Productivity is probably the most difficult benefit to measure. Service quality is also difficult to measure, although surveys can be used to address customer-satisfaction issues. Filtering is a proven use of cache. Performance is also a fairly well-tested measure for cache, though there's some debate about the benchmarks and how to measure them. There's a key gap in the caching arena that's slowly being addressed.
Many caching vendors supply only a specific caching product.
Ideally, a complete caching solution would consist of the products and services necessary to improve performance, save bandwidth, and improve customer satisfaction. Ideally, these solutions should be seamless, integrate well with multiple operating systems and network protocols, and be easy to install and maintain. Of course, they should also be cost-effective. Caching product vendors must form partnerships with network providers, much in the way that Akamai Technologies Inc.'s EdgeAdvantage content-delivery network is actually a package of products and services from Akamai and its partners. Akamai's network is primarily land-based.