SHARE
Facebook X Pinterest WhatsApp

Akamai Serves Up Netli

Web acceleration giant Akamai (Quote), based in Cambridge, Mass, looked to Silicon Valley for its latest acquisition, Mountain View, Calif. based Netli. The transaction, subject to the normal regulatory approvals, is worth about $177 million, or 3.2 million shares of Akamai common stock at today’s closing price of $55. The acquisition of Netli is expected […]

Written By
thumbnail David Needle
David Needle
Feb 6, 2007
Datamation content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More

Web acceleration giant Akamai (Quote), based in Cambridge,
Mass, looked to Silicon Valley for its latest acquisition, Mountain View,
Calif. based Netli. The transaction, subject to the normal regulatory
approvals, is worth about $177 million, or 3.2 million shares of Akamai
common stock at today’s closing price of $55.

The acquisition of Netli is expected to enhance Akamai’s application
acceleration business, which improves the performance and throughput of Web and other
Internet-based applications.

Akamai trumpeted the deal as combining Netli’s high performance communications protocol with its own global scale and unique capabilities to route Internet traffic around points of congestion.

Enterprise customers stand to benefit from the improved performance of dynamic, highly-interactive applications such as customer portals,
collaboration platforms, e-learning environments, and business-to-business commerce.

Akamai not only gained great technology, it eliminated a competitor that
was winning away some of its business, according to Gartner research director Lydia Leong.

“Netli was winning application acceleration deals and they had technology
Akamai didn’t have,” Leong told internetnews.com. “Their product portfolios are pretty complimentary and this also helps Netli, which needed a dance partner to really grow.”

Leong is bullish on the deal, but thinks pricing is likely to go up as competition decreases. “This deal is a positive for the direction of the company, but not sure it’s great for the market because it reduces choice. Competition and innovation comes when you have multiple players. ”

Leong also noted that Akamai raised prices “by a huge multiple” following its acquisition of Speedera, and expects Netli customers will get an increase.

Akamai officials wouldn’t comment on specific product plans. “We’re excited about the combination of two great managed service providers in the application acceleration space,” Rich Kennelly, vice president of product management at Akamai, told internetnews.com.

Analyst Peter Christy of the Internet Research Group noted that Netli was winning deals in part because the lower cost alternative Speedera provided had gone. “In some areas, Netli was keeping Akamai honest as a price competitor, so that may be going away,” Christy told internetnews.com. “But if Akamai can’t save customers real money, it won’t sell anything. This deal’s a win-win.”

This article was first published on InternetNews.com. To read the full article, click here.

  SEE ALL
ARTICLES
 
thumbnail David Needle

David Needle is a veteran technology reporter based in Silicon Valley. He covers mobile, big data, customer experience, and social media, among other topics. He was formerly news editor at Infoworld, editor of Computer Currents and TabTimes, and West Coast bureau chief for both InformationWeek and Internet.com.

Recommended for you...

8 Best Network Monitoring Tools of 2024 (Free & Paid)
Liz Ticong
Apr 11, 2024
OpenVAS vs. Nessus: Top Vulnerability Scanners Compared
Leon Yen
Feb 23, 2024
What is SOX Compliance? Requirements & Rules
Mary Shacklett
Oct 4, 2023
The Top Intrusion Prevention Systems
Kashyap Vyas
Jun 14, 2023
Datamation Logo

Datamation is the leading industry resource for B2B data professionals and technology buyers. Datamation's focus is on providing insight into the latest trends and innovation in AI, data security, big data, and more, along with in-depth product recommendations and comparisons. More than 1.7M users gain insight and guidance from Datamation every year.

Property of TechnologyAdvice. © 2025 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.