Edge-based innovation to take center stage in APAC

In 2022 and beyond, the emphasis on consumer digital experience will continue to increase worldwide. Investing and innovating at the edge can bring valuable improvements to businesses including reduced latency, increased scalability, improved security, and support businesses in delivering experiences that delight consumers.

In a world transformed by COVID-19, edge computing will constitute one of the biggest changes in the business technology landscape in Asia Pacific, bringing significant opportunities for competitive differentiation, according to Akamai.

Every 6 out of 10 (59%) enterprises in Asia Pacific are planning to integrate edge fully into their cloud infrastructure and management strategy. Up to 30% of new enterprise infrastructure deployment in Asia Pacific is likely to happen as enterprises look to realize a host of innovative options around enabling borderless hybrid work environments, securing far-flung peripheries of the enterprise, Akamai reported.

“There is a great expectation in today’s digital world for fast and reliable services online. Edge computing brings competitive value to businesses seeking to realize this expectation, as it unlocks capabilities that are secure and scalable, allows for new revenue streams, and delivers richer digital experiences for customers,” Hrishikesh Varma, director, product management, Akamai said.

As enterprises in Asia Pacific are moving a wider range of compute-intensive requirements to the edge they are seeing a significant return. Improving reliability and availability is the key driver pushing enterprises to place applications in an edge location.

Other key drivers include improving data and app security and compliance 25%; modernizing, simplifying and managing infrastructure better 22%; reducing data migration issues 21%; and improving end-user experience 19%, Akamai said.

“Global megatrends and technological advances that allow enterprises to access the full potential of their assets at the edge are beginning to unlock a plethora of innovative and powerful new use-cases,” Pushkaraksh Shanbhag, associate research director, IDC said.

Enterprises that stand prepared to tap into the power of the edge over the next few years will be able to build and consolidate digital leadership within their ecosystems of competition for years to come, he added.

Key trends driving the move to the edge include the rapidly changing hybrid work environment, the move to software-enabled enterprise, and the need to secure newly digitized environments.

Increased hybrid working in the new normal will create new challenges for enterprises as they define the workplace of the future. According to IDC, by 2023, 55% of large enterprises will have committed to providing technical parity to a workforce that is hybrid by design rather than by circumstance.

By 2024, over 30% of A2000 companies will run artificial intelligence (AI) workloads distributed more evenly from core to edge to cloud and will be managed by AI software platform providers, making the infrastructure invisible, as per Akamai report.

Security remains one of the most pressing challenges in ensuring a resilient digital business. By 2024, recurring infrastructure failures inhibiting business resiliency and security across all locations will have driven 60% of enterprises to mandate using automated digital infrastructure.