With the introduction of edge computing and cloud computing, companies have reached a different level in terms of growth and productivity. These technologies provide several benefits such as cost reduction, data analysis, enhanced security and more, which in turn has led to development of businesses all over the globe.
By: Nijhum Rudra
Companies are moving their workload to cloud because of security, scalability, and flexibility. By the end of 2022, the overall market of edge computing is speculated to reach thirteen billion dollars globally as stated by Gartner. This is going to be possible because companies these days are extremely tech-savvy and are now truly understanding the advantages of cloud computing. Also, the negative perceptions are wiping out; the majority of companies are agreeing to test their heavy workloads in the cloud and some are even moving entirely to cloud computing. By 2025, it is speculated that around seventy five per cent of data would be processed from the cloud, while the revenue of the global public cloud is expected to reach seventeen per cent by 2020, as per Gartner.
The new research report by Grand View Research, Inc mentions that, with a CAGR of 37.4 per cent during the speculated period, the market volume of edge computing is expected to reach 43.4 billion dollars by 2027 globally, where 5G and IoT would play an extremely decisive role. Various apps that will use 5G will completely change the working pattern of traffic demand and would uplift more sophisticated technology for telecom providers.
MarketsandMarkets, the platform offering market research reports, claims that by 2022 overall edge computing market would be valued around 6.72 billion dollars from a speculated 1.47 billion dollars in 2017, with a CAGR of 35.4 per cent. The best way for companies to make their top-notch IoT devices running swiftly is to amalgamate edge computing and data-gathering potential with the cloud, storage space and processing power. Apart from that, companies can also safeguard their IoT devices running efficiently against losing any imperative analytical data value.
Need of edge computing (EC) and cloud computing (CC)
On the road to cloud computing, data centres will have to modernise and extend their networks to be able to provide resources more flexibly. This changes the way networks are designed, built and monitored. As space is often very limited, ultra-high density is a ‘must’ for providing all required connections. The most essential benefit of edge computing is its ability to enhance network performance by reducing latency. Analysing data closer to the edge provides huge benefits in terms of cost and efficiency.
Benefits and potential of EC and CC
The US-based global tech firm Cisco predicts that by 2021, around 94 per cent of workloads would be processed and carried out by cloud data centres. It is well-known that when it comes to investment in cloud computing, the USA tops every country and by 2023, Reportlinker states, the entire cloud computing market would cross 623.3 billion dollars.
In this context, let’s find out what the experts say.
Gaurav Burman
Any business using IoT devices can benefit immensely from EC and CC. Because of these new-fangled technologies, retailers are able to depend on 24/7 online presence to offer enhanced customer service, factory floor operators stay connected to plant systems, even the operation efficacies of manufacturers are enhancing, healthcare professionals have reliable access to possibly life-saving health-related data and smart buildings are redefining the way we work, live and play. From IT, financial markets and e-commerce companies to utility providers, smart cities, and governments, EC and CC are impacting nearly every business.
Anjani Kommisetti
Businesses that are customer experience-centric, or are utilising IoT, investing in 5G in their operations will benefit them from the technologies of edge and cloud computing. For instance, the automation industries have popular use cases including large engineering simulations, data and dealers’ networks, equipment and data analytics, etc. In the retail sector, different information is gathered through edge computing such as customer purchase behaviour. These technologies have also greatly benefitted the healthcare sector by improving nursing efficiency through tracking of mobile medical devices, wearable fitness devices, and optimisation of medical equipment. Sectors like agriculture, BFSI, and logistics have also implemented these technologies, and businesses are realising its potential.
Adrian Johnson
Edge computing is benefitting the sector, where IoT devices are used specifically for profit purposes and utilised across-the-board in every related industry. For example: artificial intelligence (AI), smart cars, manufacturing plants, smart cities, and other ‘smart’ objects, and healthcare IT infrastructure are getting immense benefit from edge computing as it helps to prevent application performance latency issues. Sectors like education, law firms, emergency services, travel management, and entertainment management need access to their technology tools anytime, anywhere.
Market scope of EC and CC
The profound amalgamation of 5G networks and IoT devices is ready to carry out an intense change in the deployment methods of computing workloads. Hence, at this moment, the important thing to consider is to craft state-of-the-art data centres that would offer decades of operating time. Also, edge computing has the potential to perk-up efficacy coupled with appropriate response time gathered by IoT devices and it can also diminish response time. The most important aspect is that edge computing has the capability to reduce the cost of operations, because in this technology a central server is not needed to examine the actions. Data could be stored later when this is amalgamated with cloud computing and then at the later stage, with the help of big data analytics, data can be processed to drive growth and innovation.
Cloud computing has made it possible for companies to have access to huge amounts of computing resources in a short time with great ease and flexibility, without making costly investments. Cloud computing also allows companies to host platforms, software and databases remotely, which helps in freeing up memory and computational power on the company’s individual computers.
On the other hand, edge computing systems spread all stages of data processing between various devices, such as sensors, transponders, cameras, making the whole network safer than a cloud computing network. Moreover, edge computing stores and transfers sensitive or important data remotely, making it safer than it would be on a cloud. Edge-based IoT devices gather and analyse data close to the source, which greatly reduces the transferring time and latency, allowing organisations to utilise the data in real time without any delay. Edge computing needs very less bandwidth and hence can easily operate in conditions with a limited connection, without hampering overall business operations.
Future of EC and CC
With the massive advancement of science and technology, the new-fangled cloud and edge computing will have the full potential to enhance time, offering the ladder of growth and innovation and also decreasing cost of operations and improving the life time of IoT devices. This is also because the world is now moving towards smart devices and hence the demand for these technologies would escalate more. Between 2019 and 2023, Technavio research says, the market for edge computing will increase by 41 per cent CAGR.
Cloud computing enhances accessibility, provides virtual storage space, solves backup problems, offers security against unauthorised access and data loss. Cloud computing is not only helping the businesses to adopt trending technologies like AI, ML, advanced analytics and immersive media, but also complementing the seamless adoption of SaaS, IaaS and PaaS technologies.
According to Forrester, the overall edge computing market size is projected to increase from 2.8 billion dollars in 2019 to 9.0 billion dollars by 2024, with a CAGR of 26.5 per cent during the forecast period. In this context, the Meticulous Research report predicts that the overall market of edge computing would augment at a CAGR of 34.9 per cent from 2019 to reach 28.07 billion dollars by 2027, while cloud computing is going to be more important among the enterprise world.
By moving analytics to the edge, organisations will get more immediate insights and results from IoT devices and sensors. The concept of edge computing models and business digitisation are going to become a key component for many IoT initiatives. Both the technologies can be leveraged together symbiotically to create a more balanced and efficient technology business model.
