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Linode rebranded as Akamai’s cloud computing services

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Re: Linode rebranded as Akamai’s cloud computing services

#161

Post by Lazare »

Fascinating that Akamai apparently thinks that the brand equity of "Linode" is less than whatever people will impute to some new "Akamai cloud computing" among their target customer base. Which is...puzzling!

I can only assume this is an attempt at targeting enterprise; tons of engineers know Linode (and given how long they've been around, there's probably plenty of enterprise CTOs around now with fond memories of the project they spun up in college on Linode), but it wouldn't be my first (or fifth) thought for a large cloud deployment.

I guess Akamai wants to change that, and is happy to just toss the old brand in the dumpster to do it.

I've used Linode a few times over the years for various small projects, and never had anything but positive experiences. I'm not sure I would have had cause to turn to them again, but...there's basically zero chance of me turning to Akamai cloud computing, so for me, I think this is the end of the road with them.

Re: Linode rebranded as Akamai’s cloud computing services

#162

Post by selcuka »

jb1991 wrote: post #155
twblalock wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it really well known? I've only ever heard of Linode because they sponsored some Youtube videos. I've never heard it mentioned in a professional setting as a developer. On the contrary, Akamai is incredibly well known.

For me, it’s the opposite. Strangely, I’ve never heard of Akamai until this post, but I’ve known about Linode for years.

You should either be an executive, or over 40 to have heard of Akamai. They were all the rave in the beginning of 2000s, but these days they don't need advertisement anymore.

Re: Linode rebranded as Akamai’s cloud computing services

#163

Post by selcuka »

rdevsrex wrote: post #44
jay-barronville wrote: post #31

The Linode brand is so well known by developers. Why in the world would Akamai risk the brand any further than they already have like this?

Exactly. Salesforce bought Heroku but kept the brand name.

> Salesforce bought Heroku but kept the brand name.

They kept the name, but killed the product.

Re: Linode rebranded as Akamai’s cloud computing services

#164

Post by smaudet »

JeremyNT wrote: post #97
rablackburn wrote: post #16

I’m curious to the reasoning behind a decision like this. Part of what Akamai bought was the Linode brand name. Anecdotally as a user Linode’s brand seems to have a fair bit of value and positive reputation. Havent they just written off a non-trivial amount of value from what they just acquired? Or is it as simple as they really want brand consistency?

It's strange how the brand means so much. They've made it obvious to me that I (small time solo developer but long time Linode customer) am not their target market now. I was uncertain I would keep using them after the acquisition, but oddly (and despite no technical changes) this has convinced me I need to leave. The only associations I have with the Akamai brand are "enterprise" and "overpriced."

Exactly...I pay $$ for linode as soon as that turns to $$$, count me out.

Re: Linode rebranded as Akamai’s cloud computing services

#165

Post by karmakaze »

Lazare wrote: post #161

Fascinating that Akamai apparently thinks that the brand equity of "Linode" is less than whatever people will impute to some new "Akamai cloud computing" among their target customer base. Which is...puzzling! I can only assume this is an attempt at targeting enterprise; tons of engineers know Linode (and given how long they've been around, there's probably plenty of enterprise CTOs around now with fond memories of th…

I think anyone with the experience of Linode's good points isn't going to forget from a renaming of the service if all else stays the same for them. Having Akamai branding can bring in much more new business that the Linode branding hasn't brought in thus far.

Re: Linode rebranded as Akamai’s cloud computing services

#166

Post by smaudet »

tomxor wrote: post #153
antoineMoPa wrote: post #125

I wonder how employees feel about that change and how they feel since the acquisition. A key determinant in whether I stay with Akamai or not is if I know there are competent developers behind the cloud that care and would use the service. Other determinants: simplicity, performance in the UI and pricing that makes sense for an individual developer. It feels like Linode was small enough to care, which was a key diffe…

> Other determinants: simplicity, performance in the UI and pricing that makes sense for an individual developer. This is my main fear: morphing into some AWSgoogleCloudflare behemoth with a bazillion knobs and complex unpredictable pricing plans. I choose Linode specifically to avoid that time sink. Thankfully there are other's that are supposed to be similar to Linode in this respect, but I've grown to like Linode…

I agree, I think the people saying it's irrelevant haven't used them in years, they had one of the best set of controls I've seen.

Re: Linode rebranded as Akamai’s cloud computing services

#168

Post by 8n4vidtmkvmk »

synergy20 wrote: post #74

At least been with Linode for the last 15 years, I'm used to the brand, you change it, I may just leave. Linode was solid for me over the years, I noticed DigitalOcean might be a big threat to it early on, now might be the time for me to finally migrate there.

I've been with DO for 8 years. Still happy with them.

Re: Linode rebranded as Akamai’s cloud computing services

#169

Post by s09dfhks »

jeremyjh wrote: post #85
Shank wrote: post #70

I'm sure they spent a lot of time thinking about this, but why not just call it something "Linode by Akamai" or "Akamai Linode"? Neither "Akamai’s cloud computing services" or "Akamai Connected Cloud" sound like viable names. Is the goal just to get people to say "I use Akamai"? I could even see a viable strategy where they rename the existing Linode but create a new Linode, ala Lightsail just to keep the name. They…

Because they don't want to sell it to anyone who has ever heard of Linode. They are going to sell through their existing corporate sales contacts, as a new cloud compute offering by your pals at Akamai.

This is the correct answer

Re: Linode rebranded as Akamai’s cloud computing services

#170

Post by yarg »

Lazare wrote: post #161

Fascinating that Akamai apparently thinks that the brand equity of "Linode" is less than whatever people will impute to some new "Akamai cloud computing" among their target customer base. Which is...puzzling! I can only assume this is an attempt at targeting enterprise; tons of engineers know Linode (and given how long they've been around, there's probably plenty of enterprise CTOs around now with fond memories of th…

I think that the assumption is more along the lines that the cost of losing the Linode brand is lower than the value that can be built from brand awareness around Akamai.

As long as they don't change the nature of the service, they might not be wrong - people are unlikely to switch providers over just a name change, and people looking into Linode probably won't care that it's now called something else.

Conversely, lower information decision makers might be drawn into an ecosystem that is advertising a degree of consistency through unified branding.

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