Connectivity Challenges Spur Edge Computing – Part 1

Digital businesses and organizations reliant on the commodity of data cannot afford to become stagnant in overcoming challenges that prevent them from adopting technological advancements. Whether it is security measures, updating infrastructure or adopting new applications, these investments allow for the continued flow of information and understanding between customers, suppliers, partners and stakeholders. In many cases, it is these investments that differentiate one organization from another.

Since the expansion of IoT apps and devices, these challenges have taken on a new meaning as the networks that many organizations have become reliant upon are now rich with untapped data. Processes and decisions that function on fast feedback are disrupted by lag time and broadband issues impacted by the amount of data being transferred. Fortunately, these connectivity challenges currently faced by organizations have spurred on the adoption of edge computing.

The theory behind edge computing is about placing workloads as close as possible to where data is being created, analyzed for insights and where actions are being taken against that analysis. No longer is a centralized data processing server beneficial to digital organizations that need to acquire, analyze and process large amounts of information fast. It is a competitive differentiator that helps organizations succeed.

For example, applications using artificial intelligence or machine learning cannot risk delays in running algorithms through a cloud-based service. Imagine self-driving cars and the amount of information they are processing constantly or the decisions that need to be made in split-seconds by local emergency personnel. By placing data processing on the edge of networks, devices and applications that are reliant on instant access to data can perform better by being physically closer to where the data is being acquired and acted upon.

Organizations are also facing other challenges associated with connectivity, such as the cost increase sometimes falsely associated with better connectivity, which is prohibiting organizations from taking the necessary steps of deploying edge computing. Despite this statement, the reality is that edge computing can actually help reduce transport costs by removing the need for bandwidth capacity between devices and traditional data centers or public clouds. Instead, it’s reserved for urgent data being processed on the edge – other connectivity arrangements can be made for non-urgent data.

That’s the benefit of partnering with Lumen for edge computing solutions. Through the hybrid IT stack, Lumen offers flexible options to organizations that best serve their unique needs by bridging network, data center, cloud, managed services, edge computing and connected security. These capabilities allow for organizations to utilize multiple platforms that best serve their workloads and to overcome the specific challenges they are facing, including connectivity, cost, or confusion about what solutions best fit their specific need.

In part two of this blog series, you can read more about how edge computing helps overcome common challenges organizations face.

Explore Lumen edge-first architecture and use cases.

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