Currently, approximately 10 percent of enterprise-generated data is created and processed outside of the cloud. By 2025, it's predicted this figure will increase to 75 percent says senior analyst Santhosh Rao, Gartner.

Some of the largest tech companies are beginning to invest significantly into the technology and are seeing benefits with Microsoft releasing Azure, Google's Edge Network and Dell EMC leading the shift.

So why the change? What are the benefits of Edge technology?

1. Speed. Data is local and processed in real time. Rather than being transmitted overseas and moving through multiple touchpoints, Edge computing is local and immediate. This means much faster performance and it removes the latency issues often plagued by cloud technology.

Edge technology also eliviates the digital traffic jams that can occur in cloud architecture and the bottlenecking of data as information routes into your local network after being fired from the other side of the world. This is where most latency can occur.

2. Security. By hosting your data in-house, you have full control and autonomy over who has physical and online access. As cyber attacks become more common, this helps to create a more secure network.

It's not foolproof, and Edge technology is susceptible to surface-level network attacks, however, Edge computing distributes processing, applications and storage over a range of data centres and devices increasing the barrier of entry for network-based attacks significantly.

3. Accessibility. One of the main disadvantages of cloud technology is accessibility. Without an internet connection, you simply can't access the cloud. Similarly, with a poor internet connection, the cloud becomes laggy and slow. Edge computing is less reliant on internet connection with important files and documents still available and returns more reliable, consistent internet connection.

Additionally, with an in-house IT department, any server related issues can be solved there and then (on premises) rather than dealing with tiresome call centres.

Then there are the inherent benefits of Edge computing and cloud working together.  When combining the scalability and interconnectivity with the reliability and speed of Edge one can create a truly efficient industrial computing powerhouse that is fit for any environment.

References:

https://www.sdxcentral.com/edge/definitions/whats-the-difference-between-mec-and-distributed-cloud/