In the last two and a half years there was a change of direction in marketing and how businesses reach their audiences. I’m not talking about social media or paid ads here (although they did and do matter!) – no – I’m referring to the impact of software development on marketing and customer experience. And if you’re only thinking of mobile games now, you will be surprised which possibilites are there actually and how businesses use them in the “post-covid” era to generate more quality leads and to reach a much broader audience. One thing in advance:

Creative software development solves one of the biggest problems businesses face these days and that is to win over and keep the attention of their audience as well as to improve user experience.

© Clark Tibbs

To be honest, digital transformation started long before covid but there are some things that have changed. Almost everyone with basic knowledge in marketing is aware of the impact social media or digital sales funnels have and software development is also involved in those methods. But do you actually know how software development is currently used to reach a broader audience? To generate more quality leads? Or to improve user experience? No? Don’t be worried, I got the information you need!

Gamification for active leads

Nobody can’t resist a fun game, right? Sure, in the introduction I mentioned it’s not only about mobile games but we have to take a closer look to see the actual purpose behind this marketing strategy. Gamification isn’t necessarily about playing a game, it’s about creating an experience with a company in a game-like style. Some agencies offer “Software as a service” solutions to let clients create their own games to improve interactions with their target audience. The opportunities range from surveys to personality tests, memory or quizzes. These are excellent ways to generate leads and to keep up the interest of the ones who have already been in touch with a business. Especially small insurance offices or finance companies should take a closer look at gamification to make their services more appealing to a younger audience and to improve interactions with the business.

But not only small businesses take advantage of gamification. In fact, case studies of marketing agencies prove that regardless of niche, size or stage of sales funnel, gamification improves ROI and customer experience.

© Faizur Rehman

Digital Signage to boost attention and sales

Aren’t you tired of passing by a shop and seeing nothing outstanding or significant? Maybe not but it’s fair enough to say that many shops don’t show anything outstanding when you pass them by. This might not be the case for any modern upcycling shops but definitely for clothes stores which have many competitors around.

Digital signage takes an innovative approach to solve this (and many other) challenges. Seeing a computer screen displaying content with high quality designs/pictures is much more appealing than seeing the products through a window. But this is just one advantage, the actual strength of digital signage is to use the KI to reach a broader audience. 

© Mathias Arlund

Here is how it works: The attention span of a human being lasts not longer than 7 up to 8 seconds before we get attracted or reach out for something new – with digital signage, the opportunity to display new content after this time span is given and makes the target audience continuously curious about more information. One slide is shown for 7 seconds, then the next for 7 seconds and so on.

But that’s not all: With the right software development, businesses can display content based on data around the target audience. Let’s say, in the morning there are primarily people between the ages of 30 and 35 visiting the shop and in the afternoon there are mainly visitors between the ages of 18 and 20. After getting access to this data (through market research for example), businesses can use digital signage to display content how it suits the customer’s wishes. When a business figures out that they reach a younger audience during the afternoon, they can set up the software to display content which fits the needs of this specific target group. It’s the perfect combination of good appearances and target group oriented marketing. 

Do you want to get further insights into digital signage and how it works? You want to know more about the functions and possible applications? Say no more! Just take a look at THIS page and you will figure out everything you want to know. FRAMR is a high quality software for digital signage and provides all kinds of businesses with functions to improve customer experience. BUT: That’s not all because this is only one way to use the software. Just have a closer look, I’m sure you will be surprised about what you can do!

Food delivery apps as USP

Getting your food at home has been a thing long before covid but let’s face it: All of us got their burgers or that nice selection of sushi delivered home in times of lockdown much more often than before. And this is actually confirmed by statistics which prove that big suppliers could raise their sales ever since the pandemic started. (see picture below)

Normally, restaurants use such third party suppliers to deliver their food but to stand out against competitors a new trend is rising: Creating an own delivery app.

As already mentioned, it’s not new that businesses launch their own apps. However, it’s more common that restaurants rely on third party suppliers for delivering food because it’s easier to reach a broad audience and costs less. But at the same time restaurants look for ways to stand out against their competitors which is why some gastros want to create their own delivery app.

With the rising competition it’s important to find ways to improve customer experience and to boost reputation. Finding an outstanding unique selling proposition isn’t easy for restaurants either, especially for the ones that don’t offer a specific kind of food or unique services. Because of that, they often rely on promises regarding price and good taste. But let’s be honest, these are promises which are given by the majority of restaurants.

Providing an application to deliver food is a great way to create an unique experience which is why some small restaurants already rely on it. Expanding reach and winning over customers’ attention for the app might be hard at the beginning but once you get on track it’s a great way to build customers loyalty and to provide them with special rewards to even compete with big third party suppliers.

© CardMapr.nl

A future perspective on software development in marketing

Ever since online marketing has been a thing, software development has had an impact. I’m not only talking about trends and the big changes as mentioned in this article, I’m also referring to all newsletter automation services or tools that help to improve customer experience. This is by far the biggest advantage of marketing software: The impact on the customer. If you consider the rising competition and the shortening attention span of people, businesses have no other choice but to find ways to improve customer experience and to win over the attention of their target audience. Social media and a stunning website take care of that too but with the given possibilities in software development there is just much more possible. And good user experience often means getting a good ROI, which is something all businesses strive for.

To answer the opening question about the future impact: Creative ideas will always do something good. No matter if it’s for businesses or their customers. In the next few years we will be introduced to new trends and tools which is why the best advice I can give is to stay tuned and be ready for change. Not all businesses will equally take advantage of all software applications but chances are high that companies which dare to apply new ways of doing things will stand out and ensure a stronger position on the market.

You think you don’t need those strategies?

You don’t think the mentioned trends won’t help your marketing strategy in any way? Then you better give it a try! It’s easy to say “my clients don’t have any experience with that” or “Nobody needs that” before actually trying it. It’s a common practice on the market to present something and only THEN it will be mentioned. So, who cares if none of your competitors hasn’t used one of the strategies from this article yet? BE THE CHANGE and strengthen your position on the market.

Now get out there and offer (potential) customers something they haven’t seen or experienced before!

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In this article:

1. Monitoring: Supervision of business processes becomes increasingly relevant
2. What is monitoring?
3. How does monitoring work?
4. Overview of the different types of monitoring
5. What does remote maintenance mean?
6. Digital signage monitoring: What are the opportunities for businesses?
7. The advantages and disadvantages of monitoring
8. Which monitoring software is available?
9. Data protection: The legal situation
10. What should be included in a maintenance contract?
11. Conclusion
12. FAQ

The most important information in a nutshell:

• Monitoring describes a process of documentation, guarantee of safety and evaluation of data
• Supervision of these processes is an important indicator to figure out key numbers in business
• There are different types of monitoring
• To avoid possible misunderstandings in data security, a maintenance contract is recommended

Monitoring: Supervision of business processes becomes increasingly relevant

Thanks to the given possibilities of digitalization, working processes of businesses become more efficient. For example, software automates processes and saves costs. But the advantages don’t only become visible in the usage of modern working methods but in their measurability too. FRAMR gives further insights into the advantages of monitoring and what businesses have to consider when choosing the right methods.

Not only interesting in the blockchain sector: Software monitoring | © Behnam Norouzi

What is monitoring?

The term “monitoring” pretty much means “supervision” and describes all processes to measure and evaluate specific data under use of technical tools.

The controlled processes depend on industry and area of operation. A common goal of monitoring is to capture, measure and observe business related working processes to provide safety and quality standards. Aspects of safety are especially important because a detail oriented supervision of technical processes provides the possibility to prevent software failures and execute updates fastly.

Almost every industry is provided with advantages of monitoring and the possibilities of supervision are broadly diversified. Monitoring is used in the industries of medicine, digital signage, search engine optimization and finances. Usage and goals depend on the industry. Monitoring provides many attractive options in online marketing because businesses get further insights into relevant KPIs and therefore can optimize their processes successively.

How does monitoring work?

Basic requirement of monitoring is the connection between software and network infrastructure so that the desired processes can be measured. To guarantee flawless functionality, modern and foremost high quality technique is required.

Through the usage of monitoring software, businesses are given the possibility to collect and evaluate specific data. But in the foreground is not necessarily the evaluation of KPIs but, for example, the supervision of hardware and network infrastructure.

In most cases businesses claim services of third parties of the IT industry. In exchange for money they receive a license which allows them to use monitoring software. As monitoring programs are hard to operate, an induction phase or internal workshop is necessary. Alternatively, there remains the option of remote maintenance, whereby the entire monitoring infrastructure is provided by an external provider.

Overview of the different types of monitoring

There are different types of monitoring. Mostly, monitoring is divided into three categories: Business, customer and market monitoring. This separation can be further specified (for example, website monitoring). Following, we will give descriptions of the most commonly used methods.

Application Performance Monitoring

The goal of application performance monitoring is to check functionality of applications and programs to improve user experience. Different options are available to achieve this goal. The used tools help to determine flaws and attain important information about data transmission speed.

Business Transaction Monitoring

As the name reveals, business transaction monitoring is all about supervising business processes. The goal is to optimize these processes which are directly connected to business transactions. A good example for that is the ordering process of an online shop and online payments.

System Monitoring

The goal of system monitoring is to review performance of a computer. Important measurements are determined in the first step, for example the performance of a network or the available amount of storage space. Under consideration of these aspects, the evaluation follows in the next step.

What does remote maintenance mean?

In connection with monitoring, another term is often mentioned: Remote maintenance. That means the administration of monitoring software is provided by a central location and external access to software as well as hardware is possible. Good and reliable hosting is essential because technical difficulties and required updates may lead to failures. 

An often used method of remote maintenance is cloud monitoring. The centralized data backup through cloud based solutions comes at lower risk because software and other technical applications work without internet connection as well. Other than that, cloud computing provides high safety standards because administration is provided by a professional protected data center.

Cloud computing: A meaningful method for businesses – safety and regular updates are guaranteed! | © Caspar Camille Rubin

Digital signage monitoring: What are the opportunities for businesses?

Digital signage is often used in marketing and for good reason. The screens, assuming they are used as digital billboards, enable fast reaction times and the flexible customization of displayed content on a changing target group (in shopping malls for example). That creates potential for optimization in marketing based on KPIs.

But the amount of advantages reaches even further: Providing information through a central station and regular updates on a server expand the functions for all screens.

Remote maintenance is particularly useful for digital signage because digitized business processes require flawless functionality. The worst case scenario occurs when someone, for example, uses an information terminal and it doesn’t work or a player / signage device is offline and nobody notices that it’s not provided with new content. Cloud computing eliminates problems like these because regular updates and maintenance are provided by an external supplier who controls the events.

FRAMR. – The easy and intuitive digital signage solution
FRAMR is THE solution for easy and intuitive administration of digital content. Our offer fits the needs of all businesses which want to expand their digital processes and set an unforgettable customer experience as priority.

Our products convince with the following advantages:

• Maximum performance
• High flexibility
• Independency
• Safety
• Storage space
• Connection with leading hardware brands

But that’s not all! Our subscriptions promise a huge diversity of functions and modules. Administration and maintenance is provided by a strongly performing as well as GDPR compliant cloud. Updates, troubleshooting and other important changes is what you receive with a license. High quality is guaranteed and you can concentrate on your business.

What are the advantages of monitoring?

The advantages of monitoring are better quality and more safety of supervised processes. Other than that, monitoring provides a fast reaction to sudden failures as well as to maintenance and updates. Using monitoring for marketing comes with many advantages too because relevant KPIs are easier to evaluate.

Overview of the advantages of monitoring:

• Providing safety
• Evaluate marketing KPIs
• Recognizing potential for improvement
• Execute updates
• React fast on software failures
• Providing important functions
• Prevention

Provide safety

With targeted monitoring, necessary maintenance work is carried out while maintaining high safety standards.Monitoring prevents the disruption of internal business processes and ensures smooth processes.

Evaluate marketing KPIs

Digitalization creates measurability. Evaluated data and results can be analyzed directly thanks to the usage of monitoring. Measuring relevant data has a significant impact on following events within a company and decision makers can determine important economical steps based on evaluated data.

Recognizing potential for improvement

Optimization not only concerns economical factors but also aspects of safety. In fact, businesses have the advantage to optimize all processes, no matter if it’s documentation, expanding technical systems or response time to possible problem fixes.

Execute updates

Updates provide better performance of technical processes as well as they ensure keeping up with required standards. For software, functions can often only be used to a limited extent if important updates are not carried out.

React fast on software failures

Software failures can’t be prevented completely. Targeted supervision ensures fast reaction and people in charge can get the system running again.

Providing important functions

This advantage concerns remote maintenance. When the portfolio of functions is updated, an uncomplicated expansion takes place through a central location. This means that updates do not have to be carried out independently or by an internal team – this is done by an IT service provider.

With remote maintenance, businesses take advantage of financial relief, because there are no additional personnel or training costs for hosting the monitoring software.

Prevention

More important than problem fixing is prevention of possible disruptions or obstacles. Problems or shortages in resources should not get fixed when they appear. Businesses rather recognize these problems early and react directly. Problems or failures are often a result of a row of incorrect processes and monitoring provides enough transparency here.

Measurability: One of the most important reasons for monitoring | © REEET Jank

What are the disadvantages of monitoring?

Data security is an important topic to consider and the number of warning letters because of personal data breach has increased in the past years. Monitoring is no gray zone as long as you use personal data responsibly. But that’s exactly the point: To prevent data privacy violations, a maintenance contract is necessary (keep reading!). In many collaborations it is exactly this aspect which is disregarded and ultimately leads to warnings or similar problems.

Another disadvantage is to keep yourself too busy with numbers, data and facts. Evaluations and measurable results are important but if businesses are too focused on determining KPIs and with documentation of relevant numbers then business related decisions might take too long.

For many people this doesn’t make sense because measurable results and numbers normally make decisions easier. But take a look at this from a different perspective: Imagine you have all the relevant data for your business processes and at the same time your team collects different ideas to execute or to improve business structures. The selection is big and that makes the decision harder. Information and measurability are good but too much information slows down the decision making process.

Which monitoring software is available?

There are many different variants of monitoring software available on the market and mentioning all of them would take too long. Therefore, we will take a closer look at three types of monitoring: Software as service (SaaS), proprietary and open source.

Software as a service (SaaS)

Software as a service is defined by external administration of monitoring software through a third party provider. A subscription allows customers access to specific functions. The biggest advantage of SaaS monitoring is the potential money saving for businesses because it’s a remote maintenance through which IT services providers take care of updates, maintenance, installations and safety.

Proprietary monitoring

In case that monitoring is not carried out to an external IT service provider, license based options offer a good alternative. Proprietary monitoring means that businesses get access to monitoring software in exchange for a monthly fee. Required updates and problem fixing are ensured by the licensor.

Open source monitoring

Open source monitoring is similar to proprietary monitoring but with one significant difference: The provided tools are for free. However, less costs also means less quality. Necessary updates need to be done by businesses themselves and hosting might cause a problem when there is no qualified expert hired. Remote maintenance is highly recommended. That costs money but all in all it’s still cheaper than SaaS monitoring.

What is the difference between monitoring, reporting and controlling?

The terms monitoring, reporting and controlling aren’t synonyms although they sound similar.

Monitoring: Monitoring describes supervision of technical processes. It’s actually like a general term for all measurements and observations of processes within a system.

Reporting: Reporting prioritizes collecting and processing business related data such as KPIs. Companies record this data in so-called “reports” and use them to optimize processes. These reports don’t only consider economical factors but general information about a company.

Controlling: Controlling is part of business administration and deals with planning as well as with coordinating a company. It’s distinguished between strategic and operative controlling. Strategic controlling deals with market analyses and potential development of the market whereas operative controlling deals with organizing budget and makes decisions based on determined numbers to use resources more efficiently.

Basically, monitoring describes a general process. The goal is to get access to relevant numbers with support of technical devices. Reporting is more specific which collects information about a company. Controlling on the other hand is all about figuring out economically relevant numbers and making decisions based on that.

Data protection: The legal situation

Remote maintenance and connecting technical devices with external IT systems raises the question of data protection. The actual difficulty is that there is no law to specify that.

To prevent possible misunderstandings and data protection breaches, a maintenance contract is recommended. Such a contract not only regulates and determines rights and obligations but data protection aspects as well. The parties are free in creating the contract but some clauses should consider the legal situation and clarify the processing of personal data as well as secrecy about it.

What should be included in a maintenance contract?

A legally secure maintenance contract shouldn’t give any space for interpretations and clarifies the most important questions about the collaboration between companies.

These are the most important components of a maintenance contract at a glance*:

• Maintenance item
• Rights and duties of the contract parties
• Contract period
• Cancellation
• Scope of services
• Liability for defects and warranty
• Maintaining

The components of a legally secure maintenance contract should be determined individually and based on the interests of both parties. There are templates to create such a contract but more efficiently is to talk to a lawyer. Violations against the GDPR cost a lot of money and legal consulting will clear things up. The risks reach much further because the majority of actions on the internet provide consent. With good legal consulting you are safe.

→ What is data management? Strategy, tasks & advantages

Our final recommendation: Use backup software

Using software always comes with risks even when developing teams keep up to high standards and qualified software testers check the end result. Still, we highly recommend performing a backup when using monitoring software. Backup software is an additional storage medium which creates a safety copy of existing data. Especially in monitoring, saving data can be an important factor because many evaluations (KPIs for example) are relevant for economic development of a business.

Conclusion

Monitoring makes working processes of companies easier and allows them to focus on their key business. Potential for saving money is especially possible in evaluation KPIs, although businesses shouldn’t focus on these numbers too much. Central administration makes it possible that business required applications are used safely and get updated regularly. In case of remote maintenance, a contract is highly recommended to clear up any misunderstandings regarding data protection.

FAQ

Lastly, we will answer frequently asked questions about monitoring and remote maintenance.

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In this article:

1. What is a content delivery network?
2. The history of content delivery networks
3. How does a CDN work?
4. Operational areas
5. Which of the following is an advantage of a content delivery network?
6. Which of the following is a disadvantage of a content delivery network?
7. Which providers are available?
8. Finding the right CDN provider
9. How much does a CDN cost?
10. Conclusion
11. FAQ

The most important facts in a nutshell

• Main purpose of a content delivery network is to provide and play content in very short time
• A main server distributes content to replication servers
• Some advantages of CDN are savings in costs, shorter loading times and failure safety

Content delivery network: The smart solution for providing data

Server overloading, long loading times and high costs – providing content comes with many challenges. To provide content easier and to relieve companies financially, there is a good solution: Content delivery network. But what is a CDN and what are the advantages? In this article we will answer all questions about how CDN works, advantages and which providers are available for businesses.

What is a Content Delivery Network?

A content delivery network, short CDN, is a network of computers that are linked together worldwide. Through the connection with a provider, a link to all CDN servers is created. The distribution of retrieved data is carried out by a central computer which transfers the saved data to a replication server. When users retrieve specific data, a request-routing-system ensures that the data is transferred through the most appropriate replication server. The only thing that matters here is proximity to the user – data is always provided by the replication-server which is the closest to the user to ensure a fast transfer of data. Namely, the goal of CDN is to reduce loading times and to save costs.

The history of content delivery networks

The history of the content delivery network leads back to the year 1998. After the internet became publicly accessible, the company Akamai Technologies introduced the first content delivery network. Transfer of data required much more time back then and technology wasn’t as developed as in 2022. The company knew that solutions to shorten this process were necessary. Already back in this time CDN followed the goal to provide content faster and to use bandwidth more efficiently.

Although goals of usage were similar, CDN was primarily used for e-commerce, streaming and software downloads. Only with the growing relevance of mobile computing and cloud computing the usage of CDN expanded. They enabled the delivery of complex web content. That ultimately was conditioned that there were more CDN providers and the progress in this area got bigger as well. Nowadays, CDN is used in different areas, no matter if it’s streaming, e-commerce or providing content.

The progress is most evident in the dynamic content. In principle, it is rather difficult to save dynamic content on a server because it’s individual. A good example is the cart of online shops which differs between the buyers. That makes it difficult to provide cloud saved content. Through routing paths there is still the opportunity to provide content of such processes via a CDN. In the future, there will be even more advantages in the field of dynamic content because businesses know how important individuality and usability are.

How does CDN work?

For functionality of CDN there are two important factors to make it work, one of them being the distribution system and the other one being the replication-server. The distribution system ensures that data is always up to date and that it will be transferred to replication servers. During this process the request-routing-system comes into play to make sure that user inquiries land on the right servers and provide content as fast as possible.

The transmission process takes place via two possibilities. On the one hand, a content delivery network can distribute data directly to replication servers. Alternatively, the main server sends a message to servers so that content is retrievable everytime. The second opportunity guarantees a more efficient use of bandwidth because the main server has to process less data.

Operation areas of content delivery network

Many people associate using a CDN with improving performance of a website but this isn’t the only operation area for which a content delivery network can be used. Depending on the provider, there are different functions available, no matter if it’s getting access to content or expanding safety infrastructures.

Businesses use CDN for providing content, streaming, e-commerce and improving performance of mobile websites. But there is one common goal all CDN providers aim for: Fulfilling requirements of a business. CDN indeed is a competitive factor because businesses that work most efficiently, will also reach the best and measurable results and successively improve their performance.

Which of the following is an advantage of a content delivery network?

• Reduced loading times
• Less costs
• Caching
• Better usage
• Reduced amounts of data
• Failure safety
• Improved referencing
• More safety

Reduced loading times

The example of pictures for websites is evident for the strengths of CDN. Loading time is a relevant ranking factor for Google and even pictures have an impact on that. The right format, proper coding and the usage of CDN improve the loading times of websites because content is provided much faster.

All of that works as follows: Websites pull pictures (or other content) from an origin server which is mostly located far away and therefore lengthens the loading times. CDN offers a good alternative because pictures are provided by the nearest server. Users claim this data from the server which provides pictures the fastest.

Less costs

With the usage of CDN, the origin server has to process less data through which expensive traffic is prevented and the amount of used bandwidth is reduced.

Caching

When data is requested, the content delivery network transfers a copy from the cache server which is the nearest to the user.

Better usage

Caching and the user friendly provision of retrieved data allows fast access through which the usage is improved. A CDN recognizes which data set is the most relevant for website visitors and loads this content already before the first interaction. That promises better user interaction during the interaction with a website.

Reduced amounts of data

CDN delivers data in compressed form. Because of that, data is delivered much faster and loading times are shortened.

Failure safety

The usage of CDN reduces the load of the main server. This distribution of loads across several sub-servers reduces the risk of downtime and any kinds of failures. This saves maintenance work, for which further costs are incurred.

Improved referencing

Providing content through a CDN happens faster, because they combine requested data to packages.

More safety

An often overlooked advantage is the aspect of safety. A CDN helps to protect the main server from virus attacks and other cyber threads.

Which of the following is a disadvantage of a content delivery network?

Using a content delivery network comes with many advantages but there are also disadvantages as well as challenges which a CDN (partly) can’t handle.

No control

Managing data on your own server comes with the advantage of having control over it. Through usage of a CDN, this advantage gets lost because data of a main server is distributed to a replication-server and customers have no impact on the processes. Providers of CDN might be reliable but when the rare case of disruptions and failures occur, customers can’t do anything about it.

Dynamic content limit

Individual customized content barely can’t be provided by a content delivery network. One example is the carts of online shops. Each customer places an individual order, therefore it’s not possible for a CDN to save data in a cache server.

But even here there are solutions available, so called workarounds. CDN accelerates the data transfer and provides routing paths through which dynamic content can be delivered.

Which providers are available?

Competition in CDN is growing and there are many different providers on the market, each with their own advantages. To give you better insights, we have compared the following five providers:

• Cloudflare
• Fastly CDN
• Microsoft Azure CDN
• StackPath CDN
• Amazon CloudFont

Cloudflare

Cloudflare is probably the most known CDN provider. Even when you’re not too familiar with the topic, you might have heard of this company, which partly has to do with its stock performance in 2021. The company is from the USA and is focused on improving performance of websites. as well as expanding security. This CDN is, for example, safe from DDoS attacks. Cloudflare also promises shorter loading times.

Price-wise there are three different alternatives when using Cloudflare, a free plan as well as the pro and business variant. The pro variant costs 20 euros each month, the business version is 200 euros. In case you only want regular functions, the free plan will be enough. Other than that, you can choose from many additional functions as well as you can choose the individual customized enterprise content delivery network.

Fastly CDN

Fastly CDN promises what the name insists. The provider uses edge cloud computing to analyze and process data even faster. In addition to that, fastly offers the opportunity to compress pictures. In terms of safety, Fastly CDN is a very good choice – the provider is safe from DDos attacks and offers a web application firewall.

Fastly offers a free test phase. After that you can choose from three different packages, namely enterprise, essential and professional. Information about prices is accessible after you have registered on the website of Fastly CDN. But very important: Fastly offers individual memberships for which the prices are determined by the used bandwidth and the amount of used file requests.

Microsoft Azure CDN

Microsoft is namely the first giant of this list and that promises high performance. Microsoft Azure is safe from cyber attacks and the capacity of distribution data is almost unlimited. Because of that, the provider is especially recommended for bigger businesses. This becomes clear when you take a closer look at the price: At first, registered businesses receive a 200 US dollar gift card for using the CDN, after that the prices are determined by individual needs.

StackPath CDN

The focus of StackPath CDN is speed, safety and control. According to disclosures of the provider, StackPath reduces latency up to 60 per cent and also improves the performance of websites, apps, games and streams. The prices are a shoutout to all competitors: Only 15 euros each month. However, pricing mostly depends on your individual needs.

Amazon CloudFront

Amazon is an empire and has been involved into many projects outside of e-commerce, including building their own content delivery network. The biggest strength of Amazon CloudFront is the individuality and the opportunities in programming for developers. During the first year Amazon CloudFront is free but only for data transfers up to 50 MB and 2 million requests within a month. After the free test phase ends, pricing depends on individual needs and wishes.

There are many other providers for CDN, one of them being Google. Competition in this field is growing but all providers consider to offer safe as well as high quality solutions which make customers happy. Whatever CDN you will choose, all of them offer their own individual strengths.

Finding the right CDN provider

Choosing the right CDN provider depends on many different factors. Usage and advantages are primarily important because the different providers are all specialized and offer holistic solutions for specific fields. When comparing providers with similar range of services, price and quality of service matter the most. The providers from our comparison all offer fair conditions but differ in the amount of transferred data and focuses. Best you can do is to compare different providers and make your decision based on individual wishes.

In Europe, the topic of data security is important which is why businesses should always have an eye on how to execute it. The providers from our list all consider data security based on European standards but taking a second look at more unknown providers is highly recommended to be safe and avoid expensive warning letters.

How much is a CDN?

Prices of a content delivery network vary and depend on the provider. Standard tarifs begin at about 15 up to 20 euros each month, business tarifs cost up to 200 euros each month. In addition, many providers base their pricing on the locations – in other words, the monthly rate is based on the region from which you run your business. But the amount of data transferred and individual needs are also taken into account in pricing.

Conclusion

The demand for using content delivery networks has soared in recent years, especially with the growing prominence of providers such as Cloudflare. Users have many advantages with CDN, one of them being the uncomplicated access to content through which loading times are limited and working processes become more efficient.

But you shouldn’t underestimate the effort that comes with using a content delivery network at first. Also, businesses have less control over processes which are completed by a CDN. Therefore it is recommended to take a closer look at all the available providers and to check how they treat the topic of data security.

FAQ

Lastly, we will answer the most frequently asked questions about content delivery networks.

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