Edge computing devices are set to become the prime generators of data in the next three to five years, but security and availability of the edge environment is not always assured. This presents a range of challenges and new risks to organisations, says Pieter van der Merwe, regional manager, Africa & Middle East at Stratus.
“Over the past three years we have seen a dramatic increase in focus on edge computing, which has accelerated over the past four months. It has become increasingly important as companies depend on IOT devices to keep operations running, and as companies move to enable remote workforces,” he says.
In the distributed edge computing environment, connecting sensors and devices such as laptops and smartphones to the network, there are myriad opportunities to improve enterprise and industrial operations, efficiencies and safety.
But amid this accelerated uptake, there are also concerns about data security and availability of edge systems and applications.
“Latency can result in lost customers and revenue, and potentially even loss of life – for example in the case of systems tracking where mineworkers are underground,” he notes. “In manufacturing, where IT and OT are converging, decisions are taken in sub millisecond intervals, so latency impacts on efficiency and the business as a whole.”
It has become crucial to protect and ensure continuous availability of data at the edge, in the data centre and in the cloud, he says.
Van der Merwe will outline the trends, challenges and solutions in edge computing at a webinar presented by Stratus in partnership with ITWeb. Stratus will also share two local customer case studies illustrating the ripple effect of downtime and data loss.
For more information, and to register for this event, please click here.
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