Edge computing market set to explode by 2022, thanks to demand from industrial enterprises
By 2022, 90% of industrial enterprises will be utilising edge computing, with the multi-access edge computing market set to reach $7.23 billion by 2024.
This is according to Frost - Sullivan's recent analysis, 5G and Edge Computing Cloud Workloads Shifting to the Edge, Forecast to 2024.
The report highlights that edge computing is a foundational technology for industrial enterprises as it offers shorter latencies, robust security, responsive data collection, and lower costs.
In this hyper-connected industrial environment, edge computing, with its solution-agnostic attribute, can be used across various applications. This includes autonomous assets, remote asset monitoring, data extraction from stranded assets, autonomous robotics, autonomous vehicles and smart factories, the analysts state.
Despite being in a nascent stage, the multi-access edge computing (MEC) from operators in wireless networks is estimated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 157.4%, reaching revenue of $7.23 billion by 2024 from $64.1 million in 2019.
Frost - Sullivan finds that there are immense growth prospects for MEC market participants.
Telecom operators should work on solutions and services to meet the requirements for connected and autonomous cars, and system integrators should provide end-to-end solutions, which would be a significant value addition for enterprises because 5G requires specific skillsets, the analysts state.
The combination of 5G and the new specialised hardware-based mobile edge compute technologies can meet the markets streaming media needs now and in the future.
Telecom operators must partner with cloud providers and companies with abilities related to artificial intelligence, machine learning, and computer vision to design solutions for autonomous cars, drone delivery, and others, according to the report.
Finally, companies in the MEC space must capitalise on the opportunity for innovation and new developments that utilise 5G and MEC, such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), which can also be applied to games.
Frost - Sullivan research director information and communication technologies, Renato Pasquini, says, "The recent launch of the 5G technology coupled with MEC brings computing power close to customers and also allows the emergence of new applications and experiences for them.
"Going forward, 5G and MEC are an opportunity for telecom operators to launch innovative offerings and also enable an ecosystem to flourish in the business-to-business (B2B) segment of telecom service providers using the platform.
Pasquini says, "From the perspective of the MEC ecosystem, software edge application and solutions promises the highest CAGR followed by services telecom operators services, cloud providers infrastructure-as-a-service, and edge data center colocation services.
5G and Edge Computing Cloud Workloads Shifting to the Edge, Forecast to 2024, is the latest addition to Frost - Sullivan's Information and Communication Technologies research and analyses available through the Frost - Sullivan Leadership Council, which helps organisations identify growth opportunities.
