Akamai Initiative: Gecko to serve as the cloud computing platform

Akamai, known for powering and securing online activities, has unveiled plans to integrate cloud computing capabilities into its extensive edge network. Akamai's Generalized Edge Compute (Gecko) initiative advances its strategy to serve as the cloud computing platform for organizations aiming to enhance user experiences by executing workloads closer to users, devices, and data sources.

Akamai's initiative aligns with a pivotal moment in the technology industry. According to a global study conducted in 2023 by ClearPath Strategies, two-thirds of IT decision-makers anticipate an increase in their use of distributed cloud services over the next 12 months. Furthermore, over one-third of respondents emphasized the mission-critical significance of distributed cloud benefits, including the rapid and efficient processing and analysis of AI and machine learning data, to their IT strategies.

The latest initiative marks a significant stride in Akamai's multiyear strategy to establish itself as a pivotal platform within enterprise multi-cloud environments. It represents another pivotal step towards the realization of the company's vision for a novel cloud paradigm tailored to meet the demands of modern applications, which necessitate heightened performance, reduced latency, and genuine global scalability—attributes not readily available in current cloud architectures.

Akamai has commenced early trials of Gecko with several enterprise clients, foreseeing optimal adoption prospects among customers engaged in AI inferencing, multiplayer gaming, and social and streaming media sectors. Moreover, Akamai envisions future applications across diverse domains such as immersive retail, spatial computing, data analytics, and consumer and industrial IoT.

In conventional industry frameworks, cloud and edge networks are treated as separate entities. Gecko is purposefully crafted to facilitate the deployment of generalized compute atop Akamai's existing global edge network. Leveraging existing tools, processes, and observability, Gecko ensures a uniform experience across the entire spectrum of computing—from cloud to edge. By shifting heavier, traditional computing tasks typically confined to centralized data centers to the edge of Akamai's network, Gecko extends full-stack computing capabilities to numerous previously inaccessible locations. This enables customers to relocate workloads closer to their user bases.

By infusing cloud computing capabilities into traditionally underserved areas, Akamai alleviates the burden on developers to distinguish between building for the cloud or the edge. As developers increasingly demand more from their cloud and edge service providers, Akamai's strategy is to unlock avenues for innovation across the entire compute spectrum by driving the convergence necessary to bring cloud computing power to the edge—a convergence previously unattainable before the advent of Gecko.

Akamai Connected Cloud: The Distributed Cloud Platform

With a network spanning 4,100 points of presence worldwide, Akamai's Connected Cloud stands as the most extensively distributed cloud platform globally. Leveraging 25 years of expertise in managing massively distributed, fully automated, highly efficient, and exceptionally reliable networks, Akamai holds a unique position among top cloud providers worldwide. While hyperscalers have historically dominated the market with a decade-old centralized cloud model emphasizing scale-up compute power, smaller edge, and CDN providers prioritized scale-out reach over compute power.

By integrating Linode into its network and expanding core computing regions over the past year, Akamai has evolved Akamai Connected Cloud into the most distributed cloud computing platform worldwide. Anticipating an industry-wide demand for enhanced price performance, reduced latency, and fortified security for applications and data across a broader spectrum of computing, Akamai foresees an advantage in its ability to harness both cloud and edge capabilities. This advantage, coupled with Akamai's extensive experience in distributed networking, aims to afford customers access to a more potent, adaptable, user-friendly, and cost-effective cloud solution.

“Akamai is delivering on the promise it made when it acquired Linode by quickly integrating compute into its security and delivery mix,” said Dave McCarthy, IDC, Research Vice President, Cloud and Edge Services. “What they’re now doing with Gecko is an example of the more distributed cloud world we’re heading toward, driven by demands to put compute and data closer to the edge.”

Mapping Akamai's Gecko Roadmap: Extending Compute to Remote Locations

Akamai unveils a roadmap for its Gecko initiative, aiming to accelerate its deployment in its first phase. The company's initial objective, announced today, is to integrate compute capabilities, including support for virtual machines, into 100 cities by year-end. Already in 2024, Akamai has introduced new Gecko-architected regions in several key locations worldwide, such as Hong Kong SAR, Kuala Lumpur, Querétaro, Johannesburg, Bogotá, Denver, Houston, Hamburg, and Marseille. Additionally, plans are underway to deploy a 10th Gecko region in Santiago, Chile, by the end of the first quarter. Beyond these 10 new Gecko locations and its existing 25 core computing regions, Akamai envisions expanding its global cloud computing presence to hundreds of cities over the coming years.

In the subsequent phase of Gecko, slated to commence later this year, Akamai plans to incorporate containers into its framework. Furthermore, in Gecko's third phase, the company aims to introduce automated workload orchestration, streamlining application development across numerous distributed locations. The ultimate objective is to establish a seamless user experience between each core computing region and the edge.