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Edge of Possibilities: Unleashing the Potential of Data at the Edge

 

Two undeniable truths in today’s business landscape are that the cloud is everywhere, and so is data. Whether or not your organization is harnessing its power yet, there is already an abundance of data at the edge waiting to generate actionable insights.

Taking the first steps toward unleashing its possibilities, however, requires an understanding of just what those possibilities might be.

Key Takeaways:

  • Data exists at the edge primarily because that is where the user interacts with applications, generating data as a byproduct.
  • Modern companies create meaningful results with that data and leverage edge computing to innovate on IoT service, AI, app services, and much more.
  • Nutanix is a comprehensive solution for unleashing the potential of edge data as it pertains to business apps, customer experience, remote work, AI/ML initiatives, and other processes.

What Does It Mean To Have Data at the Edge?

When experts talk about “the edge” in the context of IT, they’re referring to locations in a distributed network architecture that are closest to where the processing of client data occurs. These locations are at the endpoints of network connections, meaning they are at the edge of the infrastructure environment and may be subject to delays or even data loss when communicating with the network’s central servers. Today, there are various levels of the edge that have emerged, including Device Edge, Enterprise Edge, Metro Edge, the main datacenter, and much more (see below).

Edge is the new Cloud

For the sake of improving the end-user experience and meeting different app needs related to latency and connectivity, it is important to place data at the edge to begin with and prioritize edge computing. In an edge computing model, users can experience faster application speeds due largely to the distributed placement of virtualized cloud servers and data storage closer to where end-user computing happens.

Cloud computing itself solves many problems that companies face in a world where customer demand for applications is increasing and the amount of data each respective organization must manage is multiplying exponentially. Without a strategy for edge computing, however, the cloud can lack satisfactory performance for customers located a great geographical distance away from the provider’s physical datacenter.

It’s not always easy to link the edge to private and public clouds. Unleashing the full potential of data at the edge means having a true hybrid multicloud that empowers you to seize every possibility in the cloud, on-premises, and at the edge.

How Companies Are Already Leveraging Data at the Edge

Those organizations that adopted edge computing and hybrid multicloud operating models early on are already seeing great results in a number of edge-focused use cases. Certain processes illustrate the efficacy of edge computing, with some of them outright requiring data processing and computation to occur at the edge due to the need for latency-free functionality.

Experts also assert the value of edge computing when it comes to analytics. Implementing edge analytics is a logical step forward for organizations that understand the value of data-driven decisions and transitioning to a data-centric operating model.

Businesses and their clients generate valuable data at the edge, and then it resides there until such time as decision-makers decide to dedicate the time, resources, and bandwidth to transferring it to the infrastructure core. By instead laying the groundwork for edge analytics, it becomes possible to glean key insights from that data in real-time and act upon it that much faster.

In an article for Forbes, DAC.digital founder and CEO Przemek Szleter highlights further applications for edge computing in the modern sphere. In regard to patient health monitoring, for example, Szleter explains, “Edge computing supports advanced predictive analytics by enabling the processing of large datasets at the point of care. It can help detect potential health issues early, predict patient outcomes, and personalize treatment plans based on real-time data analysis.”

Unleashing the Possibilities of the Edge With Nutanix

In a competitive IT landscape, catching up to other organizations that are already well-versed in leveraging data at the edge may seem like a daunting task. Business leaders need the best-in-class solution for maximizing edge capabilities, whether they are making their first foray into edge computing or iterating on existing practices.

Nutanix Cloud Infrastructure (NCI) is a robust solution that can serve as the foundation for your organization's cloud endeavors by standardizing the procurement, deployment, and management of IT services. With NCI-Edge, those capabilities extend completely and seamlessly to remote office/branch office (ROBO) locations or other edge use cases.

Traditionally, setting up a remote office tends to be a burdensome objective. With Nutanix, however, ROBO can be simple thanks largely to a capacity for streamlined operations and centralized management. Edge and ROBO solutions at Nutanix include comprehensive security and disaster recovery, as well as workload portability and flexibility, powered by a centralized interface that reduces cloud complexity.

Nutanix also offers an AI-ready platform that streamlines AI transformation and provides a means for simplifying the burden of processing the data at the edge for inferencing. With so much of the machine learning (ML) process happening at the edge, the Nutanix approach of delivering enterprise-grade edge AI/ML brings the desired result to organizations operating on NCI.

Embrace Data at the Edge Today

Storing data and acting upon it at the edge where it resides can open the way to amazing innovations, many of which are already emerging at organizations around the world. Getting these results is much more attainable when your cloud platform reaches for the edge of possibilities as much as you do.

Nutanix Cloud Platform includes NCI along with other VM, container, data and management services, and supports your workloads and ensures the delivery of compute, storage, database, and virtual network services. That support extends flexibly to wherever you need it, from your on-premises or hosted datacenter to any cloud or edge location.

Contact us to go beyond simply embracing edge computing — make it your own and produce the results you want. 

Learn more about hyperconverged infrastructure at the edge and other ways to optimize cloud workloads.

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