AppNexus is one of the original platforms that addressed the "cloud" which we are now so familiar with. They approached the cloud with three platforms:
1. Scale
2. Globalization
3. Integration
With these three factors growing at an alarming rate for that time it was evident that they needed to create a new way to store their data. AppNexus offered a cloud with a centralized directory to control and organize all information going into storage as well as information being sent out.
Revolutionary at the time, their Pitch Deck may seem a little dated (check out the MySpace reference) but still worth the read: