Multi-CDN strategies have changed the content delivery landscape, making it more competitive and comprehensive as things aren't limited to just one CDN. In the old days, content providers turned to a single CDN and demanded high-performance content delivery, and when the CDN inevitably ran into a problem, the content provider would move to another, and then another, before finally recognizing -- as the entire industry has -- that a multi-CDN strategy makes the most sense for delivering the best end-user experience.

Video traffic makes up at least 80% of the content that gets delivered, and as the demand for smooth video streaming continues to dominate, the ways in which content gets delivered are becoming more creative and more customized.

One of the most common ways to satisfy the unpredictable nature of video traffic is to adopt a hybrid approach, or a multi-CDN strategy, letting content owners, broadcasters and technology companies deploy resources flexibly where and as needed to deliver superior video experiences at scale. 

The CDN has become a standard part of web content delivery, designed to make performance more reliable and scalable. For much of the life of the web, a lot of this content has been static and didn’t face big delivery challenges. As the web has grown and content of all types, particularly video, has proliferated, this has changed, as have the challenges.

Being ready for anything is a tall order, particularly when it comes to managing the ebb and flow of global internet content delivery. Content delivery networks (CDNs) have long been the go-to for managing internet traffic, but as users demand seamless availability and speed in accessing content from all their devices, one single CDN provider is not always going to be able to guarantee best performance. Like a lot of these things, there are multiple considerations that go into best performance, like geography and the type of content being accessed. With a commercial, third-party CDN, many such key considerations are no longer in your hands.