Intelligent CIO Europe Issue 54 | Page 78

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This ability is critical for essential and cutting-edge applications across industries . Manufacturing firms can deliver predictive maintenance , repairing equipment before it degrades or breaks down . Healthcare providers can leverage advanced monitors , sensors and other devices that greatly enhance diagnosis and treatment . The transportation industry is being disrupted by autonomous vehicles . Cars are their own Edge device and sending data to a remote location is a risk due to a delay in response times back to the vehicle . Then there is Augmented Reality ( AR ), an Edge technology that has applications across retail , education and entertainment . Its intense rendering operations need real-time responses to function .
2 . Greater resilience
Another key benefit of Edge Computing is Business Continuity . In the event of disruption or downtime in a centralised data centre , sites at the Edge can continue to operate independently since the infrastructure is local . That is just the beginning . Edge platforms allow faster , more consistent and more reliable services , enhancing customer and employee experiences across industries and use cases .
Furthermore , what many businesses can fail to realise is that Edge Computing doesn ’ t need to be connected . While being connected offers the benefit of being able to get data back to centralised data centres ,
faster Edge Computing can operate in a disconnected mode , which can be a big advantage in more remote industries and operations . Take the example of a rural mining site . An Edge system there can run autonomously if there is a drop in connection and then sync and transfer data when the connection resumes , without any disruption to business operations .
3 . Economical data movement
When assessing Edge Computing as a business-viable proposition , the term ‘ data gravity ’ emerges . One estimate suggests that by 2024 , Forbes Global 2000 enterprises will be creating 1.1 million gigabytes each second . But there are time and monetary expenses to moving this data around – increasing network bandwidth to accommodate more devices and data comes at significantly higher costs . Instead of constantly streaming data and consuming large amounts of bandwidth , Edge Computing can help because it processes data in place and only delivers the most important information to the central location . Edge Computing also reduces connectivity costs by moving smaller amounts of data between the Edge and data centres .
4 . Security and data sovereignty
Some countries have strict data residency regulations that restrict the moving of data across national boundaries . Edge Computing ’ s ability to process data
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