Recently, I have been commenting that every enterprise is in what I call an Edge-First digital transformation. Granted, many are still in their cloud-first phases, but even for these enterprises, the edge will be the next major evolution of cloud adoption and workloads.
Where the data center was heavily addressed with cloud adoption, every enterprise is now circling back to the billions of intelligent edge devices (IoT devices) that are driving not only cloud workloads but also business processes and security protocols.
The heightened state of the world right now only intensifies this priority.
Post-MWC Barcelona, I have been fielding a lot of inquiries from people on what I mean by Edge First, prompting me to provide clarity around the subject as simply as possible. That conversation begins and is rooted in common mistakes enterprises are actively trying to avoid or rectify.
5 Edge Mistakes to Avoid
A lot of the inquiry originates from the most material mistakes I see being routinely repeated.
The primary mistakes I repeatedly discuss with business leaders and CTOs reflect people treating the edge in the legacy way, the way IT companies sold the individual products of their portfolios. However, edge computing and its compatible technologies have come a long way, creating a gap of misconceptions and missteps that are not often bridged between modern edge solutions and a legacy mindset.
5 Commonly Repeated Edge Mistakes:
- Edge is thought of in a nebulous manner or as a single point of digital technology.
- Edge implementation is viewed as a net new decision rather than a transitional or bolt-on solution that holistically considers current IoT devices (brownfield solution) and new opportunities (greenfield solution).
- Enterprises perpetuate their blindspots by failing to recognize that carriers only see IoT devices as rate plans instead of intelligent edge devices with valuable device data embedded within the many control planes involved in edge computing.
- IoT owners believe that carriers or platform providers offer true geographic or global coverage.
- Device managers run IoT connected devices purely as automation rather than business process automation at the edge.
What I want every enterprise to know, from the C-suite down, is that edge is the single most significant opportunity to aggregate multiple technology trends into one unified digitization strategy.
Digitization is not a technology, but rather the evolution of a business in a sustainable manner enabled by the deployment of digital technologies. The edge is a phenomenal opportunity for all companies to control their digital transformations from both the technical and business strategy perspectives.
Take Control of Your Edge Evolution
Edge is achieved through the cohesive union of multiple technologies. Accordingly, the solution to successfully diverting from these common edge implementation mistakes relies on a series of cooperative digital assets and strategies.
Aligning your enterprise for edge-enabled improvements demands a clear assessment of your existing devices, technology, and strategic limitations. With improved visibility into historical and real-time data throughout your business, opportunities for seamless conversion to edge integrations become possible.
In our next blog, we’ll delve into the technology stack that I recommend for accelerating your edge evolution and maintaining sustainable momentum throughout your transformation using your existing network and adaptive additions.
Combined with Simetric’s powerful single-pane data aggregator and optimization tools, these technologies will enable the full-scale 5G edge adoption predicted by 90% of enterprises.