Akamai and IBM to Drive Advances in E-business Infrastructure for Enterprises.Business/Technology Editors CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and SOMERS, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 2, 2001 Akamai Technologies Akamai Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AKAM) is a company that provides a distributed computing platform for global Internet content and application delivery, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. , Inc. (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :AKAM AKAM Akamai Technologies, Inc. (stock abbreviation) AKAM Automated Key Access Machine ) and IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) today announced next-generation Internet infrastructure services that will combine IBM's WebSphere e-infrastructure software, Web-hosting and content delivery for enterprises that use Akamai's globally distributed network of nearly 12,000 servers at the Internet's edge. Specifically, Akamai and IBM plan to collaborate on ways to use IBM's WebSphere e-infrastructure software to manage high-volume transactions and speed deployment of e-business applications on Akamai's global network. The companies will also provide customers with e-business infrastructure solutions, including Akamai EdgeSuite(SM), through IBM Global Services IBM Global Services is the world's largest business and technology services provider. It is the fastest growing part of IBM, with over 190,000 professionals serving customers in more than 160 countries. . Simplifying e-Business Infrastructure IBM's WebSphere software will be enabled to interoperate with the Akamai EdgeSuite service by leveraging Edge Side Includes (ESI (Edge Side Includes) A markup language for Web pages that enables elements of a Web page to be dynamically assembled in servers distributed throughout the Internet. ), a simple mark-up language and proposed standard for the dynamic assembly of Web page fragments, such as stock quotes and individual catalog prices. By using the ESI-enabled WebSphere Edge Server and Akamai EdgeSuite, customers will be equipped to build, deploy, and manage highly dynamic Web sites and applications that capitalize on Cap´i`tal`ize on` v. t. 1. To turn (an opportunity) to one's advantage; to take advantage of (a situation); to profit from; as, to capitalize on an opponent's mistakes s>. the performance and cost benefits of edge computing Edge computing provides application processing load balancing capacity to corporate and other large-scale web servers. It is like an application cache, where the cache is in the Internet itself. . For example, a retail site could construct Web pages by linking individual fragments, including a promotional graphic or sale price, targeted and delivered from Akamai's global network. "Web operations Web operations is a domain of expertise within IT systems management that involves the deployment, operation, maintenance, tuning, and repair of web-based applications. With the rise of web technologies since mid-1995, specialists have emerged that understand the complexities of are rapidly evolving from centralized to highly decentralized de·cen·tral·ize v. de·cen·tral·ized, de·cen·tral·iz·ing, de·cen·tral·iz·es v.tr. 1. To distribute the administrative functions or powers of (a central authority) among several local authorities. architectures," said Rob Batchelder, research director at Gartner, Inc., an industry research and advisory firm. "Critical to this evolution is the ability to dynamically migrate the application elements of Web systems to points where they can most effectively be executed. Technologies which enable this migration are essential to realizing the potential of a massively distributed, Web Services (1) Loosely, any online service delivered over the Web. Such usage appears in articles from non-technical sources, but not in IT-oriented publications, because definition #2 below describes the correct use of the term. computing model." "The Web has evolved beyond simple static Web pages to include more personalized, dynamic content such as news, stock quotes, and catalogs," said Scott Hebner, director of WebSphere marketing, IBM. "The dynamic nature of the content and applications puts a significant burden on network infrastructures that were only designed to handle static content. By enabling WebSphere Edge Server to interoperate with Akamai's network, our offerings will address those needs. Akamai provides a network that helps e-businesses save time and money and will help our customers expand the efficiency of their e-business infrastructure." In addition, Akamai and IBM will collaborate to provide distributed application processing from the Akamai network to enterprises and developers using WebSphere software. This will move the burden from the customer's centralized origin server to a globally dispersed network of servers, closer in proximity to end users. Pushing distributed application processing deeper into the network infrastructure will improve performance and reduce costs by allowing enterprises to develop and deploy mission-critical e-business applications that take advantage of WebSphere and Akamai's global network, without customers having to own or manage all the elements of the infrastructure. "The centralized model of Web serving has made way for a more efficient method of distributed computing," said George Kurian, vice president, product marketing, Akamai. "Together, IBM and Akamai are enabling businesses to outsource critical infrastructure through a unified source for cost savings, significant performance increase, on-demand scalability and worldwide reach. Given IBM's leadership in e-business infrastructure services, our complementary technologies will enable both companies to further assist Web-enabled enterprises." Delivering a Complete Solution for Enterprises IBM Global Services will certify consultants to support the implementation of Akamai's services, and establish a Project Office to further the companies' joint efforts in meeting the e-business infrastructure needs of today's Fortune 1000 companies. IBM's e-business infrastructure includes consulting, integration, and Web hosting services that provide a significant advantage in accelerating the adoption of the companies' joint offerings for outsourced infrastructure. IBM will also become an Akamai preferred provider of Information Technology and Services, including IBM iSeries servers, storage systems, server integration/installation services, and DB2 Universal Database. Infrastructure Evolution The expanded relationship provides fully compatible services that leverage the unique strengths of both companies. The ESI-enabled WebSphere Edge Server together with Akamai EdgeSuite will allow customers to deploy highly dynamic Web sites and applications with greater performance, while minimizing infrastructure costs when scaling to meet large demand. The WebSphere Edge Server will benefit customers served by the Akamai network due to its ability to execute high-volume transactions - WebSphere customers manage billions of transactions per day around the world - and its support of Web services, which enables the linking and integration of business applications across a wide spectrum of different computing systems. In addition to ESI, the WebSphere family of products supports all major open Internet standards, including J2EE (Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition) A platform from Sun for building distributed enterprise applications. J2EE services are performed in the middle tier between the user's machine and the enterprise's databases and legacy information systems. , XML XML in full Extensible Markup Language. Markup language developed to be a simplified and more structural version of SGML. It incorporates features of HTML (e.g., hypertext linking), but is designed to overcome some of HTML's limitations. and all of its derivative technologies such as UDDI (Universal Description, Discovery and Integration) An industry initiative for a universal business registry (catalog) of Web services turned over to the stewardship of OASIS in 2002 as the version 3 specification of UDDI was released. and SOAP. About ESI Recently published as a W3C (World Wide Web Consortium, www.w3.org) An international industry consortium founded in 1994 by Tim Berners-Lee to develop standards for the Web. It is hosted in the U.S. by the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT (www.csail.mit.edu/index.php). Note, ESI is an open markup language created to define Web page fragments for dynamic aggregation, assembly, and delivery at the Internet's edge. As a result, businesses can now develop highly dynamic Web-based applications that are assembled at the edge of the data center, or at the edge of the Internet, for improved performance and simplified infrastructure requirements. IBM is slated to have beta availability of the ESI-enabled WebSphere software by Q1 2002. In the meantime Adv. 1. in the meantime - during the intervening time; "meanwhile I will not think about the problem"; "meantime he was attentive to his other interests"; "in the meantime the police were notified" meantime, meanwhile , customers using WebSphere Edge Server today also can benefit from the implementation of Akamai EdgeSuite for dynamic content assembly at the edge. Akamai intends to begin pilot projects using WebSphere in its global network in Q1 2002. About IBM WebSphere WebSphere is Internet infrastructure software - known as middleware - that enables companies to develop, deploy and integrate next-generation e-business applications, such as those for business-to-business e-commerce. WebSphere supports business applications from simple Web publishing through enterprise-scale transaction processing. WebSphere transforms the way businesses manage customer, partner and employee relationships. In addition to ESI, WebSphere supports all major open Internet standards, including J2EE, XML and virtually all of its derivative technologies such as UDDI and SOAP. More information about the WebSphere software platform is on the Web at www.ibm.com/websphere. About Akamai Akamai is the leading provider of outsourced e-business infrastructure services and software. These services and software enable companies to reduce the complexity and cost of deploying and operating a uniform Web infrastructure while ensuring unmatched performance, reliability, scalability and manageability. Akamai's services give businesses a distinct competitive advantage and provide an unparalleled Internet experience for their customers. Akamai's intelligent edge platform for content, streaming media, and application delivery comprises more than 11,600 servers within over 820 networks in 62 countries. With headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Akamai provides services to companies worldwide. For information on Delivering a Better Internet(SM), visit www.akamai.com. Akamai Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and The release contains information about future expectations, plans and prospects of Akamai's management that constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor Safe Harbor 1. A legal provision to reduce or eliminate liability as long as good faith is demonstrated. 2. A form of shark repellent implemented by a target company acquiring a business that is so poorly regulated that the target itself is less attractive. provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors including, but not limited to, general economic conditions, any material, unexpected increases in Akamai's use of funds, the dependence on Akamai's Internet content delivery service and technology products, lack of market acceptance of new services, including EdgeSuite or any jointly marketed offerings, a failure of Akamai's network infrastructure, and other factors that are discussed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. , quarterly reports on Form 10-Q Form 10-Q See 10-Q. , and other documents periodically filed with the SEC. |
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