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CommunicAsia 2016: CDNetworks sees huge cloud acceleration and security potential in Asia-Pacific

With rampant growth of e-Commerce in countries such as China, India, Japan and South Korea, the Asia-Pacific region is set to become the leading region for e-Commerce globally. By 2018, this region is expected to generate sales of US$1,892 billion regionally and US$3,015 globally. Countries such as Malaysia and Philippines are witnessing the strongest growth, while China and Korea will command the highest sales through e-Commerce, as found in a recent Frost & Sullivan study.

However, this rapidly evolving landscape is beset with its own set of challenges, the major one being IT infrastructure. Research by Frost & Sullivan shows that the slow loading time of Web pages is one of the main reasons why customers move from one e-Commerce company to another. Even a delay of a single second creates customer dissatisfaction and pushes the customer to choose another e-Commerce player to meet their needs. To maintain high Web performance at all times, e-Commerce players should invest in efficient and reliable infrastructure.

Top e-Commerce companies globally use various technologies and solutions to provide a fast and reliable shopping experience for their customers, irrespective of the device used. One of the most successful solutions in the market today is Content Delivery Network or CDN. A CDN solution improves user experience with efficient network resource utilisation ensuring faster Web page loading time with every customer click from anywhere in the world.

Through the implementation of CDN, e-Commerce merchants are able to boost their Web performance tremendously. For instance, one second of speed boost will increase sales by 3% per customer. “With factors such as growing Internet penetration, faster Internet services, home/commercial Wi-Fi networks, availability of hotspots and mobile 4G, customers will value convenience and the ability to make faster purchase over the discounts and deals offered by e-Commerce players,” noted the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata, educated Ajay Sunder, Vice President, ICT, Frost & Sullivan, Asia-Pacific.

Indian ecommerce has surpassed China, with the fastest growing revenue in the world according to a report by ASSOCHAM and Forrester. The report predicts revenue growth from USD 30 billion in 2016 to USD 120 billion in 2020. The growth is driven by India’s young demographics with 75% of online shoppers between the ages of 15-34. In India, Online travel companies such as airlines, hotels and travel review websites have seen the most growth. Other ecommerce sectors doing well in India include branded apparel, accessories, jewellery, gifts, and footwear. CDNetworks provides points of presence in Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai, India.

CDNetworks enables Global Cloud Acceleration to transform the internet into a secure, reliable, scalable and high-performing Application Delivery Network. It is the only multinational CDN provider, with offices in Singapore, Japan, China, US and the UK. It has been serving enterprise customers for over 15 years, accelerating more than 40,000 global websites and cloud services, across industries 200+ points-of-presence, in 100 cities. The company serves e-business customers across industries like e-commerce, banking & finance, travel & tourism, high tech and media.

“Online consumer loyalty is much lower than that of traditional brick-and-mortar consumers. In the digital world, consumers have little patience for poor e-Commerce and will abandon e-Commerce sites and un-bought shopping carts for better e-Commerce destinations, with more optimal user experience. Today, online consumers are demanding superior UI/UX and at speeds that keep them engaged,” noted Mr Jerry Chung, Country Manager/Head of Sales for SEA & Pacific, CDNetworks Singapore, who has been with the compnay for seven years. (Mr. Chung is obviously camera and publicity shy. Only one picture of his exists on the net).

Through platforms or devices such as desktops, mobile phones or tablets, customers are able to engage in an ‘always-open online shopping experience’ from anywhere and at anytime. Hence, to stay relevant and retain their competitive edge, it is essential that e-Commerce retailers consider both flexibility and reliability when developing their platforms.

In addition to changing consumer preferences, the usage of Smart-phones and Tablets remains pivotal for the growth of the e-Commerce industry. The impact of such devices should not be overlooked. It is estimated that up to 30% of e-Commerce sales globally is attributed to mobile and smart-phone devices alone.

There are already more than 1 million online retailers in ASEAN, with the top 20% of e-Commerce retailers providing 63% of the total revenue. Increased competition within the e-Commerce provider space is expected as the industry grows.

The key drivers for e-Commerce growth include the expanding middle class population, changing consumption and purchasing patterns. In addition, one other emerging area will be mobile payments, which will account for more than 10% of total payment transactions in Asia-Pacific by 2020 with emerging countries showing higher growth.

The rapidly evolving business landscape has also proved conducive for cross-border e-Commerce especially in the Asia Pacific region, which is one of the key drivers for regional growth. However, cross-border complexities have also become one of the biggest challenges facing the industry.

In a recent study, 47% of consumers surveyed mentioned that they expected the Web site to load within 2 seconds, and 40% stated that they would leave if it did not load within 3 seconds. Another study inferred that close to 60% of ASEAN consumers would look for an alternative place to purchase a product if the Web site failed to load on time. This translates to tremendous loss in revenues for e-Commerce retailers.

CDNetworks identifies five areas of thrust:

*Web Application Firewall: Next generation, behavioural firewall, fully integrated with CDNetworks’ global network.

*Cloud DDoS Protection: Protection of websites via DDoS mitigation; CDN delivery in front of the origin; and proactive site monitoring and alerting

*High Availability: Cloud-based delivery of robust website and application functionality in a high-performance manner

*Data Security: Protection of an organisation’s data, and that of its customers, by applying and supporting leading security methods and standards, such as PCI compliance, secure socket layer, and digital rights management

*Regulatory Compliance: Enhancement of CDN infrastructure and services to support industry and governmental standards for managing and protecting consumers’ personal and financial data

At CommnicAsia, the CDNetworks presence was adorned with Cinzia Adorni, a stunning

Inside Sales Representative, whatever that meant. She saved from the unpredictable Singapore rains twice and kept me wondering what was an Italian-Filipina, who, not too long ago, was back-packing in this continent, doing in Singapore, with a S. Korean web-accelerating company!

Here’s the (inside?) selling pitch, in her own words:

“Have you considered expanding your company's online presence and reach out to more audiences across China and emerging markets, through better web performance?

We have helped companies to create a better user experience by decreasing their download time by 90% and so dramatically reducing their website dropout rates.

Our product range includes:

Dynamic Web Acceleration, Dynamic Network Acceleration, Content Acceleration, China & Russia Acceleration, Cloud DNS, Cloud Storage, Cloud Portal, SAP Acceleration, BMC Remedy Acceleration, Cloud Security (DDoS protection) and Mobile CDN.”

Cinzia sent me two PDF files, which I can share with you, but which cannot be uploaded here. One is a Case Study, called The Onion. The other is Accelerated Performance and Improved Experience. Leave your email id here, and I will send them to you. Compliments of Cinzia Adorni.