EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
JON HEALY , OPERATIONS DIRECTOR AT KEYSOURCE
he emergence of cloud , hype and media
T attention has put a spotlight on Edge as the industry ’ s next big thing and the enabler to our autonomous and connected future . In recent years there has been a ‘ decentralisation ’ of data generation and advances in new technologies and the IoT , fuelled by 5G , which has driven the need for processing and storing data with location in mind – to the Edge .
Edge Computing puts more emphasis on the IT architecture and how it can be
GIVEN THAT EDGE CAN OFTEN BE IN REMOTE LOCATIONS , THE PHYSICAL SECURITY MAY ALSO NEED TO BE MORE OF A CONSIDERATION . leveraged by the customer . For some organisations , it can unlock innovation , new services , new revenue streams and competitive advantage .
For others , the rewards are less compelling and often the opportunity will need to be considered against existing investments , implications of change and risk .
Considering an Edge solution may present an opportunity to combine some parts of the ‘ The Stack ’ with hardware and services now sourced as one rather than individual components .
It can be used just for a specific application , such as the work we have done for DellEMC , deploying Edge solutions to its customers in the development of autonomous vehicles in extreme environment locations .
Latency is often the key driver for an Edge approach , however , with the improvement of technology and the global network infrastructure , this may become less of a selection factor , leaving the door open for other challenges to be addressed , such as sustainability .
For example , it is possible that Edge could be the answer to reducing inefficiencies and controlling the amount of data centre capacity we consume or need .
Conversely , it could make it harder to drive efficiency in the industry if solutions are geographically distributed .
Having data processed , stored and transferred potentially across multiple ‘ Edge ’ environments arguably increases the risk of a security breach .
Given that Edge can often be in remote locations , the physical security may also need to be more of a consideration , especially when sites are unmanned .
However , conversely , the ability to silo infrastructure may provide the opportunity of greater protection .
Finally , operational management of Edge is a critical consideration when deploying or utilising a solution as it inevitably places more emphasis on the ability to remotely monitor or manage your infrastructure .
Technology is the key here , with AI and Augmented Reality presenting real opportunities to overcome regional skills and deliver robust service with quicker recovery time when needed .
Once all of these considerations have been addressed , many organisations can certainly enjoy the benefits of Edge Computing , like decreased latency , better bandwidth management and zero-touch operations – which I believe are key to supporting new expectations of how people , businesses and things interact . ◊
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