Edge computing is the driving force for enterprise IT transformation in the next decade

According to forecasts, the number of 5G subscribers worldwide will reach 220 million by the end of 2020, of which China will account for 175 million, or about 80% of the global total. It can be said that consumers' acceptance of 5G has finally turned into a practical driving force, and the advantages of this technology are becoming increasingly apparent.

In China, 5G technology is a key new infrastructure that supports the digitalization, networking, and intelligent transformation of the economy and society. In the process of leading the new infrastructure, this technology has not only played an important role in helping to prevent and control the epidemic, resume work and production, but also has great potential in stabilizing investment, promoting consumption, helping upgrades, and cultivating new momentum for economic development.

5G networks are expected to bring higher revenue and improve efficiency to global companies, and introduce high-quality operations and new opportunities to thousands of industries. As the global mobile industry moves towards 5G, edge computing has received unprecedented attention. According to Gartner data, by the end of 2021, more than half of large enterprises will deploy at least one edge computing use case to support the Internet of Things or immersive experiences, compared to less than 5% in 2019.

At present, China is leading the world in the development of edge computing. With the support of the three major operators and major network providers including Huawei and ZTE, as well as the joint promotion of local organizations (ECC, CAICT, CCSA, etc.) and international organizations, the development momentum of edge computing is becoming stronger in the Chinese ecosystem.

Edge computing: a promising option

At present, more than 100 edge computing projects have been launched in various industries in 40 cities in China, covering areas such as smart parks, smart manufacturing, augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR), cloud games, smart ports, smart mining and smart transportation.

However, the impact of real-world data bandwidth is often overlooked. 5G devices such as connected cars, 5G systems, smart building interfaces and other low-latency applications are no longer new. The massive volume of transactions and data generated by these devices is usually impossible to handle in traditional centralized data centers. Pain points such as network limitations, latency and processing costs are driving the industry to continuously develop new ways to successfully adopt and implement edge computing.

Edge computing infrastructure enables data collection and processing at the edge of the network. Moving data to the edge can reduce latency and optimize user experience while reducing consumption of WAN bandwidth. This is very attractive to enterprises that want to realize the true potential of 5G. Another potential advantage of edge computing is that users will feel more comfortable if the accumulated details of their activity data are closer to the local area.

Edge computing has been widely discussed, but how to deliver edge computing in the form of commercial consumer products is not easy and needs to be carefully considered. Edge computing relies heavily on the development of the telecommunications industry and the ubiquity of the cloud, and also requires an unprecedented degree of network outsourcing, which most enterprises have not yet adapted to.

Sufficient budget: a prerequisite for deploying edge computing

The development of edge computing is generally driven by the need for lower latency and/or bandwidth cost management. Industries such as financial trading require the ability to quickly store, access, and process data. A small e-commerce delay could cause a high-tech financial trading company to lose thousands or even billions of dollars in revenue. Some applications require even lower latency, such as medical wearables, where latency issues could affect performance or even lead to major emergencies.

Enterprises that want to take advantage of 5G (and therefore transition to edge computing) must clearly define and understand the opportunities presented by the technology. IT professionals can help stakeholders understand the need for investment by explaining 5G technology to them and identifying all the factors that need to be considered.

As with all major network changes, organizations must consider costs. Redesigning applications to ensure they work at the edge of the network, as well as staff training and necessary infrastructure upgrades, will incur significant costs. If an enterprise wants to develop edge computing, it must set aside sufficient budget.

Multiple considerations: outsourcing edge service control capabilities

Once an organization has determined how and why to move applications to the edge, the next step is to evaluate how this move will help IT professionals manage critical performance and security factors.

Traditionally, enterprises have managed each user by monitoring a centralized or small number of data centers where all connections are made. Running applications at the edge of the network eliminates this control point, with users connecting directly to the system rather than to the firewall in the data center. Without location-based services and application status insights, it is difficult to understand the user experience at the edge of the network.

Network edge services require outsourcing control capabilities, which may reduce IT professionals' visibility into application performance. Enterprises need to be cautious given users' high expectations for performance and the skills gap that new technologies may bring. If an application or service does not perform well, users will quickly find alternatives, which poses a major problem for enterprises looking to protect the perimeter.

APM Solutions: Committed to the Long Term

To address these performance issues, enterprises need to expand existing network monitoring initiatives or they will miss out on new opportunities. While edge computing offers only a small contribution to network infrastructure transparency, the right solution can restore much-needed management and visibility. The trick is that every enterprise needs to validate and adapt data and workloads to the edge. This task will be difficult without visibility into the end-user digital experience.

Application Performance Management (APM) solutions have long been an effective tool for understanding decentralized networks and applications. APM can display performance information for specific user locations and provide visibility into the various components that an application or service depends on. This is actually a technology that people have been familiar with for a long time. Enterprises generally adopt APM technology periodically to fill the gap between invisible new infrastructure and the powerful management and monitoring interfaces of mature platforms. 5G+edge is a typical use case for APM and DevOps monitoring tools.

Advances in technologies such as edge computing require many new considerations, but effective network monitoring remains critical. APM is key to gaining greater visibility and delivering a consistent user experience beyond the network core. Any tier of applications or services that move to the edge of the network should come with a mature and flexible APM solution.

Edge: The next driver of enterprise-wide change

Recent advances in edge computing, and the Chinese industry’s clear desire to be at the forefront of new technologies, are a solid foundation for the future development of the technology in the country. However, realizing the long-term potential of edge computing will require concerted efforts by individual companies and the industry as a whole.

For enterprises, IT professionals need to use the most appropriate methods and tools to meet their business needs. Although there are different ways to understand edge computing, modern edge deployment and operation solutions are already able to address most infrastructure pain points. If the deployment of edge computing is simply viewed as deploying another application delivery platform, 5G/edge is an extremely attractive option for enterprises in terms of cost and transformation capabilities. In the future, edge may become the next driving force for enterprise-level change.