
Combining 5G and Edge Computing: The Next Phase of IT
The distributed nature of edge computing means any edge device reflects the variety of its enterprise use cases.
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CIO Applications Europe | Thursday, October 20, 2022

By pairing maturing edge technology with 5G network expansion, enterprises’ strategies and goals become more specific. As a result, many companies turned towards this idea, making the period a turning point for pairing edge computing and 5G.
FREMONT, CA:The distributed nature of edge computing means any edge device reflects the variety of its enterprise use cases. There are some visible common denominators powering edge implementations, such as containers and other cloud-native technologies and machine learning. But the particular edge-built applications on top of those foundations quickly diversified. Telco applications share similarities with industrial IoT use cases different from those in the automotive industry. This indicates edge computing trends are expanding broader diversity
While pairing maturing edge technologies and 5G network expansion, organisations’ strategies and goals become more specific. In other words, the 5G and edge combination vary by enterprise business type.
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The 5G edge tandem is poised to spur the next digital transformation phases already underway in many companies. There will be a new wave of high-value production assets, including the surplus data that edge devices and applications generate, becoming mainstream IT portfolio pieces and subsequently creating business impact.
Unlike in the past, when network transformations did not reach the last-mile device, organisations are now combining 5G to edge locations to create a smart device chain capable of communicating with each other and back-end systems.
Critical Time for Edge Computing:The 5G-edge pairing is a long-tail event for companies. However, a myriad of reasons, including the telco-operated 5G network expansion, make this period a turning point. There will be a transition from many smaller, early-stage deployments to a wide-scale, global 5G network production deployment following cloud-native design principles. By offering a cloud-native platform for 5G, there will be great visibility into this transition.
In addition, 5G and the edge will further unify as a common platform to deliver ultra-reliable and low-latency applications. Broader factors confluence this type of belief, including more widely available 5G networks. Edge use cases have the potential to take centre stage with the development of edge-to-cloud architecture patterns and 5G rollout. The last mile concept is significant as, from a consumer standpoint, the only thing most people care about 5G is the belief that it makes phones faster. However, organisations’ points of view are more complex. Although the 5G-edge relationship's primary aspect is speed, it is usually expressed in two related terms more familiar to the IT world, such as latency and performance. The relentless pursuit of low latency and high performance is ingrained in IT leaders and telco operators.
The most important aspect of enterprise IT is to enhance its business understanding of operational technology and be comfortable working with several network equipment providers, cloud vendors, and IT service providers. Another critical consideration is open source adoption and value chain openness, such as RAN software, towers, base stations, cloud computing, and storage.
Companies oblivious about the next 5G and edge phases in organisations should start with the potential business applications. This should also ultimately guide any further strategic development. Some use cases include adopting remote training using digital twins, remote health consultations, media streaming, and real-time asset monitoring. Any enabling 5G factors, such as small cells and low latency, strongly align with an edge architecture. However, the intention should focus not on enabling 5G but on having a suitable business scenario where 5G adoption can enhance impact.
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