Speedera and TrueSpectra team up in an image deal

Content delivery network Speedera Networks Inc. and image management provider TrueSpectra Inc. are teaming up to offer the TrueSpectra Image Serving technology on an outsourced basis through Speedera. The two have already signed up Lowe’s Cos. Inc., Office Depot Inc. and Berries.com for the service.

The TrueSpectra service allows re-purposing of a single image for multiple uses on web sites. Without such a service, retailers must create multiple copies of the same image in the different formats that a web site requires--thumbnails, product page images and enlarged images for greater detail. Using an outsourced service can cut two-thirds of the costs of image management, says David Watkins, CEO of TrueSpectra. This is the first time that TrueSpectra is offering the service on an outsourced basis. It is available only through Speedera.

In spite of the need to manage images, many web companies are not aware of services that provide image management, says Jill Aldort, research analyst with InfoTrends Research Group Inc., a market research and consulting company that specializes in digital imaging. “The entire image serving market is small,” she says. “This arrangement allows TrueSpectra to reach a whole new customer base.”

Speedera serves 200 web-based customers and in 20 countries. The TrueSpectra deal allows Speedera to differentiate its offerings from other content delivery and acceleration companies, Aldort says. “Content delivery is going to become a commodity service. This allows Speedera a value-added service that they can offer to their customers,” she says.

Customers upload images to TrueSpectra, which then stores them and delivers the appropriate image when a shopper calls for it. The service starts at $2,700 a month, which includes the imaging service and storage for a gigabyte of images. A gigabyte represents about 2,000 images, enough for a medium-sized retail site, Watkins says.