high levels of scalability.