The era of ubiquitous smart devices and edge computing is coming

Edge computing is on the rise. Are you ready for the dawn of this analytics-driven vision of the future that combines advances in AI and networking to create more powerful, localized systems?

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Edge computing is expected to see significant developments this year, and these changes will have important impacts on infrastructure, networking, and analytics. So, among all the other priorities you’re balancing, you’ll want to continue to pay attention to edge computing developments this year.

Edge computing brings processing to devices or gateways on a network. The basic concept is driven by the idea that certain types of processing must be performed with extremely low latency to feed back into processes such as local analytics, robotic functions, and sensor operations. Powerful edge devices and gateways can compress data for transmission to the cloud, perform pre-processing, or process and coordinate autonomous tasks without access to a central computer.

Because of these capabilities, edge computing is closely tied to the continued growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) and the rollout of 5G mobile networks. There are likely to be significant new opportunities and challenges for analytics and data. Supporting infrastructure must be built, and new requirements for security will be imposed and new models will be needed to process IoT data.

Application Cases

For applications that require low-latency data transfer, very high bandwidth, or powerful local processing capabilities, computing as close to the point of use as possible has always been important, especially for machine learning (ML) and other analytics.

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One of the most prominent current uses is self-driving cars, which require data from the cloud. They must be able to continue executing if access to the cloud is denied or slowed; there is no room for delays. The volume of data generated by all the sensors on the vehicle is enormous, and not only must it be processed locally, but any data sent to the cloud must be compressed and transmitted on demand so as not to take up too much of the available bandwidth and waste precious time. IoT applications are often a big driver for edge computing because they share similar profiles.

Edge computing is developing a range of use cases, including autonomous devices, Industry 4.0 industrial robots, smart home devices, AR/VR, communication functions, AI and ML, medicine and finance, and many more. In each of these application areas, it is possible to find situations where minimal latency and a lot of local processing can be advantageous. However, analysts believe this situation will develop further, and many companies agree.

Edge state

Because it is seen as an important new technology, many companies have quickly jumped on the edge computing bandwagon. However, progress has been slow and the required technology is not yet in place, but limited opportunities can be found in almost every field.

The State of the Edge report estimates that more than $700 billion in cumulative capital expenditures will be spent on edge infrastructure and data centers over the next decade. According to Spiceworks’ 2019 State of IT report, 32% of organizations with 5,000 employees are already using edge computing. And the 2019 Forrester Analytics Global Business Technology Mobility Survey found that 57% of decision makers plan to implement edge computing. Many analysts have made similarly optimistic predictions. However, the edge computing we have today bears little resemblance to the future envisioned by the concept, a future of autonomy, ubiquitous AI, and ubiquitous smart devices.

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Edge computing is distributed, decentralized computing that places a lot of functionality close to the end-user location. It is therefore a natural evolution of the increasing power and mobility of computers. The big change will happen when infrastructure concepts are standardized with appropriate available software, 5G networks are fully operational and available worldwide, IoT components develop standards, and costs begin to drop so that the IoT itself begins to mature.

Development trend

Because this is an area that is expected to experience high growth, major industry vendors such as IBM, Cisco, Oracle, Microsoft, Amazon, Dell, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, SAP, and others are venturing into the infrastructure space, hoping to gain a share of the rapidly growing market.

This is exciting stuff. Many analysts see 2020 as crucial for furthering edge computing down the road to implementation. This is due to the growth of 5G networks, the expansion of the Internet of Things, the growth and interest in use cases (e.g., driverless cars), and the growing understanding of what is possible with 5G networks. Current implementations tend to be highly proprietary and somewhat limited, meaning that successful cases are much more difficult to replicate.

Still, edge computing is undoubtedly evolving, and it’s important to prepare for this new future. It’s an analytics-driven vision that combines the latest advances in AI and networking to create more powerful, localized systems.