CYBER SECUIRTY
Market opportunities for 5G, IoT and edge compute By Guy Matthews NetReporter
28 | Cyber Risk Leaders Magazine
There is an increasingly important link between 5G, IoT and edge compute, with each having implications for the success of the other. So believes Jeremiah Caron, Global Head of Research & Analysis with the Technology Group of independent analyst firm GlobalData. “IoT has been around for a while now, enabled by existing networking technologies,” he explains. “But now there are a number of different elements coming into play on the network side, and also on the compute side. We have analytics and AI entering the mix. It all means that IoT is complemented by new solutions such as 5G network services and edge computing capabilities, together driving a more highly automated, cleaner, safer, and more productive industrial and business world. We’re on the cusp of something faster, more real-time, more embedded into all business processes.” After a bumpy start for 5G, Caron thinks that momentum is picking up, with work ongoing in the area of standards, as well as with auctions around the world for spectrum: “The next standard from the 3GPP is going to be 5G-Advanced, which will take things to the next level, to that place that we've been talking about for four years on the enterprise side,” he says. “And there's been a lot of effort on private 5G networking to match.” The other big 5G topic that Caron believes people are increasingly focused on is edge computing, with many different types of solution in development: “There's massive
ecosystem diversity around edge,” he notes. “There are lots of different players, from hyper-scale cloud providers to network-owning operators to compute providers to multiple types of software company and integrator. We're starting to see models emerge that feature some consistency. There are still questions that remain. What are the consumption models for edge compute? Who do you buy it from? How do you buy it? When it comes to service models, enterprises are still pondering about what to do here. Their supplier partners are more than happy to help them think about that. The market is looking for early successes, actual implementations that can be said to have really made a difference in automation, or in real-time business activity, and when we see more of those that will drive a lot of confidence and encouragement.” To broaden the discussion, and get testimony from the front line on 5G, IoT and edge issues, Caron tapped the views of a select panel of experts. He started by asking for an explanation of what they are seeing in terms of practical enterprise use cases, with particular regard for the business value that is being created. “Think about the convergence that's happening, with data coming from sensors, being fed over cellular networks into large hyperscale environments, with software, services and AI capabilities running on top of that, driving business value,” enthuses Shamik Basu, Director of IoT Products with Verizon Business, the major US carrier that is running
