Does edge computing deliver on its promise in the Australian market?

Edge computing is often predicted to be a technology that will revolutionize enterprise computing in Australia. By capturing, processing, analyzing and storing data at the edge rather than in a central location, the promise includes fast, instant computing at the edge and reduced costs.

While Edge has yet to deliver on these promises, people are already starting to adopt it. Utpal Mangla, general manager of Industrial Edge Cloud and IBM Distributed Cloud Platform, said the edge is being rolled out globally for specific use cases, including quality control in manufacturing.

The growth of artificial intelligence may drive this trend as some use cases move to the edge. Mangla believes that a “hybrid cloud design” approach is the best option for enterprises to prepare for future needs that span on-premises, cloud and edge computing.

Does edge computing deliver on all its promises?

Australia should be a prime candidate for the growth of edge computing. With 25 million people living in a landmass the size of the United States or Europe, the potential to process data at the edge rather than in centralized data centers or the cloud seems attractive to enterprises.

SEE: The current state of edge computing.

But like elsewhere, that advantage hasn’t developed at the pace some expected.

“this [global] The industry has been saying for five, seven, eight years that it’s coming and it’s going to change the world. IBM’s Mangla told TechRepublic. “Does it turn out like what analysts and companies are seeing? Maybe in terms of monetization, it’s not at that scale yet.”

Monetizing 5G investments is one symptom of slowing edge growth

Telcos such as Telstra have invested billions of dollars in 5G infrastructure. It is hoped that 5G’s high bandwidth, low latency and network slicing capabilities will make the promise of the edge a reality. Monetization will be achieved through commercial customers.

However, a study commissioned by Telstra in 2022-23 said adoption was at an “early” stage at that time, with only 25% of businesses adopting it. The study found that leaders are exploring cloud adoption, while providers are investing in fast-tracking customer journeys and advancing hybrid cloud initiatives.

Global market shows gap between future potential and adoption rates

An Accenture survey of 2,100 C-level executives in 18 countries found that 83% still believe strengths are critical to maintaining future competitiveness. However, only 65% ​​use edge computing, and 50% of them are only “casual” or “tactical” users of edge computing (Figure A).

Why didn’t Edge achieve the results it should have?

Part of the reason for the slower-than-expected edge growth is the hype surrounding the forecast itself.

“Some of it is a little over the top. It always needs to build use cases, it needs to build the business, it needs to put everything in place to realize the potential of edge computing,” Mangla said.

However, the edge computing industry faces other obstacles in deployment.

See: Consider these edge computing best practices.

Return on Investment for Edge Computing Business Use Cases

While promoted as a way to rationalize costs by reducing data transmission costs, in some cases the edge actually becomes more expensive. Telstra’s 2022-23 State of Cloud, Edge and Security Survey found that 46% of businesses were deterred by low cost-benefit ratios.

42% felt the business case and results were not compelling enough (Picture B), which was put down to “insufficient understanding of the benefits of edge in terms of ROI and competitive differentiation.” Businesses also face edge strategies and skills gaps.

The complexity and scalability of mature edge computing technologies

The depth of the edge computing market also means it faces the challenge of a lack of standard edge computing stacks and APIs (Figure C). This makes it challenging to develop and deploy edge applications that work across different edge computing devices and platforms.

Edge computing use cases tend to be vertical-specific. Differences between industries and use cases mean that investments are also fragmented, at least until each industry identifies a consistent architectural approach to capturing edge value.

Where do edges find a useful place in the landscape?

Edge computing is growing in Australia and around the world, albeit underwhelming due to high expectations. Mangla noted that IBM clients are actively deploying edge computing in specific industry use cases around the world.

Manufacturer launches edge technology for industrial floors

A typical example is the industrial workshop. Many organizations with manufacturing operations that want best-in-class quality control and inspection are augmenting manual inspections by deploying edge computing to perform visual inspections on the shop floor, Mangla said.

Epicor is a manufacturing execution system provider in the Australian and regional markets. It is only a technology provider that actively cooperates with local manufacturers to further automate operations to enhance operations through smart factory initiatives.

Improving edge decision-making in the automotive and mining industries

IBM is working with automotive clients to use edge technology to monitor parking lot inventory levels during supply chain disruptions. The edge also powers automakers’ autonomous driving capabilities, allowing split-second decisions without the latency of cloud connectivity.

Australian miners are leading adopters. Iron ore miner Newcrest is using smart edges to extract data from downstream sensors to monitor dump tonnage, apron feeder speeds and weight gauges to control the amount of ore delivered to upstream crushing ore bins.

Various industries launch industry-specific use cases for edge computing

McKinsey & Company research shows that industries focused on the potential of edge computing include everything from aerospace and defense, chemicals, power, gas and utilities, to financial services, healthcare systems and retail.

Can artificial intelligence accelerate the adoption of edge computing in Australia?

Mangla said edge computing in Australia was ripe for development. During a recent visit to Sydney, he noted that there are startups looking to run artificial intelligence visual recognition technology for edge industries, while New Zealand companies are also pursuing edge manufacturing operations.

SEE: Australia is well-positioned to harness the future impact of artificial intelligence.

Mangla said artificial intelligence can accelerate edge computing because certain use cases are suitable for the edge. Mangla said the edge is really well-suited for situations where decisions need to be made quickly at that point in time and where it’s best to avoid waiting for data to be transferred to a centralized location.

“Design hybrid cloud” thinking will support edge computing in Australia

Organizations looking to take full advantage of edge computing and other cloud infrastructure should take a “hybrid cloud by design” approach, Mangla said. While most markets already have an organic mix of on-premises and cloud infrastructure and services, he said this will be better managed by intentionally embracing hybrid cloud in the future.

“When you think about strategy, there’s always more than one cloud,” he said. “You will always have something, the crown jewel, you will never put it in a cloud environment, you will always put it on-premises or in a private cloud. Australian government agencies like the ATO, they will never Will put everything on the public cloud.

“As new applications are built, make sure that the application can run seamlessly across the entire environment. When you start to consciously build it over the next 10 to 15 years, when you modernize the application, you need a design The hybrid cloud of thinking.”