siliconindia | | SEPTEMBER - 202219By Srinivas Rao, Senior Director, System Engineering, Dell Technologies, IndiaMAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT `EDGE' OVER COMPETITIONT he most common question in the technology indus-try today is `What trends will shape the industry in the next five year?' The answer is applicable to ev-ery industry -- data and the ability to create a competitive edge from that data. We live in the data era, characterized by an explosion of data sources and the race to collect data -- both from us and about us -- and innovations in an-alytics and artificial intelligence (AI) that help us extract more value from data. By 2025, most of this data will be processed outside a traditional data center or cloud. One of the hottest topics in this context is `edge'. Although there are many definitions of edge, I prefer a simple one that de-scribes edge as any place where data is acted on near its point of creation to generate immediate, essential valueThe ultimate goal is to generate new business insights and move toward becoming a data-driven organization. Edge will be an important factor in making this happen. IDC predicts that by 2024, due to an explosion of edge data, 65 percent of the G2000 will embed edge-first data stewardship, security and network practices into data pro-tection plans to integrate edge data into relevant process-es.¹We anticipate that the entire data management ecosys-tem will develop and utilize edge IT capacity at the ingress and egress of their data pipelines, and remotely process and digest data on the edge. Edge solutions will become the most feasible option for real-time data processing and for harnessing data-driven insights at or near the source of data generation.This is very significant as it means a shift of focus on many fronts. Organizations will have to con-sider what data to capture at its edge locations -- such as branches for banks and stores for retailers. They will have to frame a seamless ecosystem with the right infrastructure to host the data, right place torun it, the right applications to analyze the data and, most importantly, the right process to manage and secure these remote edge locations.THE RETAIL EDGEIn retail, the use of video analytics and computer vision has made it feasible to collect insights on customer behavior at the retail store level. This data, collected at the edge, can inform many departments within the retailer. Marketing can understand customer demographics in relation to the time of day, the weather or local events and deliver targeted content accordingly. Operations can use computer vision to detect unusual customer behavior and inform the store manager in real time. The customer experience department can analyze information on total store foot traffic, link it to actual sales and possibly change a store layout in response. With more than a decade of experience in Business Advisor with a demonstrated history of working in the information technology and services industry, Srinivas is an expert in Hadoop, RPA, MSBI Power BI, Project Management and advanced MS Excel with Strong business and Analytical knowledge.Srinivas Rao, Senior DirectorCXOInSIGHTS
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