Data optimization is critical for the burgeoning mobile broadband market. The importance of data optimization has been recognized for many years, but is only now becoming a critical element of mobile broadband network ecosystems.
Over the past decade a slew of companies including CellGlide, Megisto and Speedwise have come to market with a variety of solutions to optimize data, only to fall by the wayside due to lack of demand.
Essentially these companies were collateral damage inflicted by the lackluster performance of 3G. Several players including Bytemobile and Flash Networks managed to survive the decade long mobile broadband drought and are now benefiting from the flooding demand for data services.
Over this period Bytemobile has established a relatively significant incumbent market position for data optimization solutions. More recently, new entrant players like Mobixell, Ortiva and Vantrix have emerged and established players like Allot, Openwave, Sandvine, and Starent (now Cisco/Starent) have evolved their solutions to deliver a variety of optimization capabilities.
Since their inception over a decade ago, mobile data optimization solutions have evolved tremendously. Solutions now include near real-time contextual intelligence to account for network, device and application performance, and advanced policy management and enforcement regimes to optimize service delivery. As service providers evaluate the variety of solutions offered in the marketplace, they are faced with a variety of decisions. In particular: