Planning for the future optimization of your technology architecture?  With the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) using the the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies in manufacturer settings, utilizing edge computing solutions is going to be critically important in capturing data from smart machines to increase efficiency in operations, quality control and supply chain management.  Helping companies generate massive amounts of data and bridging the gap between information and operational technology is the goal of using IIoT technology in the first place.  However, if the data is unable to be accessed and processed in real time of the smart “things” that live remotely on the “edge” of the network to collect the data is lost and potentially not as valuable .  

Edge computing helps with the challenge of harnessing information and making it relevant to the business for decision making purposes by being able to process data closer to where it lives.  With the growth in IIoT capabilities, edge computing is being looked at as the next generation in cloud computing where there is more movement away from the cloud towards edge computing devices.  Eliminating the need for costly network bandwidth additions, addressing sensitive data security issues and improving enterprise-wide connectivity can all be alleviated with the utilization of edge computing solutions.  Read full article here.

As the Internet of Things (IoT) surges in the coming years, will edge computing make cloud computing obsolete?  Certainly a hot topic among the CIO community in an effort to predict the future is the cloud-to-edge debate as more and more data is generated that needs to be analyzed effectively.  But, how will the cloud and the edge co-exist in the future and what does the architecture look like for this massive amount of data that is putting a  tremendous amount of  strain on the Internet infrastructure?

Some venture capitalists are saying that the amount of devices that make up the IoT will make edge computing the next leg in the computing cycle as the need for large amounts of computation that currently takes place in the cloud will need to move to the edge for faster decision making capabilities thus disrupting the cloud.  Autonomous vehicles and machine learning for instance will have to have its’ own self contained computing capabilities as the speed at which decisions need to be made don’t have time for the data to be transmitted to the cloud.  This is a scary thought for cloud service providers, but one that will soon take shape as the next IoT innovations evolve.  Read full article here.

Do you know exactly where the edge of the network is residing?  In the Industrial Internet of Things ( IIoT) the more recent development of strategies around Internet-enabled business improvement plans has forced manufacturing organizations to take a closer look at the industrial network edge and all the collective machines and devices housed there.  In the world of manufacturing the idea of the utilization of smart machines and smart manufacturing to reduce machine downtime; as well as having remote access and greater production flexibility is not a new concept.  Enterprise initiatives such as big data analytics, cloud-based applications and remote machine monitoring and service are the drivers behind the increased focus and the vision for the role of the industrial network edge.

Where assets are going to be optimized and the associated data analyzed most efficiently results in continual demand on machines and edge devices to “feed the beast.”  In addition to this, an increased emphasis on communication between the enterprise and high level applications is at least partially responsible for the term “network edge” itself and where the production machines to support operations appear in the architecture of the outer edge of the network.  Read the full article here.