Top priorities for companies deploying edge computing: Insights from a European journey

Understanding the market

Before delving into the key priorities, let’s take a step back and examine the current state of the market. According to the Microsoft Digital Operations Signals report conducted by IoT Analytics, a significant 47% of edge computing projects are custom-built. This poses an interesting challenge as the perennial “build vs. buy” dilemma arises, given the remote and diverse nature of edge computing projects.

Furthermore, Omdia and NTT revealed that 43% of companies planning to deploy edge computing consider application management a strategic component equivalent to managed connectivity. Additionally, 30% of companies believe that edge implementation will lead to cost reduction, according to IDC, highlighting innovation and operational costs as the main drivers.

Key priorities for edge computing deployment

1. Security: Security stands atop the list of priorities, particularly for the manufacturing, utility, and logistics industries. Companies need to address two critical aspects: the security of sites and assets and employee safety. Implementing AI image recognition, behavior analysis of people or devices and read-only systems play a vital role in enhancing security measures.
2. Optimization: Optimization is a critical concern for industries like telecom, manufacturing, logistics, pharmaceuticals and healthcare. By leveraging sensors coupled with triggers, such as counting, heat, sound, vibration, and images, companies can analyze and optimize production and processes with real-time, in-field actions.
3. Insights: Every industry shares the priority of gaining valuable insights. Whether it’s tracking sea containers or monitoring activities inside a shop, real-time analysis is vital for making informed business decisions and understanding customer behavior.
4. Digital experience: In sectors like retail and healthcare, providing a seamless digital experience is essential. Edge computing facilitates deep monitoring and caching, ensuring minimal latency on devices both within and outside the workplace.
5. IoT management: Many companies face the challenge of managing many IoT devices, sensors, cameras and actuators. Edge computing offers a solution by enabling the centralized control of multiple connected devices. This facilitates effortless software updates, improved security and the ability to deploy new services seamlessly.
6. Innovation: Lastly, all industries want to reduce operational costs, generate new revenue streams, attract new customers and create novel services. Edge computing holds the potential to unlock these possibilities and foster innovation across various sectors.

Doing edge computing right

While edge computing offers immense potential, successful implementation is crucial. More than half of projects still face implementation issues three years after the pilot phase, according to Microsoft’s Digital Signals report, to put the number of custom-built projects into perspective. To overcome this, companies increasingly rely on managed services, similar to cloud computing on the edge. Application management emerges as the primary strategic component for achieving successful edge deployment, with 66% of companies prioritizing it.

About the author

Bilal Bouchelaghem, a sales executive with SixSQ, helps professionals navigate the realm of edge computing and the Internet of Things. This involves identifying new business use cases, showcasing industry examples and developing simple, cost-effective solutions with minimal time to market.

DISCLAIMER: Guest posts are submitted content. The views expressed in this post are that of the author, and don’t necessarily reflect the views of Edge Industry Review (EdgeIR.com).

Article Topics

analytics  |  edge orchestration  |  IIoT  |  IoT  |  project management  |  security  |  SixSq