A popular 2020 predication is 'Edge Computing' – We explain why

Edge computing has existed for some time now, but the term has been coined because of its expansion and potential future importance within the next decade.

Edge Computing (also known as Edge Networking or Fog Computing) occurs when data is processed near the edge of a network, where it is generated, instead of in a centralised data processing location.

Over the years, data has been migrating from on-premises to the cloud and increasingly from the cloud to Edge Locations where it is being processed.

The purpose of Edge Computing is to improve the reliability and speed of applications, improving performance for the end user. Edge computing also has a potential financial gain through the reduction of traffic over multiple networks, which reduces bandwidth requirements and potentially bandwidth costs.

The practical application of Edge Computing for an organisation means that customers and partners can potentially access and use that organisation’s services and applications faster and at a lower cost, with less reliance on a centralised cloud solution. With customers demanding more data through applications such as customer portals for financial, commercial property, and other sectors, you can see how Edge Computing is becoming more prevalent.

Whilst there are security and privacy concerns about storing and processing data near the network edge, there are growing demands on such technology due to the increased load on cloud infrastructure and the number of intelligent applications that benefit greatly from edge computer processing.

To assess current demand, a recent survey of over 500 North American organisations with 500 to 50,000 employees was completed by Futurum Research. The results demonstrated the importance of Edge Computing, with 93.3% stating that they are likely to invest in Edge Computing within the next 12 months and 72.7 percent confirming that they have already invested in some form of Edge Computing.

To learn if Edge Computing can improve the performance of your business applications, speak to one of the OryxAlign team today.