EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
ROBERT LINSDELL , MANAGING DIRECTOR A / NZ , VERTIV
LULU SHIRAZ , SALES DIRECTOR FOR PRODUCT AND SERVICE A /
NZ , VERTIV
We ’ ve seen a surge in the adoption of technology in the last 18 months , with the pandemic unfolding an unwavering demand for a more communications-centric digital economy . While our population is heavily concentrated in our capital cities , our heartland regions and townships are continuing to expand and so too is their need to be part of the digital-led future . This is particularly pertinent in Australia with the Australia Bureau of Statistics reporting a net loss of 11,800 people in our capital cities due to internal migration in the March 2021 quarter .
The reality is organisations in regional cities now expect similar technology capabilities available to those working in our capital cities , particularly as more people flow from metro to regional with the expectation to continue working as normal . But far too often these businesses rely on the lion ’ s share of data generated by these technologies being transmitted back and forth between New South Wales regional towns and Sydney , for instance , which is not only restrictive , but expensive .
But regardless of where a business operates ,
companies based in regional and metro alike are looking down the barrel of a decentralised workforce ecosystem . From human resources to IT , departments have had to adjust to the eye-opening of COVID-19 and ensure that while employees are out of sight , they
aren ’ t left out of mind . That ’ s where the adoption of Edge Computing has come to fruition for many , and a recent survey found that respondents with Edge sites anticipated , on average , a 400 % increase in the number of Edge sites they will support by 2025 .
The geographically dispersed nature of Australia and other parts of Asia Pacific begs for Edge Computing to be in play and we ’ re already seeing the planning and delivery of these solutions .
The geographically dispersed nature of Australia and other parts of Asia Pacific begs for Edge Computing to be in play and we ’ re already seeing the planning and delivery of these solutions . For metro-grade capabilities , data centers are being designed in the regions to either extend big city services or enable totally localised communications .
Localised data centers provide greater levels of resilience and autonomy , and with low latency , high bandwidth assurance , regional businesses today will have a stronger posture competing in the latest digital shift . While , in time , we anticipate these solutions will go as far as enabling unique , Smart City applications .
The hybrid workforce demands Edge – the ‘ frozen Zoom face ’ simply won ’ t do anymore and that makes latency more relevant than ever . Smaller modular infrastructure can all but eliminate latency from the equation – because the infrastructure is at the ‘ Edge ’, i . e ., where the data is created . It doesn ’ t need to take that extra second or more travelling back and forth to a data center that could be 100 or 1,000 km away .
What we ’ re seeing here is the ‘ coming of Edge ’ and it ’ s not only being driven by people working from anywhere , but also the mesh of IoT sensors generating huge and increasing volumes of data .
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