Inktomi to Let Customers Link Networks, People Say (Correct)
(Replaces dropped word in final paragraph.)
Foster City, California, Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Inktomi Corp., whose software speeds the flow of Internet content, will start letting customers deliver information across each other's private distribution networks, people familiar with the development said.
Inktomi officials declined to comment. The company's Traffic Server software is used to speed and monitor content flow across 12 of the world's 13 major Internet distribution networks.
The company plans to issue a statement early tomorrow on a ``strategic industry alliance,'' said Inktomi spokeswoman Julie Keslik. Inktomi executives will brief the financial community on the details of that alliance before trading opens on U.S. stock markets, she said, declining to elaborate.
The development would extend the reach of each of the 12 private networks that use Inktomi software to help deliver Internet content, boosting the quality of Web sites that they support.
Inktomi's customers, including Exodus Communications Inc., Digital Island Inc. and closely held Adero Inc., have agreed on terms for compensating each other as they swap and distribute content from other networks, said people familiar with tomorrow's announcement.
Battle With Akamai
Inktomi is in a heated battle with rival Akamai Technologies Inc., which controls about 70 percent of the $100 million-a-year market for distribution of Internet content, said Peter Christy, an Internet industry analyst with Jupiter Communications. That market is expected to mushroom in the next few years as Web traffic soars.
The software's new function could give Inktomi customers like Exodus an edge in winning business from companies that are looking for help in powering Web sites and distributing content, said Thomas Weisel Partners analyst Katherine Egbert.
``This makes Inktomi-enabled content distribution a worldwide thing,'' she said. ``From a customer standpoint this makes it a more viable option.''
The announcement is a sign that Inktomi is still a leader in developing technology to improve distribution, Christy said.
``Inktomi really lost leadership after Akamai came along,'' Christy said. ``This is Inktomi now again reestablishing that they have a vision as to how content delivery works, that they have a game plan and are worth listening to.''
The shares of Foster City, California-based Inktomi rose 1 3/8 to 111 5/8. The stock has almost doubled in the past year. |
