Why and when do you need a hybrid or multi-CDN strategy?

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 broader view is that video streaming is dominant and continues to expand its reach across devices, reaching global audiences. The conventional, commercial CDN may play its role, but to meet changing demands quickly and flexibly, it’s becoming more common for companies to adopt multi-CDN strategies.

In collaboration with streaming media analyst, Dan Rayburn, we recently published a report, Deploying multi-CDN strategies: No one size fits all. Rayburn polled more than 100 industry contacts who shared their insights about, among other subjects: 

• Why multi-CDN strategies are the dominant trend in video delivery
• What challenges multi-CDN approaches pose 
• What considerations they faced when they decided to deploy multiple CDNs
• How origin shield technology factors into multi-CDN decision-making
• How the multi-CDN landscape has changed due to, for example, COVID-19 creating additional pressure to achieve high-performance streaming as untold numbers of people started streaming more video than ever 

To learn more about the findings of the survey and see what considerations to think about when you deploy a multi-CDN strategy, download the report 👇

Multi-CDN: Tailored to your size

There is no one size fits all to designing and deploying a multi-CDN strategy. Businesses have different video streaming profiles and operate in different environments and regions, offering different kinds of content. These differences, and differing levels of maturity and specific challenges, make the case for the multi-CDN, tailored to the unique demands of each business.

In addition to the multi-CDN report, we invite you to watch our on-demand webinar, Considerations When Deploying a Hybrid and Multi-CDN Strategy. Host Dan Rayburn discusses multi-CDN strategies -- what they are and when the right time is to implement one -- with Varnish Software and Sling.