From Cloud Computing to Edge Computing

Small and large businesses are constantly migrating their apps to the cloud. Cloud computing currently accounts for more than 28 per cent of an organisation’s entire IT spend. Today, 70% of corporations have at least one cloud-based application, suggesting that businesses recognise the benefits of cloud computing and gradually adapt. 

Even while organisations and industry professionals forecast that cloud computing will continue to expand in the future, experts feel that the cloud has reached the end of its dominance and are counting on the rising popularity and benefits of edge computing.

Cloud Computing

 “Cloud computing” is a kind of computing in which scalable and elastic IT-enabled capabilities are supplied as a service using Internet technology.

When it comes to cloud computing, there are several advantages. According to the Harvard Business Review article “The State of Cloud-Driven Transformation,” 83 per cent of respondents believe the cloud is very or extremely crucial to their organisation’s future strategy and success.

Benefits of cloud computing

• Lower initial cost: The capital investment of purchasing gear, software, IT administration, and round-the-clock power and cooling is avoided. Cloud computing enables enterprises to swiftly bring apps to market while maintaining a low-cost barrier to entry
• Flexible pricing enables enterprises to only pay for consumed computer resources, providing more cost control and fewer surprises
• Limitless computing on demand: Cloud services can rapidly respond and adapt to changing demands by autonomously providing and de-provisioning resources. It has the potential to save expenses while increasing overall organisational efficiency
• Simplified IT management: Cloud providers provide their clients access to IT management professionals, allowing staff to focus on the essential demands of their organisation
• Simple updates: The most recent hardware, software, and services are available with a single click
• Reliability: Because It may replicate data at numerous redundant sites, data backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity are easier and less expensive
• Spend less time setting up personal servers and networks. They can deploy apps in a fraction of the time and go to market faster with cloud infrastructure on demand

Edge Computing

• Edge computing is physically bringing computational capacity closer to the source of data, which is often an Internet of Things device or sensor. Edge computing, so named because of the method by which computational power is sent to the network’s or device’s edge, enables quicker data processing, higher bandwidth, and data sovereignty
• Edge computing reduces the need for huge volumes of data to travel between servers, the cloud, and devices or edge locations to be processed at the network’s edge. It is especially relevant for current data science and artificial intelligence applications

 Benefits of edge computing 

“Enterprises that have implemented edge use cases in production will expand from around 5% in 2019 to roughly 40% in 2024.” Deep learning and inference, data processing and analysis, simulation, and video streaming are just a few examples of high-computing applications. The number of edge use cases in production should expand as organisations become more aware that these apps are driven by edge computing. 

Businesses are investing in cutting-edge technology to enjoy the following benefits: 

• Reduced latency: Data processing at the edge eliminates or reduces data journeys. It helps speed up insights for use cases requiring complicated AI models with low latency, such as fully autonomous cars and augmented reality
• Model accuracy: AI relies on high-accuracy models, particularly for edge cases requiring real-time reaction. When a network’s bandwidth is insufficient, it is usually remedied by reducing the quantity of data sent into a model. As a result, picture sizes are lowered, frames in the video are skipped, and sample rates in audio are reduced. It may utilise data feedback loops to increase AI model accuracy when deployed at the edge, and It can run several models concurrently
• Broader reach: Traditional cloud computing requires Internet connectivity. On the other hand, Edge computing can process data locally without requiring internet access. It broadens computing’s reach to previously inaccessible or remote regions

Conclusion

Edge computing fills the void and provides answers that cloud computing cannot. When retrieving large amounts of data and resource-intensive applications requiring a real-time solution, edge computing gives flexibility. It delivers the data closer to the end-users. 

As a result, cloud computing and edge computing complement each other in producing a responsive system free of disturbances. They complement one another well, and in some cases, edge computing compensates for some of the drawbacks of cloud computing. Edge computing overcomes some limitations of cloud computing, such as high latency, data privacy, quick speed, and geographical flexibility.