13 Ways Edge Computing Can Benefit Businesses
Along with the exponential growth in cloud computing and the Internet of Things, businesses are starting to hear more and more about edge computing. Still, edge computing is an unfamiliar and untested concept for many companies.
Businesses interested in edge computing are eager to hear more details and get some guidance from experts. We asked a panel of 13 Forbes Technology Council members to share some ways businesses can make productive use of edge computing. Their replies follow.
Leverage edge computing to benefit healthcare IT infrastructure. Edge computing helps to prevent application performance latency issues, such as for medical device management. Instead of relying on one centralized data center, critical healthcare data processing can be localized for increased security, faster response and more efficient data transmission. – Archie Agarwal, ThreatModeler Software, Inc.
Edge computing is driving compute as close as possible to where the data is being generated. For example, in retail, data has historically been pulled together in one central place for analysis and then been acted on. With edge computing, retail stores can optimize locally and in real time based on information processed at the edge of individual locations. Edge computing helps organizations make faster data-driven decisions. – Andrew Wertkin, BlueCat
By enabling unprecedented levels of user engagement to take place locally on devices, edge computing will unlock profound capabilities for augmented reality. Users can expect to see more vivid, faster and improved AR experiences. As a result, numerous facets of business will be ripe for transformation. Companies that leverage these unorthodox advantages early on will set themselves up for success. – Marc Fischer, Dogtown Media LLC
One way is using edge computing’s local computation to introduce higher levels of intelligence earlier in the data analytics process. This lets you create a more incisive set of data and accelerate analysis and decision-making. Otherwise, with the cloud, intelligence is less refined and typically applied later in the process. Analytics thus take longer and aren’t as focused as they could be. – John McDonald, ClearObject
Edge computing is foundational in realizing smart manufacturing. Performing near-real-time analysis on the manufacturing floor provides an opportunity to greatly improve operational efficiency and increase margins. Line shutdowns can be avoided by identifying process anomalies that impact yield while edge computing systems collect data to establish smart industrialization tools like digital twins. – Dan Gamota, Jabil, Inc.
The use of traditional cloud computing architectures leads to extremely fast data accumulation in cloud storage (like data from IoT sensors). Most of these data are useless, so companies spend a lot on storing data they almost certainly will never use. Edge computing can help by sending only useful information to the cloud, which undergoes processing. – Alexey Makarov, Qulix Systems
For businesses with large and complex security systems, edge computing can improve efficiency and lower bandwidth use. For instance, with motion-detection cameras, data is continuously streaming a signal to the cloud server. But with edge computing, each motion-detection camera would have an internal computer to run the application and then send footage to the cloud server on an as-needed basis. – Thomas Griffin, OptinMonster
IoT, digital signage and the IP fabric that is assembling for retail and enterprise are built for edge computing. The business of tomorrow will rely on data mining and the collection of data points into the trillions. Edge computing allows businesses to aggregate this data and make use of cloud service in tandem with on-premise equipment and sensors to collect real-world data without opt-in.
