www.ni.com

solutions:

• Web Application Accelerator
• Electronic Software Delivery

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• Avoided the need to replicate $1,000,000 data center and Instantly improved page downloads globally by over 48%.

Established in 1976, National Instruments offers software and hardware solutions that empower engineers and scientists around the world to create sophisticated applications. Its Web site plays a pivotal role in supporting sales and marketing efforts, and sees an average of two million visits per month, 75% from visitors outside of the United States. In addition to providing information about products and services, the site offers product configurators that help prospects determine the most appropriate solution. eCommerce capabilities allow companies in numerous countries to purchase products online. In fact, 80% of National Instruments customers use the site at some point in the purchase process. For customers, an online community features discussion forums, a knowledge base, tutorials, and a code-sharing feature. In addition, the site serves as the primary channel for the company to provide technical support, including the delivery of updates and patches that can be up to 200 MB in size.

National Instruments began evaluating its options to improve delivery of its site and applications. It briefly weighed the thought of working with hosting service providers and expanding its data center footprint but just as quickly dismissed the idea. National Instruments found it daunting to consider replicating its data center environment, comprising many types of web servers and software platforms. “It would easily cost $1,000,000 to replicate our data center. It just didn't make good business sense," explains Babin.

The company then considered a few content delivery network providers. According to Babin, Akamai stood out due to the global reach of its network, the responsiveness of Akamai sales and support teams during the evaluation process, and Akamai’s long-standing reputation. "With Akamai Web Application Accelerator (WAA) and Electronic Software Delivery (ESD), we could quickly ensure fast performance of both applications and software downloads around the globe," explains Babin.

Immediately upon implementing Akamai WAA, National Instruments saw more than a 48% average global improvement in page load times – exceeding its goals for improving load times by 40%. Babin recalls that WAA was simple to configure. “We dedicated a single systems engineer to setting up WAA to address our needs and in less than a week we realized dramatic performance improvements."

Once it implements ESD, National Instruments anticipates tremendous benefits. By improving download completion rates the company can get evaluation software in prospects’ hands and close more sales. Plus, it will be able to lower its support costs by making drivers and sample code easily accessible online. Moreover, it expects to see more downloads by site visitors outside of the US, effectively helping the company ensure a solid foothold in the global market. Equally important, with ESD, National Instruments can restrict downloads in certain geographies to adhere with US export compliance laws.