Since COVID19 has driven everyone to work from home (WFH), the importance of cloud computing has become more relevant. Right now about 8M people are working from home part of the time. To help with this transition, your company might enjoy the benefits of edge computing.
I’m sure you have heard of cloud computing. Many software products that we use are now cloud-based. Think of Microsoft 365. It used to be you had to download software to your computer and that was how you accessed it.
Updates were slow and then had to be sent via DVDs or however you bought the software, to begin with. Now that Microsoft Software as a Service is in the cloud, updates can be immediate. You can access the software from anywhere.
Cloud storage works well in most cases, but there are performance improvements to be gained by using edge computing. Edge computing processes data closer to the source which means not all your data has to be processed in the cloud.
Let’s look at three benefits of edge computing.
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1. Reduced Bandwidth Strain
Michael Dell says that edge computing will be the next big thing. Reducing operational and bandwidth strain is why. Smart sensors and other connected devices within your facilities will generate terabytes of data per minute.
Imagine if you send all of that data to the cloud to be analyzed. There will be enormous demands on bandwidth. Couple that with the activities of running the business and management systems, and it could get expensive to manage that data.
Freeing up your cloud servers to perform business applications will benefit your WFM employees.
2. A Reduction in Latency
In a cloud-based solution, data is sent to the large data servers, processed, and then sent back to the edge near the user. This transmission causes latency or delays in getting the information for remote workers.
This might not seem like a big deal, but imagine if you are pulling and picking orders in a fulfillment warehouse facing increased demand because everyone is ordering product on-line. You are using AR glasses to show you what to pick.
If the data has to transmit from the cloud to your glasses that latency could slow down your picking efficiency. It would be better to receive that information from a closer source, an edge computing resource.
3. Increased Security
As an increased number of employees are working from home, that means more data is being accessed from non-secure locations. Increased access points give cybercriminals multiple points of entry into a business system.
Using edge computing, the information can be analyzed locally with less information being sent to the main data servers. This means there is less transmission of sensitive and secure information between devices and the cloud.
If there is less transmission of sensitive data, there is better security for your business!
Cloud computing and edge computing is not an either/or scenario. I believe most companies will use a combination of both where it makes sense to do so. As Michael Dell says, edge computing will be the next big thing! I hope that you investigate the benefits of edge computing for your business.
As always, it’s an honor to serve you and I hope this helps you and your organization get a little bit better today.
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