ACW Distribution Provides Customers with Efficient, Precise Security Protection

ACW Distribution is a Hong Kong–based VAD (value-added distributor) with 40 years of history. It has approximately 250 employees and represents 30–40 product lines centered on enterprise-grade offerings, primarily covering network security, backup, and storage solutions. In response to ongoing changes in the global market, ACW Distribution urgently needed to build a more resilient business model — delivering the most professional services for projects in a safer way and with lower labor costs. To achieve this, ACW Distribution uses the AI-driven automated optimization capabilities of Akamai App & API Protector to enable intelligent management of WAF policies, significantly reducing operations and maintenance costs. With the global acceleration network of Akamai CDN, we ensure efficient service coverage across overseas markets and enhance the end-user experience.

ACW Distribution’s partnership with Akamai stems from paying close attention to Akamai over a long period of time. After learning that Akamai’s sales model in Hong Kong had shifted to a channel-first approach, ACW Distribution evaluated the offering and found Akamai’s product portfolio to be highly specialized and closely aligned with ACW Distribution’s existing solutions. In particular, Akamai’s flagship app and API security capabilities filled gaps in areas ACW Distribution had not previously covered in depth, both technically and in overall coverage. Given the increasing severity of global API attacks and the limited adoption of API protection among customers, the two organizations quickly aligned and launched the partnership.

In discussions with customers, ACW Distribution found that many enterprises deploy their core applications on the internet and use open APIs to improve communication efficiency with the public and partners. However, increased exposure of internet-facing assets also elevates the risk of hacker attacks. ACW Distribution has repeatedly witnessed enterprises suffer sensitive data breaches due to insufficient application protection, which then triggered crises in public trust. As a result, application and API security has become a widely shared enterprise priority.

Against this backdrop, Akamai App & API Protector and API Security demonstrate clear advantages: Supported by visibility into approximately 30% of daily global internet traffic, Akamai maintains the industry’s most comprehensive threat intelligence network, enabling real-time insight into zero-day vulnerabilities and the latest attack trends. In addition, these products can block attacks at the source. Compared with traditional security tools (typically deployed in the customer’s data center), they more effectively defend against large-scale DDoS attacks and provide a 100% SLA guarantee.

ACW Distribution previously served a customer that relied on a traditional on-premises web application firewall (WAF) and faced multiple challenges. The on-premises WAF struggled to handle the increasingly complex DDoS attacks of today’s cybersecurity landscape. Traditional WAFs also require customers to invest substantial time in fine-grained policy tuning, resulting in high operational overheads. To address these issues, ACW Distribution recommended Akamai App & API Protector. Deployed in the cloud, the solution eliminates the need for customers to purchase physical equipment and leverages Akamai’s globally leading CDN network to significantly enhance DDoS protection capabilities.

On the security protection front, App & API Protector also introduces AI-driven automated optimization functionality. The system automatically generates WAF policy optimization recommendations based on real-time network traffic analysis. Customers only need to review and approve the recommendations to complete the policy optimization process. This innovative approach dramatically reduces the time customers spend on WAF management, making security operations more efficient and precise.

App & API Protector leverages its globally leading CDN network to provide customers with a security protection solution that combines top-tier performance and reliability. On the performance side, the Akamai CDN’s intelligent acceleration and content caching mechanisms significantly improve end-user access speeds, ensuring a smooth application experience even for overseas users. On the reliability side, thanks to the Akamai CDN’s distributed architecture, customer application content is synchronized and stored across hundreds of thousands of servers worldwide, effectively avoiding single points of failure. This ensures that the App & API Protector solution delivers a 100% SLA guarantee and provides the highest level of stable operational support for customer applications.

Overall, Akamai’s solution enables resellers to attract high-value customer segments through high-performance security protection capabilities, helping them secure a larger share in a competitive market. As a critical infrastructure service, it also creates cross-selling opportunities for resellers. By integrating service resources, the solution can effectively increase customer stickiness and reduce the risk of customer churn. For customers, it significantly strengthens cybersecurity protection, reduces the risk of business interruption caused by cyberattacks, and thereby lowers potential economic losses.

Going forward, ACW Distribution will deepen its strategic collaboration with Akamai in both security and computing, and will continue expanding edge computing capabilities. Leveraging Akamai’s Zero Trust architecture and API security technologies, together with the advantages of its native CDN network, the two parties will jointly accelerate edge computing adoption, delivering a significant improvement in application response speed and precise blocking of attacks at the source. This partnership is a practical effort to bring security and computing capabilities to the edge, injecting new momentum into digital transformation.