Edge Computing World Key Takeaways: The Need to Build Community in the Edge Computing Ecosystem

Recently, we attended Edge Computing World 2021. Vantiq’s leadership team shared its expertise in both keynotes and panel sessions that included:

• Edge Executive Keynote: How Edge-Native Applications are Going to Change the World with Marty Sprinzen, co-founder and CEO of Vantiq
• Telco Edge Summit Keynote: How to Make the Edge a Dynamic Environment with Paul Butterworth, co-founder and CEO of Vantiq
• Networking Roundtable: Edge-Enabled Use Cases for Oil & Gas with Sourabh Roy of Infosys Oil & Gas, Tony Lesly of Verizon Business Group Oil & Gas, and Hardik Davé of Vantiq (not recorded)

Recognized as the world’s premier edge computing event, Edge Computing World brought together over 4,000 attendees from end-users, ecosystems, developers, and 125-plus industry thought leaders who shared their insights into the edge experience. Over these four days, what stood out to us was the sense of community in edge computing’s ecosystem. From the possibilities of smart cities to accelerating the industrial digital transformation to creating dynamic environments in telco, participants recognized that we must actively work together to market the promise of edge computing.

Key Takeaways from Edge Computing World:

• Edge means something different to everyone: Edge computing is more of a philosophy around distributing cloud intelligence than about a specific location or place within the network hierarchy. As a result, what edge computing means varies from industry to industry. For instance, many telco companies look at edge computing within the Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) environment. They distribute clouds to smaller locations across the globe to provide the benefits of cloud computing closer to the enterprise. Then, we have IoT sensor companies that have a vastly different view of edge computing based on devices with sensors and processors. For these companies, the edge is smaller but more portable than the MECs.
• Edge solutions are dependent on the ecosystem: Bringing solutions to market and finding the value in edge computing will only be successful with the development of the edge’s ecosystem. Why? Because we need to work together, as no one player will have the answer. For instance, to be successful, we will need the big cloud providers like AWS and Azure to work with telco companies to create seamless Edge-to-Cloud infrastructure and then bring in the software platform players who can actually create the new generation of edge-native applications.
• We are still trying to find the recipe to build edge solutions: Because the edge computing market is still young, we see many one-off products that are mostly proof of concept, and while many are showing the possibility of value, they are not yet deployable at scale. This is partly because we have yet to see the impact that edge computing will have on business applications and decision-making. There are, quite simply, no recipes to follow. We believe that the market will continue to see a lot of trial and error as to what to build, what will work, and in turn, this cycle will further drive innovation.

Participating in Edge Computing World reinforced what many of us have already experienced – that the promise of what edge computing can deliver has yet to be realized. And for us to get there, we need to work together as we build communities within our ecosystem. Only then can we deliver for the end customer.

Want to know more about Vantiq’s distributed, dynamic, edge-native development platform? Contact us for a demo.