Recently in Web Performance Category

Nearly two years ago, we published the blog post "Clarifying State of the Internet Report Metrics," which served as a great reference for those interested in finding out more about the metrics published within the State of the Internet Report. Since the report has evolved, we're releasing an update to clarify existing metrics and review new ones, with the goal of minimizing confusion about terms and data in the report.

In the third quarter of 2013, the State of the Internet Report started to include insight into IPv6 adoption based on data gathered from across the Akamai Intelligent Platform™. Throughout the last year, we've seen impressive growth rates across the top countries and network providers on both a quarterly and yearly basis as native IPv6 connectivity is made available to more end users.

The Internet is a far more complex entity than the "series of tubes" image that is often invoked. Similarly, keeping up with the current solutions for your IT infrastructure and modern application delivery, such as the Application Delivery Controller (ADC), may seem equally daunting if you're not staying current with the key terminology; fortunately, Akamai is here to help you navigate the current atmosphere:

Our series of posts over the past few weeks covered a number of topics regarding the new world of application delivery, from discussions about the challenges posed by globalization to summaries of the benefits of a Cloud-based application delivery solution. We concluded on how you can move your business forward in terms of application delivery, and now it's important to lay out a number of best-practice techniques for getting the most out of your chosen solution.

Although our goal was to publish it in mid-December, unexpectedly busy schedules and holiday time off derailed those plans. Fear not, though, as the Q3 2014 State of the Internet Report will be published just after the start of the New Year. As a belated holiday present for our readers, we will also be launching an updated connectivity visualization on the State of the Internet website, a new State of the Internet subspace on the Akamai Community, and an updated mobile application for iOS devices.

What type of device are you using to read this post right now?

No sixth sense is necessary to determine that the answer would range from "laptop," to "smartphone." Nor would it be required to guess that you already have several work-related emails in your inbox that are stamped with "Sent from my iPhone." It's also likely that this has caused controversy amongst the Android users in your life at least once.

2nd of a 2-part blog post. Read the first one now! It's all about the user experience

At Akamai, our observation through in-depth discussions with our 150+ SaaS Provider customers, and ongoing engagements with analysts and press, is that the best way for SaaS Providers to increase customer retention and minimize churn is to have a maniacal focus on the end-user experience.

The genre of Science Fiction and its contributors has given us plenty of glimpses into what the future of mobile devices might look like, from the hand-held communicators of "Star Trek" that inspired the first cellular flip phones to both cinema and comic-inspired wearable devices. However, compared to the smartphones and other devices that are currently on the market, these formerly advanced devices of the past now look and feel far more antiquated than cutting-edge, becoming more and more obsolete with each new upgrade.

Beyond all the hype, industry reorientations and analyst projections, the emergence of cloud computing as a common internal business tool (whether authorized CRM and data management applications or unauthorized note-taking and organizational tools) is an interesting example of companies following where their employees have led.

Here at Akamai it's no surprise that we believe in the transformative power of the Internet. Since its early days, smart companies have taken advantage of this power (often with our help!) to enable users with the freedom to shop, stream media, and connect remotely - but many of these same companies still need to learn how to use the Internet to deliver business-critical applications.