It’s interesting how one single action, especially one that flies under the radar of an entire community can be such a disruptive move that it will force a complete re-alignment within a sector. This one action occurred last week and its name is Google CDN. However, it doesn’t stop there. If Google CDN takes one more action, they will become the #2 Edge Security CDN (CDN + DDoS + WAF) in the world after Akamai, practically overnight.

The funny thing is that Google is not even taking a direct swipe at Akamai per say, but at Amazon. Akamai is just in the cross hairs. Google needs the 3rd Pillar (1-Compute + 2-Storage +3-Delivery) to compete effectively with AWS, especially as compute and storage prices race to zero. Compute and Storage are back-end functions, but delivery is everything, because it is about the “Customer Experience.”

Suddenly CloudFlare Becomes The Most Acquirable CDN On the Planet

CloudFlare is the missing piece to Google’s ambitions to become a CDN powerhouse. If Google acquires CloudFlare, they will become the #2 general based CDN in a couple of years, and maybe even the #1 Edge Security CDN. Is this possible? Yes, especially since Google invested in CloudFlare. With CloudFlare in its back pocket, Google will have the platform to surpass CloudFront, since CloudFlare is a better overall CDN platform, especially in Edge Security. Are we jumping the gun in our assessment? Perhaps, but its better to prepare for the worse, especially with Google in the picture than it is to sit back and do nada. (Disclaimer: We are not financial advisors so don’t rely on this rant for investment purposes)