As suggested in this article, delivering these new capabilities and high-level user experiences requires networks to be far more powerful than they are today. Furthermore, applications must be decentralized out to the "edge" to better accommodate the massive volumes of data required.
In other words, now that organizations have successfully migrated many of their applications to the cloud, "we believe they will begin splitting up some of their workloads and moving portions of them away from the large cloud data centers where they currently run, bringing them closer to their users," notes the author.
Making all of this possible will require a new generation of wireless connectivity—such as 5G and Wi-Fi 6—capable of delivering higher bandwidth, lower latency, and greater overall capacity.
A New Chapter
From this perspective, next-generation 5G mobile networks are expected to propel the evolution of cloud computing. Crucially, the cloud will remain central to this next stage: "The next 5G-enabled step toward the edge is simply the next chapter in the evolution of cloud computing, and it is intrinsically linked to the digital transformation journey."
In this context, Edge Computing is described as "an extension of the cloud itself, offering application developers a platform located closer to the user and to the devices where data collection processes take place. This platform can be leveraged using a person's smartphone, an autonomous vehicle, a point-of-sale terminal at a grocery store, a roadside accident detection system, a defect detection system in a factory, or infrastructure deployed in regional and localized data centers."
This computing model—which is not entirely new—will step in to decentralize parts of the user experience at a time when decentralization "appears to be the most logical means of scaling."
5G as the Foundation
As consumers increasingly demand higher-quality interactive video and adopt AR and VR tools for both enterprise and gaming applications, networks must deliver significantly higher bandwidth and lower latency than what is currently available. Autonomous vehicle use cases will similarly require ultra-low latency, while the growing volume of Internet of Things (IoT) devices connecting to applications will demand vastly greater scale and improved efficiency. 5G is expected to provide consumers and enterprises with "the connectivity foundation required for next-level experiences."
Against this backdrop, the author suggests that cloud providers will need to "help develop a new infrastructure that enables more flexible hybrid cloud architectures and networks of all types. Beyond their massive centralized data centers, they will need to operate across regional, distributed, and even local data centers where users run their applications."
To make this decentralized model—and this new era of edge computing—a reality, cloud providers must adapt the cloud architectures they helped build. For instance, they will need to "localize applications to reduce service latency, ensure operational resilience and uptime during disruptions, streamline data management, or simply eliminate the costs associated with data transmission."
Developing new experiences that operate in edge environments will require cloud providers to build an open, efficient, and consistent framework that allows the cloud developer community to thrive.
A Transformative Model
While early advances in edge computing yielded successful proofs of concept, they have not yet reached the growth levels predicted by market analysts. However, as entire industries continue to transform, "the edge use cases being developed will become an integral component of digital transformation, rather than just point technology solutions as they tend to be today."
In this scenario, the author recommends proactively identifying opportunities to leverage edge computing, noting that "5G and Edge Computing will become as integral to organizational transformation as the public cloud is today."
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