The future of work is a hybrid model – where employees operate remotely a few days a week – as researchers predict more than a third of post-pandemic workers will opt to stay at home to some degree. Indeed, the Wall Street Journal reports companies plan to support this movement by spending more than $240 billion on “edge computing” through 2024, per forecasts by International Data Corp.

WHAT IS EDGE COMPUTING?

Edge computing involves building and sustaining an IT infrastructure that delivers digital resources such as data, applications and processing power closer to where work is being done. It means running fewer processes in the cloud and moving those processed to local places such as on a user’s computer, an IoT device, or an edge server. This in turn minimizes the need for long distance communications between customer and server, which reduces latency and bandwidth usage.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EDGE COMPUTING AND CLOUD COMPUTING?

Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage and computing power, without direct active management by the user. Large clouds often have functions distributed over multiple locations, each location being a data center. Wikipedia

Cloud services are centralized in a vendor-managed “cloud” and can be accessed from any device over the Internet. However, cloud computing can introduce latency because of the distance between users and the data centers where cloud services are hosted. Edge computing moves computing closer to end users to minimize the distance that data has to travel, while still retaining the centralized nature of cloud computing.

WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES FOR USING EDGE COMPUTING?

Edge computing can be incorporated into a wide variety of applications, products, and services which may include these examples:

IoT devices: Smart devices that connect to the Internet can benefit from running code on the device itself, rather than in the cloud, for more efficient user interactions.
Video conferencing: Interactive live video takes quite a bit of bandwidth, so moving backend processes closer to the source of the video can decrease lag and latency.
Expanding hybrid workforce: Spanning the spectrum of businesses, this means an array of edge locations such as home offices for remote working.

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF EDGE COMPUTING?

Some of the advantages edge computing offers are better security practices, lower costs, and reduced latency:

Better security practices: Edge computing allows you to filter sensitive data at the source rather than send it to the central data center. Less transfer of sensitive information between devices and the cloud means better cybersecurity for your business and customers.

Lower costs: By reducing data transport and storage requirements through conventional methods, most IoT projects may be acquired at a far lower cost. Furthermore, bandwidth and cloud resources are limited and cost money. In order to assist every business and domiciliary becoming furnished with IoT devices, tremendous amounts of computation will have to be moved to the edge to save money.

Reduced latency: This is the time it takes to send data and receive a reply. With cloud computing, the device may be sending information to a data center for processing which often results in a brief delay. With edge computing, critical data can be processed on the spot, resulting in faster decisions.

WHAT ASPECTS OF IT DEMAND HIGH PERFORMANCE FROM EDGE COMPUTING?

Edge computing demands high performance from several aspects of IT, made more challenging by the rapid rise of remote work:

Communication & Collaboration: Network operations must sustain greater connectivity for more users than ever before, enabling access anytime from anywhere on any device. TeamLogicIT Plano can be your company’s IT consulting partner on technology solutions, supplemental support, or help with IT Outsourcing projects.
Cybersecurity: Studies by Cisco show cybersecurity threats have risen by at least 25% since the onset of COVID-19 ushered in a new era of widespread remote work. Recovering from a cyberattack requires a proper approach to remediate and restore lost or compromised data and return your systems to full operations. Managed IT services can provide industry leading technology and procedures to return your business to normalcy, as quickly as possible.
Business Continuity / Disaster Recovery: Emphasis now must shift from focusing on backup and recovery from individual catastrophes to weathering extended crises like COVID. Having a good Managed Services provider can make all the difference between your business being shut down for days, or to be up and running in hours.

As the Internet of Things (IoT) becomes more commonplace and “edge computing” is now rising and taking hold, IT support companies more than ever will have to assist small-to-medium-sized businesses with their technology services, thus allowing management to focus on the core business functions that will lead to better chances of a return on investment.

At TeamLogicIT Plano our technical edge is sharp in all these areas. Give us a call at (469) 573-3743 or contact teamlogicitplanotx.com.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT EDGE COMPUTING

WILL EDGE COMPUTING REPLACE THE CLOUD?

No. But the two will increasingly comingle within the next few years.

WHAT ARE THE KEY ELEMENTS OF AN EDGE INFRASTRUCTURE?

Hardware and software standards that enable seamless integration.

WHICH COMPANIES ARE USING EDGE COMPUTING?

Microsoft. Microsoft is a leading cloud computing company, but unlike Amazon and Google, Microsoft owns a fair number of edge computing patents in its portfolio, most of which discuss solutions to the challenges faced in the industry.