Further acceptance of cloud computing and artificial intelligence will be on the agenda. But another factor can be edge computing, where data is processed locally, says Paul Sallomi, analyst at Deloitte.
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With 2020 approaching, companies are considering their strategies to facilitate growth in the new year. What tools and technologies will companies pursue and use to ensure that they move forward?
Known areas such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) will certainly dominate. But 2020 can also be the year for ‘edge computing’, according to Paul Sallomi, analyst for global technology, media and telecommunications for Deloitte.
SEE: From cloud to edge: the next IT transformation (special ZDNet report) Download the report as a PDF (TechRepublic)
“We expect to see more and more portable and fixed networks with local (real-time) processing capabilities with high capacity and low latency that include analysis and AI to transform the customer experience,” Sallomi says. “The benefits of edge computing can extend to factories, distribution facilities, autonomous vehicles – essentially any situation where data needs to be processed locally versus sent to the cloud or a data center.”
In Deloitte’s 2020 Technology Industry Outlook, Sallomi says that cloud acceptance will continue to grow next year, but in a flexible way when companies look at both hybrid and multicloud environments.
A hybrid cloud approach, which includes both private and public clouds, is favored by many companies as a stepping stone to wider acceptance of the public cloud. This is due to a series of factors, including continued dependence on legacy systems and compliance with business rules. But many companies are still concerned that they only depend on public cloud providers, especially for mission-critical data.
Organizations will increasingly focus on a multi-cloud environment in which they use cloud services from multiple providers. According to Sallomi, such an approach offers companies the opportunity to assess different providers before they commit to specific longer-term commitments. A multicloud strategy also helps organizations to control costs and prevent them from being locked up in one supplier.
Many technology companies are shifting towards an all-as-a-service (XaaS) approach that includes strategies such as platform-as-a-service (PaaS), infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and software-as-a service (SaaS), says Sallomi.
With PaaS, database and application platform services are the largest segments, with blockchain, digital experience, serverless and AI / machine learning platforms to the more recent offers. IaaS offers benefits such as improved disaster recovery, ease of use and platform scalability. And SaaS suppliers can offer more customizable end-to-end solutions, increased maneuverability and better ROI measurement.
Artificial intelligence will be another area of focus for 2020 because many companies consider it essential for their innovation and growth. According to the 2018 Global State of AI in the Enterprise Survey, 80% of respondents said their AI investments had already led to ROIs of 10% or more. The respondents pointed to “improvement of products and services” and “optimization of internal business activities” as the primary benefits of AI.
For the new year, organizations are expected to expand their AI efforts in areas such as managing customer interactions, developing and testing products, personalizing products and services, delivering connected equipment and enabling greater engagement of personal assistants in the daily activities of consumers.
But one area that could grow significantly in 2020 is edge computing. With this approach, companies collect and analyze data in the same locations where they are generated (for example, at the edge of a network), instead of sending it to an offsite or cloud-based data center. Edge computing can be effective in factories, distribution facilities, autonomous vehicles, and other environments where data must be processed locally. As such, it can offer benefits such as reduced latency and lower bandwidth costs.
Edge computing will see more traction next year, partly thanks to the growth of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and the increased portability of computing power and AI-driven tools, according to Sallomi.
An IDC report predicts that 45% of IoT-generated data will be stored, processed, analyzed and monitored in three years’ time near or on the edge of networks. This growth will be driven by IoT applications in a range of industries, including manufacturing, retail, healthcare, energy, financial services, logistics, and agriculture.
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