Edge, Cloud and 5G seem to be forever in the press. While there is a lot of negative talk in terms of 5G (possible health side effects, the size and height of masts and council planning permission for instance), there are also many exciting positives.
With the potential of edge, Cloud and 5G aiding IoT innovation, more and more organisations are looking to invest in edge computing when considering their digital transformations.
This is because 5G will aid the roll out of edge computing – and vice versa.
As the value of data increases, effective collection, storage and analysis is paramount. Along with the speed at which this information is generated and accessed.
Intelligent edge
Working together, 5G services will rely on edge computing and a cloud infrastructure for its performance and reliability.
As 5G is an extremely new technology, only deployed in a few heavily controlled markets until now, edge computing will provide a way for 5G to process, filter and protect data locally.
A mutually beneficial relationship as mentioned before, 5G is predominately considered a tool for the telecoms industry.
However, the reach of 5G will eventually extend to smart cities, autonomous vehicles and real-time machine control.
Looking at the specific example of autonomous vehicles, for instance. Edge computing “within each car will need to handle the real-time operation of the vehicle, but some decisions will require peripheral, cloud-based information. The edge component of the car, for example, will be responsible for safely navigating intersections and avoiding accidents on the road. Meanwhile, navigation decisions and route-planning will likely originate in the cloud.” Jason Andersen, Network Computing
Improving edge and cloud communication could therefore make 5G the foundation of a whole host of IoT innovations.
Current 5G and edge projects
Companies currently experimenting with 5G and edge include:
Microsoft. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central enables customers to replicate their ERP data sitting in an on premise database to the cloud environment on Azure. Launched in 2017, here at TVision we see the benefits this has for our customers giving them access to Business Central’s Intelligent Insights (AI) – as well as a way for customers to try the Cloud while remaining on premise. Learn more here.
Another example is, AT&T. Developing a multi access edge computing solution for a retail environment, 5G will enable in-store robots to perform tasks that boost efficiency and improves the customer experience.
Business Intelligence
With so much data available or accessible to businesses about their customers like never before, it’s sometimes hard to understand how products or services are serving users. Analysing warehousing or supply chain, consumer feedback, purchase history or overall engagement, is a challenge.
5G connectively, edge analytic capability and cloud storage can address this challenge, by gathering performance data of IoT consumer products and provide data without sacrificing customer privacy. Even after deployment.
Creating a clearer picture for businesses, 5G will be essential for the future of, not only your digital transformation projects in the immediate term, but digital projects going forward.
To find out how 5G and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central could help your business, get in touch with one of our experienced TVision team.
