4 MINS READ
Highlights
- Distributed cloud and edge computing is a winning combination as they enable real-time insights to create hyper-personalized customer experiences.
- Together, they enhance the compression and transfer of data that reduce network bandwidth and, more importantly, make IoT applications possible.
- A single distributed cloud and an operating model can unify sprawling, geographically disparate deployments that span edge sites, multiple clouds, and corporate data centers.
- To capitalize on the full potential of distributed cloud and edge computing, it is essential to pay close attention to cloud and systems design, security, and digital innovation.
The need
Borderless enterprise and ecosystem business models are built on the next generation of cloud computing which extends the advantages of cloud through distributed cloud and edge capabilities.
According to Gartner, by 2024, most cloud service platforms will provide some distributed cloud services that execute at the point of need. Distributed cloud enables cloud services across geographies with the public cloud provider centrally managing and owning the overall governance, enhancements, and operations.
On the other hand, with a growing demand for high-speed applications, that address lower latency, and support and improve resilience to network connectivity issues, enterprises should embrace edge computing.
Edge computing brings computation and data storage closer to the location where it is needed to improve response time and save bandwidth. It enables zero-touch, secure, distributed computing architecture for applications, data processing at, or near, the edge.
The next horizon
An IDC study predicts that by 2023 more than 50% of new enterprise IT infrastructure deployed will be at the edge.
Let's look at a few typical futuristic enterprise use cases that take advantage of edge computing solutions:
Predictive maintenance: Proves useful in sectors where organizations would incur massive losses when systems go down. For example, the digitalization of pipeline, coupled with edge data and analytics expertise, can enable oil and gas organizations to proactively monitor and manage their pipelines, addressing defects and preventing failures.
Retail and commerce optimization: Offers capabilities for improved and hyper-personalized customer experiences.
Healthcare innovation: Unlocks new business model opportunities because of the pandemic-accelerated telehealth and the need for medical devices to track patients at home.
Public sector: Enables smart cities of the future by combining distributed cloud and edge computing solutions. Their resilient, scalable, and sustainable infrastructure improves quality of life through easy-to-use, digitally enabled service offerings, reduced traffic, and optimized energy consumption, leading to eco-friendly and carbon-neutral societies.
Futuristic innovations
Innovations from distributed cloud and edge capabilities enable the future across ecosystem.
Geographically dispersed infrastructure at the customer’s location of choice enables performance, minimizes redundancy, and protects privacy.
It comprises an IT operating model designed to support customers and enable employees everywhere, and manage the deployment of business services across a distributed infrastructure.
The cybersecurity mesh enables secure access to digital assets—independent of where it is hosted—allowing identity to become the security perimeter. Privacy-enhancing computations, closer to the customer, enable processing data in untrusted environments and multi-party data analytics.
It facilitates global operations that can be acted on locally and the emergence of data center marketplace as a new edge option.
Mobile edge computing provides a highly distributed computing environment that can be used to deploy applications and services, as well as to store and process content near mobile users.
It accelerates reshaping of teams through a managed umbrella of a single distributed cloud and operating model that integrates all the disparate environments. The existing infrastructure and operations personnel will work with the respective teams in DevOps, platform engineering and operations, or fusion.
Focus Areas
The time is now ripe to ride on the evolving capabilities of edge and distributed cloud to reimagine the future.
To take full advantage of edge computing and distributed cloud, the following focus areas demand our close attention:
Standards for edge interoperability: Facilitate an open-source governing body supported by large cloud service providers for accelerated edge adoption.
Cloud and systems design: Understand how everything fits together. Try to predict and monitor system performance and compare attributes of different services and data models. Cloud skills with network, databases, and application architecture is key to adoption.
Security: Recognize network security nuances such as data protection with authentication, encryption, and certification, while assessing the security profile of new devices and applications.
Digital innovation: Explore and develop innovative digital use cases that deliver operating efficiencies and growth. Future businesses and societies will be crafted using digital innovations enabled by the cloud.
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