The benefits of
edge computing:
Improved
efficiencies
and performance

Cloud computing has helped businesses transform their operations with on-demand access to resources stored on data centers around the world—improving their ability to scale and innovate while reducing capital costs. Yet, there are also applications that benefit from processing data as close to users and devices as possible. Edge computing provides this capability.

So, what is edge computing? What are the benefits of edge computing, and what should companies consider when assessing if they should invest in edge computing?

Edge computing brings the power of cloud computing closer to you. Most of the processing happens at the edge of the network instead of in centralized data centers, which may be located some distance away. Core services include computing and storage. There are numerous use cases for edge computing, including in the retail, manufacturing, agricultural, energy and other sectors.

• Privacy and reliability: By keeping and processing data at the edge, it is possible to increase privacy by minimizing the transmission of sensitive information to the cloud.
• Speed and efficiency: Edge computing brings analytical computational resources close to the end users and, therefore, can increase the responsiveness and throughput of applications. A well-designed edge platform closer to the user can significantly outperform a traditional regional cloud approach.

Companies are discovering why we need edge computing and also that the benefits of edge computing can help them to become more competitive in their respective industries, from retail to energy and utilities.

Brick-and-mortar retailers can leverage the benefits of edge computing in combination with IoT on a number of fronts, including customer experience, augmented reality, touchless checkout and store navigation. For example, cashierless checkouts are set to continue growing. Juniper Research predicts that transactions using such smart technologies will reach $387 billion in 2025, up from just $2 billion in 2020.

Understanding the benefits of edge computing can help manufacturers gain insights from their factory floors in near-real time. Sensors and 5G-connected cameras could provide factory workers with actionable intelligence that can help improve productivity by anticipating equipment performance issues, help prevent product defects and design inconsistencies while also preserving quality and safety standards. They can also harness the benefits of edge computing by using augmented, mixed and virtual reality in the plant for training, health and safety monitoring. 

Edge computing and 5G are helping farms become smarter through improved crop monitoring and predictive maintenance of critical machinery by gathering data on equipment performance and health where 5G is available. As they modernize equipment, farmers can integrate more advanced edge computing capabilities.

Autonomous vehicles could be heavily dependent on edge computing to provide information on traffic conditions to help reduce road congestion and improve safety by providing hazard and queue warnings regarding road construction conditions ahead, while also helping to improve the consumer experience through enhanced infotainment.

Energy and utility companies can harness the benefits of edge computing to help improve predictive maintenance because data can be analyzed at the edge and corrective actions taken without waiting for data to travel to a central location to be analyzed, followed by instructions returning to the site where the issue resides. The amount of infrastructure these companies have is enormous and expansive. For example, edge computing can enable near real-time performance to proactively monitor and manage the sensors and gateway devices needed to evaluate asset health and diagnostics. This near-real time performance can pave the way toward a predictive maintenance model.

If you're weighing the benefits of edge computing against the upfront costs, consider the high-level benefits first, and how you can leverage edge computing for a competitive advantage. Then, think about what these benefits mean for your business operations.

Regardless of industry, edge computing can exploit faster wireless connectivity, which has been accelerated by the rollout of 5G. But the higher speed is also enabled by placing key functions closer to where the data is to reduce latency. While some data is best processed by a central cloud data center, users experience faster speeds in an edge computing model when the data doesn't have to travel as far. By not sending all data back to a central location, bandwidth requirements and costs are reduced.

One of the other benefits of edge computing is improved reliability. Operations and data can be distributed, and this decentralization makes your network more resilient. And although having more endpoints increases the number of attack surfaces, you can isolate devices and groups of devices through techniques such as 5G network slicing for more robust security.