Google is making its way to deliver web pages faster so they released a module for Apache server software. Using their SPDY (pronounced as speedy) protocol, Apache can deliver a web page 50% faster than normal.

This release is really great since SPDY will become available in public. Though Google started working on SPDY last 2009, it was just more prominent to IT world. Well, this geeky protocol is now coming to the internet world as a whole as well. In fact, Twitter started to use SPDY recently to send pages to those browsers supporting the protocol.

So how does SPDY works in sending web pages in less time? Well, it does so by letting the servers send many different contents of a web page all at once. This boosts the speed and loading time since it eliminates all the sets of functions that usually sent back and forth in the plain HTTP. Moreover, it also lets the server understand what a browser needs to run in a web page without having to wait for the browser’s message. The good thing is, both of those processes I mentioned happens at the same time. In short, the delivery of traffic is just done in one flow and it cuts the former back and forth communication that needs some time.

Google needs to have a support for browsers and servers alike so that SPDY can go publicly. This big step of Google in releasing a module for Apache is a great answer to this.

Some bigger companies are actually already using SPDY. Amazon, a famous site in selling various products, is using SPDY so the communication between its browser and proxy servers is fast.
For SPDY to be experienced by internet surfers, is has to be supported by the common browsers. Google Chrome is already supporting SPDY and Firefox will also support it in its next version (version 11). However, the other rival Microsoft Internet Explorer might not go for this since they are also developing their own web pages boosting tool called HTTP Speed+Mobility.

Internet surfing is becoming even faster through this wonderful developments that engineers are creating. Surely, people will have a better experience in waiting for loading time in those web pages they want to see. This is really a great boost in the internet world!

Apache server · Chrome · Google

Leading networking equipment manufacturer Cisco is set to launch a partner program aimed at consolidating approximately 50 different global programs into one. The new program is expected to leverage a $200 billion market opportunity which will help the company expand individual deals. Named the Cisco Services Partner Program, the company is going to provide performance-based incentives to its service partners.

Cisco’s annual survey of partners reveals that its solution providers now account for 50 percent of their revenues with services while contributing about 70 percent of their profits. Significantly, services account for approximately $9 billion of the company’s overall revenue.

Last year, Cisco extensively focused on refining its services programs such as its Integrated Architectures Specialization (IAS) for large partners that may be strategic with Cisco at various levels. Further, the company published a services Rules of Engagement document which included details on a wide spectrum of topics from partner services compensation to process involved to escalate issues to resolve conflicts.

The new program, however, is designed as the biggest statement of how the company wants to help its partners profit from services while differentiating itself from the strategies of its business rivals such as IBM, HP and Dell. The program will essentially open Cisco’s Smart Services portfolio up to its partner base.

With its intellectual capital and information offered through its software, Cisco partners can easily develop services for customers to boost competitive benchmarking. At a strategic level, Cisco partners can leverage Partner Support Service, a new offering, to provide both installed base and contract management services to customers while using Cisco APIs to build their own apps and software. Partners opting for the program can hope to realize incremental rebates up to 25 percent, depending on their approach to go in-depth with the programs and the type of service offerings they provide.

The program is going to be available within the next 18 months. The company started piloting it last year with around 2,500 partners. There are now 4,000 partners who are participating in it from the U.S, Asia Pacific, Israel and Canada. The company has invested about $1 billion in this program.

Cisco · News