FEATURE
Andy Rowland, Head of Customer
Innovation: Energy, Resources and
Manufacturing, BT
First of all, they are looking to consolidate
various network related functions into a
single box. In the same way that we’ve
seen convergence in the consumer space,
so that we no longer need a separate
camera, Sat Nav and alarm clock – and
instead need just one smart phone – we
are now seeing the same in networking
and security.
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Issue 02
Our customers are looking at edge devices
that support virtual network functions
(VNF) like routers, SD-WAN, acceleration
and network optimisation. They’re also
looking to consolidate security functions
like virtual firewalls and privilege access
management. And they want to have the
ability to remotely install, configure and
patch these devices. interactions with customers, end users
and other partners in the ecosystem.
We’re also testing the technology and
service wrap capabilities to achieve an
integrated edge computing solution.
Secondly, they are looking to add
computing power to this box. The
consolidated device now also needs to
support containers and virtual machines
to run different applications. By bringing
the two together it helps to strengthen the
business case for moving to the edge. Applications that we are exploring include:
At our R&D labs, we’re building edge
cloud compute platforms and applications
to demonstrate the requirements and
viability of the technology. We’re doing
research and prototype work with
key partners to understand things like
customer and application requirements,
technology maturity, the end-to-end
architecture and orchestration required,
as well as how to support the best
Finally, we are seeing customers
keen to exploit the edge for more
innovative applications.
• • Real-time video analytics such as
object/ facial recognition
• • Augmented/virtual reality
applications for remote assistance or
training purposes
• • Automated remote control of
vehicles, for example drones using 5G
• • Vehicle to vehicle and vehicle to
infrastructure communications for
example collision detection.
So, if you are looking at how you transform
your edge to deliver the applications of
the future and to transform the network
functions you deliver today, why not talk
to us. ◊
www.intelligentdatacentres.com