For the report, “Leading with edge computing: How to reinvent with data and AI”, Accenture surveyed 2,100 C-suite executives across 18 industries in 16 countries. The research surveyed edge adopters across industries and geographies with distinctive, industry-specific use cases to identify future edge developments. The study revealed that edge computing will be essential to remaining competitive in the future, according to 83% of the respondents. Meanwhile, 81% believe failure to act quickly can lock them out from the full benefits of the technology.
The Benefits of Edge Computing
Edge computing is a distributed computing paradigm that brings computation and data storage closer to the sources of data, rather than relying on a centralized cloud data center. This allows for faster response times, reduced latency, and improved bandwidth efficiency.
Edge computing is particularly well-suited for applications that require real-time data processing and decision-making, such as:
- Autonomous vehicles
- Industrial automation
- Smart cities
- Healthcare
- Retail
- Media and entertainment
Edge and the New Digital Core
Edge computing is becoming an integral part of the digital core, which leverages the power of cloud, data, and AI to enable rapid innovation. Accenture conducted a recent survey of 2,100 C-level executives which found that 83% believe edge computing is essential to remaining competitive in the future. However, adoption lags behind interest, with only 65% of companies using edge today.
There are a number of reasons for this adoption gap. One reason is that edge computing is a complex technology that requires careful planning and deployment. Another reason is that there is a lack of standardization in the edge computing market. This can make it difficult for businesses to choose the right edge computing platform and to integrate it with their existing IT infrastructure.
Despite the challenges, edge computing offers a number of significant benefits for businesses. Edge computing can help businesses to:
- Improve performance and reliability by bringing computation and data storage closer to the sources of data.
- Reduce costs by reducing bandwidth usage and improving energy efficiency.
- Enable new and innovative applications, such as real-time video analytics, predictive maintenance, and personalized healthcare experiences.
Accenture on the three steps to maximizing edge value
Edge computing is rapidly becoming a critical technology for businesses of all sizes. It offers a number of significant benefits, including improved performance and reliability, reduced costs, and the ability to enable new and innovative applications.
However, maximizing the value of edge computing requires careful planning and execution. Here is a three-step framework that can help you get started:
Strategize for edge: Approach edge as a foundational capability, not as a bolt on. The most successful edge adopters view edge computing as a key component in a broader business strategy that leverages cloud, AI, and data—the digital core.
When strategizing for edge, it is important to consider the following:
- What are your specific needs and requirements? What applications do you need to run at the edge? What kind of performance and reliability do you need?
- How will edge computing fit into your overall business strategy? How will it support your digital transformation goals?
- What are the challenges you face in implementing edge computing? How will you overcome them?
- Scale across the enterprise: Build out edge across the enterprise, not just ad-hoc projects. The most successful edge adopters take steps to scale implementation across businesses. They look for ways to standardize around successful use cases while leveraging partners for help.
Scaling edge computing across the enterprise can be challenging, but it is important to do so in order to reap the full benefits of this technology. Here are some tips for scaling edge computing:
- Start by identifying the most critical applications and use cases for edge computing. Focus on scaling these applications and use cases first.
- Develop a standard architecture for edge computing deployments. This will help to ensure that your edge computing infrastructure is scalable and manageable.
- Partner with experienced edge computing providers such as AWS. These providers can help you to plan, deploy, and manage your edge computing infrastructure at scale.
- Strengthen capabilities: Ensure all employees and processes are prepared for edge. Edge is closer to the users and data, where physical actions are translated into digital data. So, it impacts the experience of employees across the organization and not just the IT department. For example, with edge, production workers or laboratory workers can get more and better information about the state or quality of production or be able to utilize AI directly.
To strengthen capabilities for edge, it is important to:
- Provide training to employees on edge computing. This will help them to understand the benefits of edge computing and how to use it effectively.
- Update your business processes to take advantage of edge computing. This may involve developing new processes or updating existing processes.
- Invest in the tools and technologies needed to support edge computing. This may include hardware, software, and security solutions.
By following these three steps, you can maximize the value of edge computing for your industry vertical and organization.
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