Edge Computing Comes of Age

After years of hype, edge computing is finally coming of age according to a new white paper from GSMA Intelligence.

Edge computing, the concept of moving compute resources like storage and networking from centralized data centers to the “edge” of the network near users and devices, has long held promise to enable real-time data analytics and new product capabilities.

The white paper, titled “Edge Compute: Coming to a Place Near You,” surveys 400 executives across the edge computing ecosystem to evaluate current adoption, future investment plans, and remaining challenges. It finds that after several false starts, edge computing is gaining strong momentum on the back of 5G rollouts, expanding internet of things (IoT) deployments, increasing data volumes, and improving enterprise digitization.

Edge Drivers

While the automotive sector has been an early leader in edge computing, the white paper highlights growing interest across industries like consumer electronics, media, retail, and smart cities. Overall, 92% of surveyed executives said edge computing is “extremely important” or “very important” to their business-to-business sales success.