2014 global broadband internet speed testing customer value leadership award

2013

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2013 North American SSL Certificate

Product Leadership Award

2014

2014 Global Broadband Internet Speed Testing

Customer Value Leadership Award

BEST PRACTICES RESEARCH

© Frost & Sullivan 2 “We Accelerate Growth”

Contents

Letter of Congratulations ............................................................................................. 3

Significance of Customer Value Leadership .................................................................... 8

Understanding Customer Value Leadership .................................................................... 8

Key Benchmarking Criteria .................................................................................... 9

Best Practice Award Analysis for Ookla .......................................................................... 9

Decision Support Scorecard ................................................................................... 9

Customer Impact ............................................................................................... 10

Business Impact ................................................................................................. 10

Decision Support Matrix ...................................................................................... 11

The Intersection between 360-Degree Research and Best Practices Awards ..................... 12

Research Methodology ........................................................................................ 12

Best Practices Recognition: 10 Steps to Researching, Identifying, and Recognizing Best Practices ................................................................................................................. 13

About Frost & Sullivan .............................................................................................. 14

Copyright ................................................................................................................ 14



Letter of Congratulations

We are proud to present you with this year’s award for Customer Value Leadership in the

Broadband Internet Speed Testing industry.

Frost & Sullivan has a global team of analysts and consultants continuously researching a

wide range of markets across multiple sectors and geographies. As part of this ongoing

research, we identify companies that consistently deepen customer relationships by

offering superior products and services that deliver a clear, demonstrable ROI. This

research involves extensive primary and secondary research across the entire value chain

of specific products. Against the backdrop of this research, we are pleased to recognize

Ookla as the Customer Value Leader in the Broadband Internet Speed Testing market.

To achieve leadership in customer value is never an easy task, but it is one made even

more difficult due to today’s competitive intensity, customer volatility, and economic

uncertainty—not to mention the difficulty of innovating in an environment of escalating

challenges to intellectual property. Within this context, your receipt of this award signifies

an even greater accomplishment.

Moreover, we recognize that your receipt of this award is the result of many individuals

(employees, customers, and investors) making daily choices to believe in the organization

and contribute in a meaningful way to its future. We believe that such an achievement

should be acknowledged and celebrated.

We hope you use this award as a platform for strengthening your brand, building

awareness among new and existing customers, and inspiring your team to even greater

levels of performance.

Once again, we congratulate you on your achievements and wish you great success in the

future. We are here to support you on any future endeavors.

Sincerely yours,

David Frigstad

Chairman

Frost & Sullivan



Background and Company Performance

Industry Challenges

The proliferation of mobile devices, coupled with unlimited data bundles provided by

operators, led to network congestion and deteriorating network quality. Increasing mobile

data consumption and requirements, which is attributed to the high adoption rates of

Smartphones and tablets, drive the demand for network testing solutions. The rapid growth

of Internet-connected devices in the home is changing the way in which broadband services

are consumed.

This increased broadband utilization across multiple devices creates numerous challenges

for broadband providers, including:

● The costs involved with setting up and supporting these increasingly complex home

networks is escalating, and the devices themselves can create technology-based

conflicts within the home network.

● The rise in demand has led to an increase in overall bandwidth needs, resulting in a

higher core capacity cost to the service provider.

● The sophistication of these devices require faster Internet speeds, and a service

provider whose network is not keeping up with demand will see an increase in

customer churn.

Because of these challenges, there is an increasing demand for cost-effective software-

based broadband Internet speed testing solutions, which enable both service providers and

their customers to track their connectivity services in a meaningful way.

Customer Impact and Business Impact of Ookla

Price/Performance Value

Seattle-based Ookla has attained an eminent position in the broadband Internet speed

testing market within the 8 years in which it has operated. A focused approach to

understanding market dynamics, changing consumer demands, and increasing competition

has helped the company to devise strategies so that customers are able to enjoy the best

value for their money. Improved features on par with technological advancements and the

capability to maintain a cost-competitive price point has accelerated the pace of Ookla’s

growth. The key solution offerings of the company that have surpassed industry

expectations and delivered optimum value include Speedtest.net, a free web service

introduced in September 2006 that facilitates the analysis of different Internet parameters;

NetMetrics, an extremely popular Internet performance database; NetGauge, a high

precision tool that maps different network protocols and communication patterns; and

NetIndex, a compiled dataset of broadband speed and network quality test results. A robust

combination of these solution variants have helped Ookla to stand out amidst competition

by offering the customers a best-in-class broadband experience. A host of value-added



attributes, such as ease of use, less expense than competing solutions and the ability to

provide highly accurate results that are specifically customized to meet the stringent

budgets of smaller enterprises, undoubtedly deliver optimum customer value. This approach

further assists the company in receiving accolades from its customers, depicted by its

capacity to conduct approximately 5 million tests every day, with over 3,000 testing servers

positioned globally.

Customer Purchase Experience

Ookla has been making substantial efforts to improve its existing solution offerings, with the

primary goal of enabling its customers to derive a more precise and clear picture of the

broadband space. By reaching far beyond the speed test concept and implementing

strategies to deliver an array of highly innovative, feature-enriched toolsets, Ookla supplies

millions of clients with an exceptional experience. Unparalleled service delivery and data

precision provides a superior purchase experience to end users, ultimately opening up a

greater scope of expansion and customer penetration.

The flagship site of the company, speedtest.net, enables end users to measure the essential

technical aspects of a broadband connection, including download and upload speeds

(throughput) and latency (ping). Ookla aggregates nearly 6 billion of these tests, organizing

them by geographic region, to support its NetIndex service, which provides a

comprehensive picture of global broadband performance.

This all-encompassing approach in dealing with broadband-oriented customers and a keen

understanding of the need to deliver a more robust experience has enabled Ookla to

successfully leverage its strong brand identity in serving elite customers across the

academic, service, hardware and media market segments.

Customer Service Experience

Delivering a compact and best-in-class broadband experience to end users remains the key

to Ookla’s overall success. Maximizing the output at a cost-competitive price point is an

added advantage on which the company focuses. Thus, its ability to compile more than a

million speed- and line-quality test results every day, while registering a compounded

growth of 5% every month since September 2007, demonstrates the company’s superior

service levels. Additionally, it collects data with the help of a vast array of technologies,

including wireless (WiMax, Microwave), wireline (cable, DSL, fiber), and mobile devices

(iPhone, Android). This further accentuates the vast range of data collection which, in turn,

is a focused attempt to deliver highly precise results to end users. The company also puts in

use stringent quality measurement tools to validate that the servers are showing accurate

results, leveraging information from daily server statistics, user reports, and server

comparisons across geographies. The company has also attempted to ensure that users at

large are able to use its applications, depicted by the ability of its web-based applications to

work seamlessly across all operating systems and key browsers.



Promising Brand Equity

In operation for a mere 8 years in the broadband Internet speed testing market, Ookla has

explicitly adopted a customer-centric approach to addressing the broader needs of

customers and in handling the underlying industry challenges in an efficient manner. Its

noted offerings in the market space include broadband speed testing and web-based

network diagnostic applications, which have successfully revolutionized the broadband space

and compelled other market participants to act proactively. The cost-effective, user-friendly,

accurate and all-inclusive solution offerings of the company have further assisted it in

gathering a huge base of customers that includes nearly every Internet service provider

(ISP) around the globe. Barring noted customers such as AT&T, Comcast, Vodacom,

Verizon, and Time Warner Cable, the company also attends to the business requirements of

small enterprises. Apart from ISPs that use Ookla’s solution offerings, there are users from

other segments (i.e., corporate, non-profit and government organizations). Such end users

include prominent companies, such as the University of Utah; Palm Beach County, Florida;

the Department of the Treasury; CNN; Ericsson; Disney; Siemens; Sun; Toyota; Nokia; and

Cisco. Depicting the astounding capabilities of its solution offerings, its customers generate

more than 150 million tests each month, with roughtly 5 million tests each day, by

effectively using its technology. The wide scale of use of its solutions is clearly indicated by

the fact that its offerings have been translated into many different languages. With a

relatively nascent presence in the market, Ookla has rightly directed its efforts and

strategies to ensure optimum satisfaction for its clients, building highly reputed brand equity

in the due course.

Growth Potential

Having identified the immense scope of growth in the broadband space, Ookla has been

highly proactive in developing improved versions of its existing solution offerings. For

instance, it has recently completed the rollout of its v3.0 technology. In light of it being

considered the epitome of measuring Internet and wireless connection speeds and its ability

to satisfy a broad base of customers, Ookla ramped up its efforts to create a next-

generation testing platform—the v3.0 testing engine. Embedded with enriched

functionalities, this newest technological offering aptly surpasses the qualities of the

prevailing v2.0 applications, such as Speedtest and Line Quality. End users are now able to

test extremely fast connections, such as Fiber to the Home or Business (FTTH/FTTB) and

Gigabit Ethernet, as well as inherently high-latency connections (i.e., 3G/4G/Wimax). This

well-versed technological improvement is made available to Ookla’s end users through the

company’s licensed NetGauge software as well as Speedtest.net and mobile applications.

Such attempts clearly indicate that Ookla has been successful in unleashing its immense

market potential; the company consistently forays into end users’ minds through its

effective business strategies. Additionally, the company has also been working in

conjunction with Comcast and Cisco to tap the future trends in the broadband space.

Indicative of optimum customer service, the company has even expanded its mobile

presence by launching new versions of its mobile applications for the iPhone iOS and



Android operating systems. Such a compact approach to enhance customer value on a

consistent basis is expected to assist the company in establishing a niche in the broadband

Internet speed testing market and register high growth.

Human Capital

Ookla’s clear objective is to become the de-facto standard in the industry. To attain this

objective, the company leverages the expansive industry expertise of its founding members.

Thus, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the company plays an instrumental role in defining

the corporate objectives and strategies. He implemented his personal experience of 10

years in the role of CEO at Speakeasy -- a broadband service provider (which was sold to

Best Buy in 2007) -- and utilized the combined team experience of nearly 3 decades to

address the underlying industry concerns, thus conceptualizing the idea of creating Ookla.

In addition, on the face of competition, the company identified the need to differentiate and

leverage the true power of human resources to build strong brand equity. Inking

partnerships and joint ventures and seeing the importance of customer responses and

feedback have, to date, helped Ookla to become a renowned name in the broadband

Internet speed testing space.

Conclusion

Ookla has become synonymous with high quality, accuracy, and monetary value among

Internet speed measurement tools. Technologically strong, these offerings encompass

nearly all aspects of broadband speed testing, from enabling end users to measure the

network throughput and latency of individual servers to granting them access to a wide

database of Internet, mobile, fiber, and satellite network tests on a geographical basis.

Capable of testing in terms of gigabits and beyond, in conjunction with the high precision

that it offers, Ookla has clearly gathered a mass of elite companies as its customers and

consistently offers them an enriched experience.

With its strong overall performance, Ookla has earned Frost & Sullivan’s 2014 Global

Customer Value Leadership Award in the Broadband Internet Speed Testing industry.



Significance of Customer Value Leadership

Ultimately, growth in any organization depends upon customers purchasing from your

company, and then making the decision to return time and again. Delighting customers is

therefore the cornerstone of any successful growth strategy. To achieve these dual goals

(growth and customer delight), an organization must be best-in-class in three key areas:

understanding demand, nurturing the brand, differentiating from the competition. This

three-fold approach to delivering customer value is explored further below.

Understanding Customer Value Leadership

Customer Value Leadership is defined and measured by two macro-level categories:

customer impact and business impact. These two sides work together to make customers

feel valued, and confident in their products’ quality and long shelf life. This dual

satisfaction translates into repeat purchases and a high lifetime customer value.

© Frost & Sullivan

Key Benchmarking Criteria

For the Customer Value Leadership Award

Impact and Business Impact—according to

Customer Impact

Criterion 1: Price/Performance

Criterion 2: Customer Purchase Experience

Criterion 3: Customer Ownership Experience

Criterion 4: Customer Service Experience

Criterion 5: Brand Equity

Business Impact

Criterion 1: Financial Performance

Criterion 2: Customer Acquisition

Criterion 3: Operational Efficiency

Criterion 4: Growth Potential

Criterion 5: Human Capital

Best Practice Award Analysis for

Decision Support Scorecard

To support its evaluation of best practices across

categories, Frost & Sullivan employs

allows our research and consulting teams to objectively analyze performance

the key benchmarking criteria listed in the previous section

basis. The tool follows a 10-point scale

ratings guidelines are illustrated

RATINGS GUIDELINES

The Decision Support Scorecard

(i.e., the overarching categories for all 10 benchmarking criteria; the definitions for

criteria are provided beneath the scorecard).

this weighted scorecard through sensitivity analysis

the ratings for a specific criterion do not lead to a significant chang

rankings of the companies.

BEST PRACTICES RESEA

9 “We Accelerate Growth”

Criteria

Customer Value Leadership Award, we evaluated two key factors

according to the criteria identified below.

formance Value

Customer Purchase Experience

Customer Ownership Experience

Customer Service Experience

Brand Equity

Financial Performance

Customer Acquisition

Operational Efficiency

Growth Potential

Human Capital

Best Practice Award Analysis for Ookla

Scorecard

To support its evaluation of best practices across multiple business performance

employs a customized Decision Support Scorecard

allows our research and consulting teams to objectively analyze performance

the key benchmarking criteria listed in the previous section, and to assign ratings on that

point scale that allows for nuances in performance evaluation

illustrated below.

Scorecard is organized by Customer Impact and Business Impact

(i.e., the overarching categories for all 10 benchmarking criteria; the definitions for

ovided beneath the scorecard). The research team confirms

through sensitivity analysis, which confirms that small changes to

the ratings for a specific criterion do not lead to a significant change in the overall relative


“We Accelerate Growth”

two key factors—Customer

business performance

Scorecard. This tool

allows our research and consulting teams to objectively analyze performance, according to

assign ratings on that

rformance evaluation;

Business Impact

(i.e., the overarching categories for all 10 benchmarking criteria; the definitions for each

s the veracity of

that small changes to

e in the overall relative



The results of this analysis are shown below. To remain unbiased and to protect the

interests of all organizations reviewed, we have chosen to refer to the other key players in

as Company 2 and Company 3.

DECISION SUPPORT SCORECARD FOR CUSTOMER VALUE LEADERSHIP AWARD

(ILLUSTRATIVE)

Measurement of 1–10 (1 = poor; 10 = excellent)

Customer Value Leadership

Customer

Impact

Business

Impact Average Rating

Ookla 9.8 9.7 9.75

Competitor 2 8.5 8.2 8.35

Competitor 3 7.4 7.1 7.25

Customer Impact

Criterion 1: Price/Performance Value

Requirement: Products or services offer the best value for the price, compared to similar

offerings in the market

Criterion 2: Customer Purchase Experience

Requirement: Customers feel like they are buying the most optimal solution that

addresses both their unique needs and their unique constraints

Criterion 3: Customer Ownership Experience

Requirement: Customers are proud to own the company’s product or service, and have a

positive experience throughout the life of the product or service

Criterion 4: Customer Service Experience

Requirement: Customer service is accessible, fast, stress-free, and of high quality

Criterion 5: Brand Equity

Requirement: Customers have a positive view of the brand and exhibit high brand loyalty

Business Impact

Criterion 1: Financial Performance

Requirement: Strong overall financial performance in terms of revenues, revenue growth,

operating margin and other key financial metrics

Criterion 2: Customer Acquisition

Requirement: Customer facing processes support the efficient and consistent acquisition of

new customers, even as it enhances retention of current customers

Criterion 3: Operational Efficiency

Requirement: Staff is able to perform assigned tasks productively, quickly, and to a high

quality standard



Criterion 4: Growth Potential

Requirements: Customer focus strengthens brand, reinforces customer loyalty and

enhances growth potential

Criterion 5: Human Capital

Requirement: Company culture is characterized by a strong commitment to quality and

customers, which in turn enhances employee morale and retention

Decision Support Matrix

Once all companies have been evaluated according to the Decision Support Scorecard,

analysts can then position the candidates on the matrix shown below, enabling them to

visualize which companies are truly breakthrough and which ones are not yet operating at

best-in-class levels.

DECISION SUPPORT MATRIX FOR CUSTOMER VALUE LEADERSHIP AWARD (ILLUSTRATIVE)

High

Low

Low High

Business Impact

Customer Impact

Ookla

Competitor 2

Competitor 3

© Frost & Sullivan

The Intersection between 360

Practices Awards

Research Methodology

Frost & Sullivan’s 360-degree research

methodology represents the analytical

rigor of our research process. It offers a

360-degree-view of industry challenges,

trends, and issues by integrating all 7 of

Frost & Sullivan's research methodologies.

Too often, companies make important

growth decisions based on a narrow

understanding of their environment,

leading to errors of both omission and

commission. Successful growth s

are founded on a thorough understanding

of market, technical, economic, financial,

customer, best practices, and demographic

analyses. The integration of these research

disciplines into the 360-degree

methodology provides an evaluation

platform for benchmarking industry players and for

in-class levels.

BEST PRACTICES RESEA

12 “We Accelerate Growth”

ntersection between 360-Degree Research and Best

Research Methodology

degree research

methodology represents the analytical

process. It offers a

view of industry challenges,

and issues by integrating all 7 of

Frost & Sullivan's research methodologies.

make important

growth decisions based on a narrow

understanding of their environment,

leading to errors of both omission and

uccessful growth strategies

are founded on a thorough understanding

of market, technical, economic, financial,

customer, best practices, and demographic

The integration of these research

degree research

evaluation

for benchmarking industry players and for identifying those performing at best

360-DEGREE RESEARCH: SEE

THE CHAOS


“We Accelerate Growth”

Degree Research and Best

identifying those performing at best-

DEGREE RESEARCH: SEEING ORDER IN



Best Practices Recognition: 10 Steps to Researching,

Identifying, and Recognizing Best Practices

Our awards team follows a 10-step process (illustrated below) to evaluate award

candidates and assess their fit with our best practice criteria. The reputation and integrity

of our awards process are based on close adherence to this process.

STEP OBJECTIVE KEY ACTIVITIES OUTPUT

1 Monitor, target, and screen

Identify award recipient candidates from around the globe

• Conduct in-depth industry research

• Identify emerging sectors • Scan multiple geographies

Pipeline of candidates who potentially meet all best-practice criteria

2 Perform 360-degree research

Perform comprehensive, 360-degree research on all candidates in the pipeline

• Interview thought leaders and industry practitioners

• Assess candidates’ fit with best-practice criteria

• Rank all candidates

Matrix positioning all candidates’ performance relative to one another

3

Invite thought leadership in best practices

Perform in-depth examination of all candidates

• Confirm best-practice criteria • Examine eligibility of all candidates

• Identify any information gaps

Detailed profiles of all ranked candidates

4

Initiate research director review

Conduct an unbiased evaluation of all candidate profiles

• Brainstorm ranking options • Invite multiple perspectives on candidates’ performance

• Update candidate profiles

Final prioritization of all eligible candidates and companion best-practice positioning paper

5

Assemble panel of industry experts

Present findings to an expert panel of industry thought leaders

• Share findings • Strengthen cases for candidate eligibility

• Prioritize candidates

Refined list of prioritized award candidates

6

Conduct global industry review

Build consensus on award candidates’ eligibility

• Hold global team meeting to review all candidates

• Pressure-test fit with criteria • Confirm inclusion of all eligible candidates

Final list of eligible award candidates, representing success stories worldwide

7 Perform quality check

Develop official award consideration materials

• Perform final performance benchmarking activities

• Write nominations • Perform quality review

High-quality, accurate, and creative presentation of nominees’ successes

8

Reconnect with panel of industry experts

Finalize the selection of the best-practice award recipient

• Review analysis with panel • Build consensus • Select winner

Decision on which company performs best against all best-practice criteria

9 Communicate recognition

Inform award recipient of award recognition

• Present award to the CEO • Inspire the organization for continued success

• Celebrate the recipient’s performance

Announcement of award and plan for how recipient can use the award to enhance the brand

10 Take strategic action

Share award news with stakeholders and customers

• Coordinate media outreach • Design a marketing plan • Assess award’s role in future strategic planning

Widespread awareness of recipient’s award status among investors, media personnel, and employees



About Frost & Sullivan

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Copyright

This research is owned by Frost & Sullivan. No part of this research may be disclosed to

non-employees of the award recipient without formal written permission from Frost &

Sullivan. Furthermore, no part may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording

or otherwise, without the written permission of Frost & Sullivan.

For information regarding permission, call your Frost & Sullivan account executive or write

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