Empowered Edge: The Next Evolution in Data Processing 

In recent years, the unprecedented use of IoT, smart and connected devices, has made the processing of data a crucial job for businesses. If it does not properly manage, the voluminous amount of data may cost a lot. This is why almost all companies leverage cloud infrastructure and most have turned to edge computing, which brings computation and data storage closer to the source of the data instead of relying on the cloud. Now as the edge has become an integral part of digital transformation conversations, there is a new term made its place into discussions into the data processing panorama, Empowered Edge.

Empowered edge, a term called by Gartner, expects to be the next development in data processing within networks. There are three critical elements identified within the Empowered Edge. Cloud to the Edge – Using cloud infrastructures to deliver and manage capabilities out to the Edge. Seeing cloud as a supporting force rather than a competitive one. Leveling up devices – Empowering Edge devices with more resources, like AI chips, more compute capabilities, advanced processing, more storage, and so on. And the last one is Communicating to the Edge – Other developments that will drive the Edge forward, such as the release of 5G.

The rise in the edge architecture is largely credited to the proliferation of IoT as it is predicted that there will be around 20 billion connected sensors and end-points by 2020. They will drive the need to keep the processing close to the end rather than on a centralized cloud server. However, despite creating a new architecture, cloud computing and edge computing will evolve as complementary models with cloud services being managed as a centralized service executing, not only on centralized servers but in distributed servers on-premises and on the edge devices themselves.

Moreover, specialized AI chips, along with immense processing power, storage and other advanced capabilities, will be added to a wider range of edge devices over the next five years. However, the extreme heterogeneity of this embedded IoT world and the long life cycles of assets such as industrial systems will pose significant management challenges. Although 5G matures, the expanding edge computing environment will have more robust communication back to centralized services. This next generation of network provides lower latency, higher bandwidth, and (very importantly for edge) a dramatic boost in the number of nodes (edge endpoints) per square km.

While IDC predicted the world will be producing 175 Zettabytes of data by 2025, this will lead to many different types of distributed, decentralized architectures, bringing compute, storage and networking closer to the end-user from the mobile edge to the device, or IoT edge to the wireless edge. In addition to the increasing numbers of web users and a growing deployment of digital services will further boost the growth of the market in the near future.