NEW ORLEANS, April 10, 2002 — Today at Microsoft Tech(Ed 2002, Microsoft Corp. and Akamai Technologies Inc., a leading provider of secure, outsourced e-business infrastructure services and software, announced an alliance to develop EdgeSuiteSM for Microsoft® .NET. EdgeSuite for Microsoft .NET is a service designed to offer Akamai customers high-performance delivery of XML Web services and Web applications built on the Microsoft .NET Platform from the edge of Akamai’s network. The service, which will also be available to all .NET developers, will integrate the Akamai EdgeSuite services with Microsoft .NET technologies including Microsoft Windows® .NET Server and Microsoft .NET developer tools such as Visual Studio®
.NET and ASP.NET.
“Both Microsoft and Akamai believe in putting application logic at the network’s edge, and Akamai is capitalizing on that advantage by creating new and compelling opportunities for its customers using .NET,” said Eric Rudder, senior vice president of the Developer and Platform Evangelism Group at Microsoft.
McAfee.com, a leading provider of Web security services and one of Akamai’s pilot customers for the service, anticipates increased performance and reliability for McAfee.com customers. Using EdgeSuite for Microsoft .NET, McAfee.com customers will be able to access XML Web services directly, or on the “edge,” of Akamai’s application network, eliminating the inefficiencies of requiring multiple routes to access distributed applications.
“The Akamai EdgeSuite solution for Microsoft .NET will allow us to provide a greater level of service to our customers,” said Doug Cavit, chief information officer at McAfee.com. “By moving the processing of our Web services to the edge of the network, our customers have access to more available, scalable and responsive anti-virus services. In addition, this added intelligence at the edge allows us to reduce the need to build, manage, secure and overprovision multiple datacenters around the world, enabling significant cost savings.”
“EdgeSuite for Microsoft .NET will significantly enhance an enterprise’s Web services-based communications and transactions with its customers, partners and employees,” said Chris Schoettle, executive vice president for Technology and Network Infrastructure at Akamai. “This represents a significant shift in how enterprises will conduct core business functions within their Web operations, such as customer service, e-commerce and inventory management. We are delighted to offer our customers the ability to distribute their .NET applications across Akamai’s global edge processing network.”
As part of the alliance, Akamai is also piloting a new Web service security standard based on Microsoft’s continued development of XML Web services standards. This security module will allow Akamai to offer federated, flexible security options such as third-party authentication and authorization.
About Akamai
Akamai (Nasdaq: AKAM) is a leading provider of secure, 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 13,500 servers within over 1,000 networks in 66 countries. With headquarters in Cambridge, Mass., Akamai provides services and industry-renowned customer care to hundreds of enterprises worldwide, including dozens of Fortune 500 businesses.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.
Akamai Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
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 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 and EdgeSuite for Microsoft .NET; a failure by us to successfully enter into any license, technology development or other technology partnership agreement within the time periods expected by us or at all; a failure of Akamai’s network infrastructure; and other factors that are discussed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and other documents periodically filed with the SEC.
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