Trendwatch: Edge computing will come of age in 2019

Christian Mahncke, Enterprise Business Development at Routed, Africa’s only vendor-neutral cloud infrastructure provider, says that disruption will continue to dominate the technology landscape as 2019 approaches. Supporting Gartner’s predictions, Mahncke says that computing will extend well beyond centralised facilities to the “edge” of the network where data can be stored, processed and displayed.

“This will bring an ‘empowered edge’ trend well into 2019 and will expand computing power indefinitely. Edge computing has been on the cusp of breaking technology and next year will see it gain wider traction and awareness,” says Mahncke. He says that by utilising the growing cloud phenomenon, edge computing will leverage cloud architecture to enable better delivery and capabilities: “Working together with Artificial Intelligence (AI), edge computing will provide more storage options, while the imminent arrival of 5G will also drive technology further to the edge.”

Having recognised the need for a new type of architecture to enhance the traditional cloud, edge computing will address the connectivity of billions of devices across widespread locations. Mahncke says that it will create much needed support as digitisation continues to develop and grow, producing more applications and services: “Benefits expected include cost reduction, improved responsiveness and efficiencies, greater capacities and increased speed. Overall, this new distributed computing model holds promise in terms of improving the current network, but will also encourage broader use and interest in devices with computer and storage capabilities at the edge.”

Supporting the burgeoning Internet of Things (IoT) trend, edge computing will improve IoT deployments as it brings the devices closer to the edge: “Network connectivity needs to be considered as much as the devices themselves. Only then will effective communications be achieved,” says Mahncke.