With businesses quickly adopting new paradigms to optimize everyday operations, there’s a greater need than ever to take a harder look at their relevance and efficiency. Edge cloud is the newest player in the game, with immense potential, and it is certainly getting the attention it deserves. An evolution of cloud computing over the past few years, edge computing is a more efficient, faster and optimized version of the simple cloud computing with centralized server(s). One of the factors driving its adoption is the increasing industry-wide demand for real-time data analysis and need for autonomous IoT devices. With this, organizations globally, and particularly in developing markets, are moving to edge computing by actively adopting this technology.
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Just like every other paradigm, embracing edge cloud comes with a specific set of advantages and drawbacks, which mandates careful consideration before going ahead with such a big change.
Do You Really Need Edge Computing?
Edge computing offers a variety of enterprise use-cases, but it’s important to remember that fixes for latency issues and bandwidth problems are not all that edge computing offers. Its advantages stretch beyond them. One of the primary incentives to adopt edge computing is the need for edge devices to process data in real-time, which makes it extremely important to have defined use cases. If your data has to be sent to a central device, then perhaps you might want to stick to the traditional cloud. Running analysis, data requirements, and considering where edge computing is required are some basic measures that are to be evaluated by companies wishing to upgrade their computing methods.
Security
A fair concern in the industry is that edge devices may be running with marginal security. Based on anecdotal evidence, most enterprises don’t give this adequate attention. Devices like CCTV cameras and GPS systems are vulnerable to attacks that could potentially impact the entire enterprise.
Maintenance
With thousands and even millions of devices deployed, maintaining these can be a considerable hindrance to the smooth workings of a business. The key to overcoming this lies in minimizing the amount of maintenance required to the lowest possible level. Getting rid of hardware maintenance would be a good place to start, as tending to each device can be expensive. It is a much better option to engineer systems that can receive all updates online, thus overcoming the problem of minor hardware upgrades. For example, CCTV cameras can be equipped with compatible components that can process optimized data for at least 7-8 weeks. Another aspect to keep in focus is power requirements, as edge computing requires three-phase electric power, which can be hard to come by in remote areas. Just like any other method of computing, even edge computing involves loss of raw data during processing, which can be minimized by using the right architecture and tools for your edge cloud set up such as local edge configuration tools.
Staffing Requirements
Deploying your edge cloud will bring with it steep staffing requirements. While many of these are covered by your service provider, aspects like maintenance and aerial operations could demand staffing from the customer. There is also the need for a team that is constantly ensuring system uptime, while also ensuring the compatibility of all the devices and software spread across different sectors of the business.
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Clearly, careful consideration is essential when looking to deploy the edge cloud, unless you’d like to move head on into unnecessary losses or additional costs. Feel free to get in touch with Apiculus for rich, informed perspectives before you begin.
Kshitish is a ‘startup expert’ and has been involved with early stage startups, seeing various phases of growth, for more than 15 years. A specialist in Product Management, User Experience, Technology and Product Growth/Strategy, Kshitish is a seasoned entrepreneur with deep expertise in building enterprise products and horizontal/vertical SaaS. Kshitish did his PG in Product Design from NID, Ahmedabad.