Network News: Limelight, Level 3, Akamai, Meru

Here’s a roundup of some of this week’s headlines from the data center and hosting industry:

Limelight acquires Clickability. Limelight Networks (LLNW) announced the acquisition of Clickability, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider of web content management (WCM) tools. San Francisco-based Clickability helps enterprise marketers and online publishers create, manage and publish content globally; track visitor experiences; and implement branding, social media, and demand generation campaigns on a website. Clickability content and marketing tools complement the Limelight platform and deepens the relationships with publishers, enterprises, and agencies by providing them with streamlined workflows, differentiated performance, and global scale. "This acquisition expands Limelight's total addressable market in cloud-based services by $1 billion, and the web content management segment is expected by Gartner to grow to $1.7 billion by 2014," said Jeff Lunsford, chairman and chief executive officer, Limelight Networks. "Limelight has built a track record of successfully integrating other high-value, high-margin cloud-based services. We look forward to continuing that success with Clickability as they begin to leverage our technical and operational infrastructure."  The transaction was completed with a combination of Limelight Networks common stock and cash and is valued at approximately $10 million.

MLB.com adds Level 3 to CDN mix.  Dan Rayburn reveals some CDN usage of Level 3 by MLB.com, instead of having Akamai as a sole provider. After seeing an increase in content trace routes Dan called MLB and they said that the reason for using Level 3 CDN was to provide the best performance for the end user and not due to price. Dan estimates 25 to 30 percent of MLB.com's traffic is now going over Level 3's CDN. Additionally, Twitter seems to be exclusively using the Level 3 CDN. With recent earnings reports from both Akamai and Level 3, it appears that Level 3 is growing while Akamai reported that growth had "moderated".

Meru announces AP400. Meru Networks (MERU) announced the AP400 Mobile Edge access point platform, the industry's first first three-stream 802.11n quad-radio AP platform. The new AP400 was designed specifically to manage a smooth and accelerated transformation of the enterprise edge network from a wired Ethernet switch architecture to the new Mobile Edge. The AP400 Mobile Edge platform also leverages Meru's patent-pending Orthogonal Array Beam Forming technology and next generation sub-carrier level beam forming to deliver Adaptive Optimization. Zeus Kerravala from Yankee Group commented that "enterprises are becoming more mobile by the day. The workforce is no longer attached to their desks accessing applications via a wired connection. Optimizing mobile devices and providing a flexible and reliable network from anywhere will be the next challenge on the IT horizon, forcing enterprises to rethink the way the network edge is designed. Meru is offering enterprises a clear migration path to a new wireless edge with the introduction of the AP400 platform, while enabling much needed cost savings and a more efficient workforce."