CLOUD COMPUTING

Business leaders must rethink their entire digital strategies to take advantage of cloud and fog computing technology that could open them up to cybercrime

WRITTEN BY: GEORGE HOPKIN

Edge and fog computing have secured their place as crucial technology for businesses, delivering faster insights, improved response times, and better bandwidth availability by bringing enterprise applications closer to data sources such as IoT devices or specialised local servers.

Industry experts are, however, warning that business leaders must rethink their entire digital strategy to take advantage of these new technologies while simultaneously mitigating the multitude of cybersecurity risks that come with adding millions of new connection points to a company’s networks.

The explosion of IoT devices and their increasing computing power have led to a surge in data volumes, and this trend is set to continue with the roll-out of 5G networks.

In the past, the cloud and AI were seen as a solution for automating and speeding up innovation by driving actionable insights from data. Due to the unprecedented scale and complexity of data created by connected devices, though, it has outpaced network and infrastructure capabilities.

Sending all this device-generated data to a centralised data centre or cloud causes bandwidth and latency issues, but edge computing offers a more efficient alternative.

By processing and analysing data closer to the point it is created, latency is significantly reduced, thus enabling faster and more comprehensive data analysis, as well as creating the opportunity for deeper insights and improved customer experiences.

Edge will be crucial to every network

“The edge is not a single, clearly defined location,” Anthony Kesterton, Principal Solution Architect, Red Hat, explained to trade association techUK. “Rather, there are numerous edge tiers with unique characteristics and specifications.

“Edge deployments can be integrated into a business’s existing cloud infrastructure, delivering a so-called ‘cloud edge’,” explains Kesterton. Advantages to adopting a cloud edge include the ability for DevOps teams to automate the sharing of information between the edge deployment and the rest of the cloud, allowing for far more sophisticated and integrated workflows.

A cloud edge also enables faster innovation, giving DevOps teams the opportunity to easily create new applications or update existing ones for the edge and then deploy them via a centrally managed infrastructure.

Digital life on the edge

Edge/fog is about processing data closer to where it’s being generated, enabling processing at greater speeds and volumes, leading to greater action-led results in real-time, explain Accenture tech experts.

Edge computing components include:

Edge devices – If you already use smart speakers, watches and phones (devices that are locally collecting and processing data while touching the physical world), you’re using edge computing. Internet of Things (IoT) devices, point of sales (POS) systems, robots, vehicles and sensors can all be edge devices, provided they compute locally and talk to the cloud.

Network edge – When a separate network is involved, this is just another location in the continuum between users and the cloud, say Accenture. Powerful wireless connectivity to edge computing, with low latency and high cellular speed, can be introduced via 5G, which brings opportunities like autonomous drones, remote telesurgery, and smart city projects.

On-premises infrastructure – These could be servers, routers, containers, hubs or bridges and are for managing local systems and connecting to the network.

“For all these reasons, cloud edge will soon be a crucial component of every IT and cloud network, with obvious applications in heavy industry and transportation.”

Retail and healthcare lead the way The first industries moving towards an edge strategy are manufacturing, automotive, retail, and healthcare, explains Kesterton. “This is because these businesses, with their physical supply chains and production lines employing thousands of sensors and connected devices, benefit most from the ability to deliver applications or services with the lowest latency possible.”

As companies continue to navigate the ever-evolving world of technology, one trend that has emerged as a gamechanger is the integration of cloud edge computing. This hybrid approach – which combines the power of cloud computing with the convenience of edge computing –is proving to be a cost-effective solution for a variety of industries.

Manufacturing, automotive, retail, and healthcare companies, in particular, are reaping the benefits of this technology by processing data locally, reducing the amount of information that needs to be sent to centralised or cloud-based locations. This not only saves money in the long run, but it also allows for faster, more efficient decision-making.

“Cloud edge is the future,” says Kesterton. “The majority of use-cases for cloud edge now focus on IoT solutions, but cloud edge also has the potential to advance trading, VR applications, media and entertainment, and cloud gaming.

“With a brandnew platform and environment at their disposal, developers may create innovative apps and services based on flexible and dynamic architecture.”

In Short Supply

A shortage of experienced and capable edge computing professionals is becoming a concern for businesses as the technology continues to grow. Edge computing specialists are in high demand as they not only possess the technical expertise to architect new infrastructure but also have the ability to define specific outcomes and anticipate and manage any disruption caused by significant social and technological shifts.

Experts are warning that the demand for these specialists may soon outstrip the supply, leading to a potential shortage of professionals to advise, implement, and secure edge computing solutions.

"As cyber threats continue to grow, organisations understand that any digital transformation that relies on uninterrupted access must be secure by design," Stephen Green, SVP Offer to Client Transformation, NTT, told techUK. "Unsurprisingly, this means that any move to the edge demands new thinking, in terms of security and resilience."

The shift towards a decentralised edge model leads organisations to face new security challenges as the potential attack surface expands. Edge computing requires new levels of agility in applying and enforcing security policies, regardless of where a user is located. This requires adaptive access and authentication processes.

As edge computing gains momentum, security and network specialists are working together to apply the principles of zero trust and least permissions by bringing network and security decision-making together to avoid increasing complexity. The Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) is evolving to provide a single point for centralised network management while also providing the right bandwidth provision for every user, device, and application – often through a converged security functions-as-a-service model.

The emergence of edge-native applications in a multicloud, hybrid environment allows organisations to deploy new functionality quickly and efficiently, accelerating the modernisation of legacy IT or even leaving outdated infrastructure behind. This is allowing users to find new opportunities to drive business value with faster, more relevant, real-time data.

"Investing in edge infrastructure will soon be at the heart of a successful business," says Green. "The question most organisations will now be asking is how to design and implement it correctly so that rather than feeling precarious, they create a clear, sustainable competitive edge."