SCP’s Economic Growth Monitor

Edge computing is coming to you, an essential part of our world of data centers, Internet cloud and the Internet of things.  Since many local economic development professionals are interested in attracting major data center facilities, it is helpful to understand how these edge processing objectives may impact data centers and the rest of the connected data network.

In essence, edge computing is about distributed computing, delivering processing “horsepower” in low-latency situations as close as possible to where it is required.   Also, enterprise datasets are getting huge and there is also a desire to reduce data transport costs.  As a result, keeping more of collected data closer to its source simply makes economic and performance sense.

According to some industry sources, by 2025, 75% of generated data will be processed outside centralized data centers or the cloud.

Edge computing often involves data storage and processing with “edge devices.”  A simple example of an edge device is a router that connects public networks to the internet.  Or, in a finance setting, a smartphone or tablet becomes the edge device.    Edge devices become increasingly specific to particular edge requirements.  In healthcare, edge devices are increasingly deployed as wearable and/or implantable medical devices to support patient care.

Because this computer processing “at the edge” is implied as connected to data networks in the Cloud and in data centers, each edge device carries an implicit security risk.    While the interest in processing power at the edge increases, getting the overall system security design in place is a large open issue.

There are benefits to edge computing in most every industry today.    Network World joined with CIO, Computerworld, CSO, and InfoWorld, have prepared articles to explore “the edge” from five different perspectives, available here:  Edge computing: The next generation of innovation