Akamai, and when it is the right call.
This week we looked at 60 Greater Boston business websites two weeks after an emergency PHP security fix. 19 still run a version that no longer gets fixes at all. The answer for those sites is an upgrade, and someone has to own it. While that gets scheduled, the site still faces the internet every day. That's where a layer like Akamai earns a look.
Partner Spotlight · Signals & Systems Weekly, November 5, 2026 · Editorial pick
What Akamai is.
Akamai runs one of the largest content delivery networks in the world. Websites, apps and APIs are served from its servers close to the people using them, which is why pages load quickly and keep loading when traffic spikes. It also offers edge compute, so some of a site's work can run on that same network instead of on one server in one data center.
Security sits on top of that network. Traffic passes through Akamai before it reaches you, so attacks get filtered there, before they touch your server or your internet circuit.
Akamai works mostly with enterprise and mid-market organizations, but it supports medium-sized businesses too.
What Akamai can put in front of your business.
The pieces, in plain terms. Most companies start with one or two.
Fast delivery for sites, apps and APIs
Content and requests are served from the edge of Akamai's network, close to each user, with compute available there too.
DDoS protection that ignores your carrier
Flood attacks are absorbed on Akamai's network, whichever internet provider or circuit your business uses.
Web app and API security
A firewall in front of the site with rules Akamai keeps current, plus API security from its acquisition of Noname Security.
Bot mitigation
Separates people from automated traffic, which matters for logins, forms, checkout and anything scrapers want.
Zero Trust segmentation
Microsegmentation inside your network and on your devices, so one compromised machine can't reach everything else.
Run it yourself or have it run
Available fully managed, co-managed with your team, or self-service, which matters if you have no security person on staff.
My take.
Will Deady, founder of The Deady Group
Most of the websites I look at don't need another security product; they need someone to own them. If your site runs software that no longer gets security fixes, put the upgrade on the calendar first, with a name next to it.
Akamai makes sense when the website, portal or API is part of how you make money: online ordering, a customer or member login, a portal clients rely on, or apps that talk to your systems. There, a layer that Akamai keeps current covers the gap between a vulnerability going public and your team patching it, and that gap is exactly what attackers look for.
It's also one of the few names that covers the whole edge in one relationship: delivery, DDoS, app and API security, bots, and segmentation inside the network. However, that only matters if you're buying those pieces at all. A mid-market company getting them from four or five vendors should at least see what one would look like.
For a five-page brochure site, I'll tell you to start with a supported version and a host who handles updates. I'd rather you spend nothing than spend on the wrong layer.
Ask Will about Akamai.
Tell me what you're trying to protect. I look at your site from the outside first, then tell you whether Akamai fits. If it does, I set up the conversation with their team and stay in it. If it doesn't, I say so.
Editorial pick, not a sponsorship. We may be compensated if you become an Akamai customer through us. How we are compensated.
Is Akamai only for large enterprises?
No. Akamai works mostly with enterprise and mid-market organizations, but it supports medium-sized businesses as well. Whether it makes sense for you depends on how much of your revenue and customer data runs through your website, portal or APIs.
Does a web application firewall replace updating my site?
No. A firewall filters known attacks and buys time, but updating the software underneath is what closes the hole. If your site runs a version that no longer gets security fixes, the upgrade comes first.
How does The Deady Group work with Akamai?
We work with Akamai through our supplier partner programs. We look at your site from the outside first, then tell you whether Akamai fits. If it does, we set up the conversation with their team and stay in it. We may be compensated if you become an Akamai customer through us, and we disclose that before you decide anything.
