Edge computing – is widely misunderstood. It is where data gets created and consumed, and data is available faster at the edge. Compute can be anywhere, with networks connecting to endpoints for seamless data streams.
For SMBs, the edge represents an incredible opportunity to deliver business benefits, from improved customer experiences to cost efficiencies.
A new approach to IT
The edge is a distributed and networked approach to IT. IT is no longer a discrete element of a business. Like the patchwork on a blanket, it is part of the fabric of the business, driving digital transformation, improving workflows, and automating various aspects of operations.
The edge can drive new results, develop new products, run the systems that enable people to do things, and fuel business growth. It can disrupt industries and give SMBs a competitive edge to compete against big fish.
It is imperative SMBs embrace digital transformation by deploying and enabling transformative technologies like the edge and systems that can deliver tangible benefits to people. When this happens, businesses unlock innovation across the organisation.
However, SMB innovation at the edge is a marathon, not a sprint. It follows a structured process with several stepping stones:
- Digitisation of physical records and documents and manual tasks
- Digitalisation to automate processes to deliver efficiency and value
- Digital transformation to achieve enterprise-wide automation
- Innovation – where the business creates new solutions for existing problems.
Each of these stages is more complex than the last, with innovation the most challenging because it demands new thinking.
Innovation at the edge
According to Techaisle SMB and Midmarket survey research, 38% of SMBs say their primary objective with digital transformation is to create an infrastructure that will help “drive innovation” to unlock enterprise-wide benefits.
Such is the hype of edge computing that Techaisle research shows that SMBs expect the following business benefits from it:
- Improved customer experiences (34%)
- Better cost efficiencies (32%)
- Increased revenues (29%)
- Increased productivity (28%)
- Improved business processes (26%)
Applications that can deliver these benefits include IoT (Internet of Things), AI (artificial intelligence), ML (machine learning) and M2M (machine to machine) communications.
At the edge, critical business challenges like latency, agility and availability are solved, with the following benefits realised from deployments:
- Improved controls within the business through better operations monitoring (43%)
- increased business agility by improving processes (42%)
- Developed new products/services (41%)
- Reduced cost by increasing productivity and automation (36%
If your business runs on data, edge computing could transform your operation and offers significant opportunities for SMBs. If you want to learn more please get in touch.