Innovations Push Business to the Edge in 2020
By Matt Jackson, vice president of Digital Innovation, Insight Enterprises
Technology has infiltrated all aspects of life, from the way children call their parents and how we watch TV or even control the temperature in our homes, to the everyday functionalities of business operations. Technological innovations are now inextricably linked to society — making daily activities more efficient, intelligent, personalized and, in many cases, much safer.
Advancements in 2019 laid the groundwork for new technology at home, in the office, and especially at the edge. “Dumb” sensors — sending data back to a cloud processor, running some algorithms, and then either reporting the information back to an operation center or sending it back out to the edge — are a thing of the past. Now, data no longer has to travel back and forth for processing. The ability to use connected systems and smart sensors to process and deliver information in real-time and close to the source is a game-changer, especially for operations in remote areas.
Because much of the processing and computing is now happening at the edge — on-site where the data is collected — workloads no longer need to flow through a handful of centralized data centers. Instead, we are seeing data centers evolve into smaller centers of data where the information is produced.
While countless advancements contributed to our ability to innovate at the edge, Kubernetes, an open-source container orchestration platform, is among the most important. Developers need to move workloads between the cloud and the edge. For example, imagine a visual cognitive service that is used to detect abnormalities in a manufacturing line. A reliable network and plenty of bandwidth would allow that to run more efficiently in the cloud. But what if we need to move that same service out to a field location that doesn’t have access to high-speed networks? We need to easily move that to an edge processor without having to rebuild the service. That’s where containers shine in Internet of Things (IoT) and edge scenarios.
Applications of this technology are theoretically limitless. While core data centers will remain essential, volume will increasingly focus on edge devices. Soon, we could see 20,000 smart oil wells gathering and processing mini-data sets and the hardware required to collect it, from cameras and sensors to edge servers and gateways, reshaping form factors of compute, storage, security and more.
Intelligent edge tools are not industry specific; the technology can be helpful across business areas — in retail, in restaurants, hospitals, factories and railway operations. For example, rather than relying on a field technician to manually inspect rail lines and alert the railroad to maintenance issues, the IoT combined with off-the-shelf drones enable automated rail inspections, real-time alerts for maintenance issues, and reliable data collection and control for continual process improvements. Taking advantage of the intelligent edge in rail systems allows for faster response time to safety issues, as well as a lower cost of inspection, protecting workers and freeing up resources to address actual problems or devise further innovations.
Edge computing also can be used to transform public safety — not just business. We worked with BeSafe Technologies to create an IoT-enabled alert and emergency response system, which uses real-time data from sensors, cameras and other connected devices combined with detailed, interactive digital floorplans. Houston’s Aldine Independent School District, which has 69,000 students across 84 schools, already has rolled out the solution.
Advancements at the edge have come a long way in the past decade, and the 2020s will be no different. As edge devices become more intelligent, organizations increasingly will move to a hybrid cloud/edge approach. The business benefits are limitless, creating efficiencies, improving safety mechanisms and freeing up valuable time to further innovate.
Matt leads Insight’s Digital Innovation team in the design of enterprise software solutions, focusing on modern enterprise applications and security architectures. His passion goes beyond achieving operational excellence and deeper into transforming organizations. Read more thoughts from Matt.
