I Know About The CDN Market Because Of People Smarter Than Me

People ask me all the time how I am able to track the CDN market so closely, if I ever sleep, and how I can keep my finger on the pulse of so many different CDN topics. I’ve spent the last fifteen years tracking the CDN market, talking to vendors, customers, policy makers, telcos, carries, MSOs and Wall Street money managers. I’ve had the privilege of discussing business and technology topics with CEOs at the largest content companies and vendors all around the world. They have trusted me by giving me details they don’t give to others, without an NDA, and with the understanding that I won’t disclose the info without their permission. They know my single purpose and the reason why I am still in this industry is to provide as much education and help I can, free of charge, 24 hours a day, so the entire industry grows.

As a result of who I talk to, I have a lot of details on pricing, vendor revenue and growth, new contract wins, acquisitions and other private details. Whenever possible I use this data, when allowed, and share it in the market. Probably 90% of all the details I get from talking to customers and vendors I can never blog about or discuss, but that info still helps me to learn more about the market. It helps to fill in the gaps and provides me with data needed to keep a close eye on the market drivers and restraints.

I really do appreciate all of the people who read what I write, have such an interest in what I think about the CDN market and spend time talking to me. That is what drives me. So while I do have a lot of data and first hand knowledge on what’s really taking place behind the scenes, I wanted to point out that I don’t know everything there is to know about the CDN market and CDN related technology. The term CDN covers a lot of technologies now; streaming, large object delivery, web acceleration, FEO, LCDN/MCDN and a host of other related infrastructure subjects like peering, transit and the like. Someone recently asked me how I got invited earlier in the year by the U.S. Senate to go to DC and speak on topics pertaining to net neutrality, telecom mergers and content delivery architectures considering I’m not a network engineer. The answer to that question really highlights just how much help others give me.

I get to speak to the smartest people who are building, running and using the largest private and public CDN related networks around. There are a lot of people smarter than me and while I eat, sleep and breathe CDN, the access people give me and the time they take to educate me on topics is why I can do the detailed blog posts that I do, and get invited to speak at events. To many, the title and subject of this post is going to seem odd. But to those who know why I do what I do, they understand that I believe that there will always be more to learn, those who know more than you do and you will never know it all. One’s self-importance is not based on what they know, but what they can share with others, which is my only goal. Thank you to those who continue to help educate me on various CDN technologies, deployments and use cases.