The content delivery network market is about to explode, according to a recent study The High-tech Resource Consulting Group. Phenomenal growth in e-commerce, Web sites and Internet usage is leading companies to take advantage of multiple types of content, including streaming media and dynamic content delivery as a way to differentiate themselves.
Companies also have to meet user demands to deliver that content as quickly as possible.
What makes content delivery services attractive to companies with Web and e-commerce sites is that they allow delivery of content over a network that has servers, associated Web acceleration hardware and caches strategically placed in different geographic regions, close to end users. Content delivery providers also can update information across their networks so that stale content doesn t reach end users. But it also says for that growth to occur, streaming media must deliver television-like quality in order to be widely accepted and adopted. Another interesting note in the study, which also provides market share numbers for the leading providers, is that the number of companies that will use CDN services is growing and will continue to do so. April Jacobs is a Senior Writer with Network World.