EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
JACOB CHACKO , REGIONAL DIRECTOR – MIDDLE EAST , SAUDI & SOUTH AFRICA AT ARUBA , A HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE COMPANY
he C-suite and business leaders understand the
T value of technology and the benefits it can bring , but there is one key technological shift on the horizon that they can ’ t afford to ignore : networking at the Edge .
Over the next five years , organisations in every industry will experience change on an unprecedented scale . A whole new range of possibilities emerge when we can engage with every device and build intelligence and connectivity into physical objects . The path to 2025 will spawn new customer-centric businesses , enable entire new industries and reinvent existing ones , challenge us to adapt and evolve , and facilitate greater access , equity and inclusion across every aspect of society – this is the potential of the Edge .
Edge technologies allow the processing of data by devices at the Edge of networks , which is where users and devices are . It is where things connect to the network , whether they are wired or wireless .
The new Edge network combines AI , ML and automation to continuously learn , predict and adapt to changes , needs and threats in real time . The new Edge network utilises technologies and software to make sense of the resulting insights , enabling businesses to act and respond , optimising the experience for the customer or user wherever they are .
Pushing intelligence out to the Edge will drive change in the design of our products , services , processes and organisations , and transform how decisions get made – giving greater autonomy to the devices at the Edge .
Edge-based strategies are driving critical shifts shaping the future of business and work over the next five years :
1 . User empowerment – The technologies are enabling a fundamental redesign of the user experience , giving users the tools to define what they want , how they want it and even how they want to pay for it .
2 . Transformational leadership – The scalability and rapid capability enhancements of exponentially advancing technologies are enabling leaders to pursue and deliver experiments to drive 2x – 10x greater improvements across their businesses .
3 . The pursuit of digital innovation and excellence – The increasingly central role of digital technologies demands that we raise digital literacy across the organisation and prioritise the rapid evolution of our digital capability to accelerate the adoption of a digital mindset and speed up the creation of digitally based products and services based on insights generated from data collected .
4 . Embracing and embedding smart – The Edge is helping organisations embrace the true power of smart devices . Rapid advancements in AI and ML are enabling the establishment of smart spaces and creating the opportunity for smart personalisation , adaptation and continuous learning in the applications offered to users .
5 . Emergence of new businesses and industry sectors at the Edge – The focus on solutions tailored to customer needs is driving opportunities from the creation of new businesses to the birth of new trillion-dollar industry sectors .
Capturing the Edge opportunity requires radical shifts in strategic thinking , an investment in developing deep digital experiences , experimentation with new business and revenue models , and evolution of the IT function . This change needs to be owned and driven from the C-suite .
The opportunity at the Edge represents a new way of conceiving business – designing from the outside in and putting the organisation ’ s focus on what happens at the Edge to maximise value for customers and employees while also driving operational efficiency .
For the C-suite , the call to action is clear . The only question is : how quickly can you respond to start building the future ?
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