eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.
Edge computing trends play a key role in business because edge deployments are now essentially everywhere. With the list of edge computing devices growing – including smartphones, smartwatches, and autonomous vehicles – at an exponential rate, business professionals need to stay current with edge trends moving into 2022.
Indeed, after developing for several years, it appears that edge computing is set to take enormous strides in adoption and investment in 2022. Below are the edge computing trends to watch.
Also see: Top 10 Edge Computing Companies of 2022
1) IoT
The Internet of Things (IoT) is easily the fastest growing umbrella of edge computing devices.
IoT devices include:
- Smart appliances
- Smartphones
- Wearables
- Gaming systems
- Printers
The prevalence of smart devices themselves is projected to quadruple by 2025. Expect this growth to dramatically expand the capabilities of edge computing. In fact, the growth of IoT could bring about greater benefits in the edge computing sector, such as lower latency.
Not only will the rise of IoT devices fuel edge computing, but it will revolutionize various industries such as healthcare and education. In fact, IoT devices within edge computing deployments are being leveraged in the healthcare industry right now to help track evolving data sets and monitor facilities remotely.
2) Customer Experience
One of the more unique ways edge computing is being leveraged to help out businesses is in the customer experience realm. Using edge computing’s reduced latency, businesses are able to provide the optimal customer experience.
Conglomerates such as Disney are using IoT sensors and edge computing to quickly transmit performance data about their rides. Adjustments are made using this data to optimize rides and attractions and ensure minimal disruption for park goers.
On a more tangible level, the improvement in speed that edge computing brings for businesses can greatly impact sales. A Deloitte Digital study found that a 100ms improvement in mobile retail speeds translate to an 8.4% increase in sales conversion. This decrease in latency can also help marketers and businesses process customer data nearly in real-time. This allows for marketing teams to build more personalized and interactive customer experiences, such as advanced chatbots and even offline interactions.
3) Security
Cybersecurity is a rising concern moving into 2022, from cloud computing to artificial intelligence. A multitude of various growing technologies, such as 5G and IoT, present their own cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Edge computing is being leveraged to mitigate these potential threats.
Traditional, centralized networking and data storage gives attackers a singular hub to target. Edge computing diversifies this network, in a sense, and provides greater protection.
This does not mean that edge computing is flawless. In fact, much of 2022 will be defined by companies grappling with edge computing’s security flaws, rather than its strengths. A Kollective report showed that 66% of IT teams see edge computing as a threat to their organizations.
One of the primary threats that edge computing enables is its increase of physical data sources. Because edge computing relies on more physical resources to be placed in the real world, physical attackers are given more targets to compromise networks. If malicious actors somehow gain access to these devices, they could extract valuable information, tamper or destroy node circuits, or even change entire operating systems and node software.
Still, this topic is rather divisive. Some, like Kollective VP of corporate development Kirk Wolfe, believe that edge computing’s concerns gloss over its benefits and might even be slowing adoption. Clearly, cybersecurity is an ongoing question that rests on many advancing technologies, including edge computing. Expect these questions to be continually debated as the technology moves forward.
4) Edge Computing in Healthcare
The healthcare industry has been at the forefront of IoT adoption, so it’s only right that they’re leading in the edge computing technology space as well.
Large hospitals are realizing it’s more beneficial for operations to keep data, such as medical sensors, electronic health records, and digital imaging systems, close by rather than pushing them to the cloud.
Recently, HCA Healthcare teamed up with Red Hat to ideate and create a real-time sepsis diagnostics solution. Using edge computing, HCA Healthcare was able to cut this traditionally long process down to nearly a day less. This has increased healthcare substantially as the project has been implemented.
5) Workplace Safety in Energy
One of the most actionable and important benefits of edge computing is its application in oil and energy related industries.
These industries traditionally have relied on gathering and transmitting data to observational hubs that were often very distant. This means that if there were sensors tracking pressure and electrical conductivity, information on their vulnerable or compromised states could get to the data center far after a critical failure has occurred.
With edge computing, these anomalies and issues can be tracked and resolved quicker than ever before. Much like edge computing in healthcare, this is a very important benefit that could save thousands of lives.
Read next: Will Edge Computing Devour the Cloud?
