Fastly

Implementing Fastly software typically involves several key steps to ensure a smooth transition and optimal performance. Here is an overview of the process:

1. Initial Consultation and Planning: Fastly begins with a consultation to understand the specific needs and goals of the business. This phase involves assessing the current infrastructure, identifying key performance indicators (KPIs), and planning the integration strategy.
2. Configuration and Setup: During this phase, Fastly's team works with the client's developers to configure the platform according to the specific requirements. This includes setting up edge nodes, defining caching rules, and integrating with existing CI/CD workflows. Fastly's platform is highly customizable, allowing for tailored configurations to meet unique business needs.
3. Testing and Validation: Before going live, extensive testing is conducted to ensure that the setup meets performance and security standards. This includes load testing, security assessments, and validating that the content is correctly cached and delivered.
4. Deployment and Go-Live: Once testing is complete, the platform is deployed. Fastly's real-time observability tools allow for immediate monitoring and adjustments as needed. The deployment phase also includes training for the client's team to manage and utilize the platform effectively.
5. Ongoing Support and Optimization: Post-deployment, Fastly provides continuous support and optimization services. This includes monitoring for performance issues, updating configurations as needed, and providing security updates.

The entire implementation process can vary in duration depending on the complexity of the client's needs and the scale of the deployment. However, Fastly's platform is designed to be implemented quickly, often within a few weeks, thanks to its developer-friendly environment and real-time control features.

Fastly's software is highly customizable, allowing it to fit specific business needs across various industries.

• Tailored Solutions: Fastly works closely with clients to tailor their powerful network and solutions to the specific needs of different industries, ensuring a smooth migration and optimal performance.
• Developer-Friendly Platform: Fastly's platform integrates seamlessly with existing CI/CD workflows, enabling developers to implement custom solutions and make real-time updates. This flexibility is crucial for businesses that need to pivot quickly and stay agile.
• Real-Time Control and Observability: Fastly provides real-time observability and programmatic control over content delivery, allowing businesses to customize caching rules, security settings, and other configurations instantly.
• Comprehensive Security: Fastly's security solutions are integrated into the platform, offering customizable protection against a wide range of threats, including DDoS attacks and bots.
• Scalable Performance: The platform can handle large volumes of traffic and scale instantly to meet demand, making it suitable for high-traffic events and large-scale applications.

Fastly's pricing structure includes several components and potential additional costs:

• Monthly Minimum Charge: Fastly bills a minimum of $50 per month, which covers bandwidth and request usage. If your usage falls below this threshold, you will still be charged the minimum amount.
• Flat-Rate Packages: Fastly offers simplified, flat-rate packages that include network services, security, and compute, eliminating the complexity of bandwidth charges and protecting against traffic spikes without additional costs.
• Support Plans: Fastly offers different support plans:
  • Standard Support: Free of charge and available upon signup.
  • Gold Support: Includes proactive alerts, expedited 24/7 incident response, and a 100% uptime SLA guarantee.
  • Enterprise Support: Provides emergency escalation and 24/7 response for all inquiries, not just incidents.
• Security Services: Fastly's Next-Gen WAF includes security updates at no additional cost, and it reduces the need for costly ongoing rule-tuning.
• Optional Premium Support: Available as an additional monthly fee for enhanced support services.

Fastly offers comprehensive training and support to ensure new users can effectively utilize their platform:

• Customer Support: Fastly provides world-class support with access to experts, self-service resources, and an active community. They offer real-time chat, phone support, and scheduled meetings.
• Training Programs: Fastly's support team undergoes extensive training on their technical products, including Varnish, to maintain high-quality support interactions. Training includes advanced technical talks, informal computer science classes, and side-by-side pairing sessions.
• Fastly Academy: Provides foundational courses on essential Fastly concepts and terms, as well as more advanced training.
• Documentation and API References: Fastly offers detailed documentation and API references to help users empower their workflows and understand the platform's capabilities.
• Community Forum: Users can get advice and share experiences with other Fastly users in the community forum.

Fastly implements robust security measures to protect data and ensure the integrity of their services:

• Access Control: Configuring user roles and permissions to manage access securely.
• Cryptographic Features: Utilizes cryptographic VCL features to enhance security.
• Two-Factor Authentication: Available to add an extra layer of security to user accounts.
• Bot Defense: HUMAN Bot Defender to protect against malicious bot traffic.
• TLS Encryption: Ensures secure communications through Transport Layer Security (TLS).
• Monitoring and Logging: Includes features for monitoring account activity with audit logs and event logs.
• DDoS Protection: Fastly's network-level DDoS protection mitigates denial of service attacks at the edge.
• Next-Gen WAF: Fastly's Web Application Firewall (WAF) provides comprehensive protection without the need for constant rule-tuning, reducing labor costs and enhancing security posture.

Fastly releases updates regularly to ensure their platform remains secure, functional, and up-to-date with the latest technologies. The update process is managed through a structured change management process that includes several key steps:

• Testing: Changes are tested at various stages of development in a non-production environment to ensure they operate as expected before deployment.
• Change Approval and Notification: Changes are prepared, approved, and communicated to maintain awareness among employees managing the Fastly network and systems.
• Post-Implementation Review: The success of changes is confirmed after deployment.
• Change Monitoring: Multiple monitoring and alert mechanisms are used to enhance visibility of technical changes and ensure adherence to change management processes.

Fastly's policy on data ownership and portability is designed to ensure customers retain control over their data and can manage it according to their needs:

• Customer Content: Customers manage which content is processed, where, and for how long by setting policies that control that content. Cached content is retained per customer configuration and can be deleted using the purge functionality.
• Customer Configurations: These may be stored indefinitely but can be deleted upon request. Fastly retains encrypted backups of customer configurations for business continuity purposes.
• Request Logs: Fastly does not retain customers’ request logs except where explicitly stated in the documentation. Customers can stream their content request logs to a customer-owned and managed endpoint for analysis and use.

Fastly's platform is designed to be highly scalable, allowing organizations to adjust their usage as their needs change. Here are the key terms related to scaling:

• Elastic Scalability: Fastly's platform can handle large volumes of traffic and scale instantly to meet demand, making it suitable for high-traffic events and large-scale applications.
• Usage-Based Billing: Fastly charges based on actual usage, which means costs can increase or decrease depending on the amount of bandwidth and requests processed. This allows for flexibility in scaling up or down without incurring unnecessary costs.
• Flat-Rate Packages: For organizations that prefer predictable costs, Fastly offers flat-rate packages that include network services, security, and compute. These packages simplify budgeting and eliminate the complexities of bandwidth charges.

Contract Renewal

• Automatic Renewal: Fastly's contracts typically include automatic renewal clauses unless otherwise specified. This means that the contract will renew for an additional term unless the client provides notice of non-renewal.
• Notice Period: Clients are generally required to provide a notice period if they do not wish to renew the contract. The specific duration of this notice period can vary, so it's important to review the contract details.
• Review and Adjustment: Prior to renewal, clients have the opportunity to review their usage and adjust their service levels or packages as needed. This ensures that the contract aligns with the current and future needs of the organization.

Cancellation

• Termination for Convenience: Clients may terminate their contract for convenience, typically by providing written notice within a specified period. The notice period and any associated fees for early termination will be outlined in the contract.
• Termination for Cause: Either party may terminate the contract for cause if the other party breaches any material terms of the agreement and fails to remedy the breach within a specified period after receiving notice.
• Refunds and Credits: Depending on the terms of the contract, clients may be entitled to refunds or credits for any unused services if they cancel before the end of the contract term. This will be detailed in the service agreement.

Fastly adheres to several key compliance standards to ensure the security, privacy, and integrity of the data processed through its platform. Here are the primary compliance standards that Fastly meets:

ISO/IEC 27001:2013

Fastly is certified to the ISO/IEC 27001:2013 standard for its Information Security Management System (ISMS). This certification demonstrates Fastly's commitment to managing information security risks systematically and continuously.

SOC 2 Type 2

Fastly undergoes SOC 2 Type 2 audits, which evaluate the effectiveness of its controls over security and availability. This independent third-party examination validates that Fastly's systems and processes meet the Trust Service Criteria established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

GDPR

Fastly complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), ensuring that the personal data of European nationals is handled by stringent privacy and data protection standards. Fastly acts as a data processor under GDPR and provides tools and configurations to help customers meet their GDPR compliance obligations.

PCI DSS

Fastly is compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) as a Level 1 Service Provider. This compliance ensures that Fastly's caching and delivery services meet the rigorous security requirements for handling payment card information. Fastly's PCI-compliant caching product allows customers to configure their services by these standards.

HIPAA

Fastly is audited against relevant sections of the Security and Privacy Rules of the Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This compliance enables customers to use Fastly's HIPAA-compliant caching product to support their healthcare data security requirements.

Additional Compliance Measures

• Privacy Shield: Fastly adheres to the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield and Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield frameworks, despite the invalidation of the Privacy Shield by the Court of Justice of the European Union. This demonstrates Fastly's commitment to protecting transatlantic data transfers.
• NIST Cybersecurity Framework: Fastly's security program is based on the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, which includes administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to protect its infrastructure, data, and services.