www.fireflycom.net

solutions:

• IP Application Accelerator

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• Improved performance globally, with up to 800% increase in throughput
• Reduced retransmits up to 88%
• Delivers stellar customer experience
• Boosted customer satisfaction
• Increased repeat business
• Enables higher staff productivity
• Avoided infrastructure build–out

Firefly Communications is the leading global provider of advanced technology education and consulting solutions. Offering expert–led classroom instruction, state–of–the art remote lab access, professional services, and strategic technology consulting, Firefly has developed and delivered innovative solutions for numerous Fortune 500 and FTSE 250 companies. In fact, it runs over 2,000 events per year with an average student count of 16, which accounts for 10% of all students in Cisco Learning classes worldwide.

Firefly uses remote labs in 100% of its technical training classes. Though nearly 70% of its customers are in North America, Firefly is rapidly expanding its presence in European and Asian markets. By using the Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), trainers and students have complete access to all devices in the remote lab through a Web browser. While this approach worked suitably within the United States, performance suffered as the distance between Firefly’s customers and its data center increased. In fact, sometimes performance from Europe or Asia was so poor that customers were unable to access the lab.

Firefly began researching third-party solutions and quickly settled on Akamai. “Akamai stood out due to its global footprint, solution designed to accelerate IP–based applications, and the ability of its technical team,” says Alexander. As soon as Firefly went live with Akamai IPA, performance improved. Application users in India saw up to 300% increase in throughput, while the results were even more telling for users in South Africa, with up to 800% increase in throughput and an associated 73–88% reduction in retransmits.

With the Akamai IPA solution ensuring optimal performance around the world, Firefly is confidently able to expand its business. In fact, Alexander says that Firefly has gained an advantage in the sales process. “We now have a solution in place to deliver stellar performance, even in locations where Internet performance is typically poor. This sets us apart from other training providers.”