Akamai Introduces Managed Container Service for Enterprises to Accelerate Scalable, Low-Latency Application Development and Deployment

Rhea-AI Summary

Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ: AKAM) has announced a new Managed Container Service designed to help companies deliver better user experiences by running workloads closer to users, devices, and data sources. This service significantly advances Akamai's cloud computing strategy, operating across more than 700 cities and 4,300 points of presence on what Akamai describes as the world's most distributed cloud platform.

The service is currently being tested with customer applications in over 100 cities. According to Adam Karon, Akamai COO and GM of Cloud Technology Group, the service allows businesses to maintain predictable costs as applications scale, positioning Akamai as a key platform in enterprise multicloud environments.

Akamai's Managed Container Service enables businesses to run data-intensive workloads with low latency, leveraging Akamai's full-stack cloud computing infrastructure including GPUs, VPUs, object storage, managed database service, and network services.

Positive

• Expanding cloud computing services to 700+ cities with 4,300+ points of presence globally
• Already testing the container service with customers in over 100 cities
• Service designed to maintain predictable costs as applications scale
• Full-stack infrastructure includes GPUs, VPUs, object storage, and managed database services
• Positions Akamai as a key platform in enterprise multicloud environments

Negative

• None.

Insights

Cloud Computing Analyst

Akamai's Managed Container Service marks a strategic expansion that could significantly alter the company's competitive positioning and growth trajectory in the cloud computing market. By leveraging its massive distributed infrastructure across 700+ cities and 4,300+ points of presence, Akamai is making a calculated move to transform from a traditional CDN provider into a comprehensive edge cloud platform.

This service directly addresses the growing enterprise demand for distributed computing capabilities that can process data closer to users while maintaining consistent performance. The timing is particularly strategic as organizations increasingly deploy AI and data-intensive applications that require low-latency processing at scale. By offering container services at the edge, Akamai is positioning itself at the intersection of several high-growth markets.

From a competitive standpoint, this move places Akamai in direct competition with both traditional cloud hyperscalers expanding to the edge (AWS Wavelength, Azure Edge Zones) and edge-native players like Cloudflare and Fastly. Akamai's differentiation lies in its unmatched global footprint - with significantly more points of presence than competitors - giving it a potential advantage for truly distributed applications.

The financial implications are substantial. This service represents a higher-value offering than traditional CDN services, potentially improving Akamai's average revenue per customer and gross margins over time. The emphasis on predictable costs as applications scale suggests a consumption-based pricing model that could create more stable, recurring revenue streams while addressing a key enterprise pain point around cloud cost management.

The inclusion of GPU and VPU support is particularly noteworthy, as it positions Akamai to capture the growing market for distributed AI inference workloads - a significant growth opportunity as organizations look to deploy AI capabilities closer to users while managing costs and performance.

While the announcement represents a promising strategic direction, investors should monitor adoption rates, competitive responses, and the timeline for meaningful revenue contribution. This service is currently in testing with applications in 100+ cities, indicating we're still in early stages of what appears to be a multi-year strategic transformation for Akamai.

New Service Spans More Than 700 Cities and Over 4,300 Points of Presence on World's Most Distributed Cloud Platform

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ: AKAM), the cybersecurity and cloud computing company that powers and protects business online, today announced a Managed Container Service designed for companies that want to deliver better experiences by running workloads closer to users, devices, and sources of data. Significantly advancing Akamai's cloud computing strategy, the new service is enabled across the 700-plus cities where Akamai servers are located, with more than 4,300 points of presence. Akamai is currently testing Managed Container Service with customer applications in over 100 cities.

"Our new Managed Container Service leverages the entirety of Akamai's global presence, which means customers can take advantage of Akamai's 700-plus cities to run and scale their workloads," said Adam Karon, Akamai COO and GM, Cloud Technology Group. "As with other services on Akamai Cloud, businesses can maintain predictable costs as their applications scale. This is a critical capability as we strive to become a key platform in enterprise multicloud environments."

Akamai's Managed Container Service enables businesses to run data-intensive workloads closer to end-users. The solution can take advantage of Akamai's full-stack cloud computing infrastructure, including GPUs and VPUs, object storage, managed database service, and the full complement of network services. This is important for business critical workloads that serve high volumes of concurrent users while enabling predictable performance. Managed Container Service bundles a customer's application code together with the related configuration files, libraries, and other dependencies the app requires to run.

"Today's modern applications require high performance, low latency, and scalability," said Dave McCarthy, Research VP, IDC. "The Akamai Managed Container Service, part of the Akamai Cloud, underscores Akamai's commitment to providing enterprises with highly responsive infrastructure for delivering a consistent user experience whether their applications run in a central cloud region or across Akamai's 4,300 globally distributed cloud and edge locations."

About Akamai
Akamai is the cybersecurity and cloud computing company that powers and protects business online. Our market-leading security solutions, superior threat intelligence, and global operations team provide defense in depth to safeguard enterprise data and applications everywhere. Akamai's full-stack cloud computing solutions deliver performance and affordability on the world's most distributed platform. Global enterprises trust Akamai to provide the industry-leading reliability, scale, and expertise they need to grow their business with confidence. Learn more at akamai.com and akamai.com/blog, or follow Akamai Technologies on X and LinkedIn.

Akamai Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
This press release contains statements that are not statements of historical fact and constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, statements about the potential benefits of the Managed Container Service to Akamai and its customers. Each of the forward-looking statements is subject to change as a result of various important factors, many of which are beyond the company's control, including, but not limited to: Akamai's services and capabilities failing to meet expectations, including due to defects, security breaches, delays in performance or other similar problems; changes in market conditions and receptivity to our products and services; our ability to develop and release new products and services and successful enhancements, features and modifications to our existing products and services effects of competition, including pricing pressure and changing business models; impact of macroeconomic trends, including economic uncertainty, turmoil in the financial services industry, the effects of inflation, rising and fluctuating interest rates, foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, securities market volatility and monetary supply fluctuations; continuing supply chain and logistics costs, constraints, changes or disruptions; defects or disruptions in Akamai's products or IT systems, including cyber-attacks, data breaches or malware; changes to economic, political and regulatory conditions in the United States or internationally; and other factors that are discussed in the company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release is as of the date of this press release, and Akamai does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

Contacts
Akamai Media Relations
akamaipr@akamai.com

Akamai Investor Relations
invrel@akamai.com

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/akamai-introduces-managed-container-service-for-enterprises-to-accelerate-scalable-low-latency-application-development-and-deployment-302384367.html

SOURCE Akamai Technologies, Inc.

FAQ

What is Akamai's new Managed Container Service for AKAM investors?

Akamai's Managed Container Service is a cloud computing solution that spans 700+ cities and 4,300+ points of presence, allowing businesses to run workloads closer to users for better performance while maintaining predictable costs as applications scale.

How many cities is Akamai testing its new container service in?

Akamai is currently testing its Managed Container Service with customer applications in over 100 cities, with infrastructure spanning more than 700 cities globally.

What infrastructure does AKAM's Managed Container Service utilize?

The service utilizes Akamai's full-stack cloud computing infrastructure, including GPUs, VPUs, object storage, managed database service, and comprehensive network services.

How does Akamai's new container service impact enterprise computing strategies?

The service positions AKAM as a key platform in enterprise multicloud environments by enabling businesses to run data-intensive workloads closer to end-users with predictable costs and high performance.

What problem is Akamai's Managed Container Service solving for businesses?

It solves the challenge of delivering high-performance, low-latency applications by enabling businesses to run workloads closer to users, devices, and data sources across Akamai's globally distributed network.