The first quarter of 2021 was a period of two totally contrasting tales for CDN providers Akamai and Limelight Networks. One exceeded all performance expectations across revenue, margins and earnings, while the other cut its workforce by 16% in a desperate bid to make $15 million in annualized savings after sustained underperformance. There are no prizes for guessing which is which. Getting to the bottom of why Akamai has so dramatically outperformed its much smaller rival is not a black and white task. Surges in video traffic do not guarantee more business in the content delivery ecosystem, while the pandemic has exacerbated the downward spiral of CDN prices that was an existing trend a long time prior to any pandemic.…