The Engineer is an online magazine which covers the latest developments and news in the engineering and technology sector. In their most recent article, Mark Boost, CEO at Civo, spoke about how edge computing presents an opportunity for organizations to make use of their most valuable data.
Within this article, we see that 80% of data leaders admit that they have data left unused at their company. Mark goes on to describe the downfall of unused data within companies:
“Making use of data can help businesses of all sizes, so those that are leaving such a rich resource untapped will feel like they have missed a trick. Edge computing presents an opportunity to tap into this resource by allowing organizations to make use of their most valuable data.”
Edge computing surrounds the concept of computing being done at or near the source of data rather than relying on the cloud to store this data. Whilst this has a range of benefits, the main ones include: avoiding latency caused by transferring data to a centralized cloud platform, removing unnecessary external analysis, and only the most valuable data needs to be sent back to a centralized data center.
Mark explains how SMEs can further benefit from the use of edge computing due to the speed offered:
“Speed is key in a world where decisions need to be made almost instantaneously, so latency must be avoided at all costs. This is especially true for SMEs if they want to compete with larger entities who possess computing power of a much larger scale and scope. Edge presents an opportunity to level the playing field by operating at speed.”
Edge computing is predicted to see a 25% growth in the next eight years, most of which comes from enterprise investments. This shift will require SMEs to get ahead of the trend by putting preparations around how they want their devices to collect data. By having a plan, SMEs will be able to reap the benefits of computing at the edge despite the barriers that appear.
“There are certainly hurdles along the way for SMEs computing at the edge. Ultimately, edge computing is here to stay, and all signs point to its continuing growth. Our advice to SMEs is to get ahead of the trend and not only just consider the uses of edge computing, but tap into its potential by implementing it in the right way from the outset.”
If you’re interested in learning more about this topic, check out The Engineers article and words from our CEO Mark Boost here.