Two thirds (66%) of IT teams see edge computing as a ‘threat’ to their organisation, despite the potential advantages its adoption could bring to enterprises. That’s according to a recent survey of 270 US and UK based IT decision-makers by Kollective, exploring the challenges of incorporating IoT devices into business ecosystems.
Keeping edge devices secure is the main concern for IT teams, with 52% of respondents claiming that they will encounter difficulties ensuring full security across all edge devices. At the same time, although edge computing is perceived to bolster connection speed, 36% of IT teams expressed doubt about overcoming latency issues when communicating from cloud to edge.
These concerns help explain why only 24% of businesses have implemented edge networks to date. However, the recognition of the benefits of edge computing, can be seen in the 50% of IT decision-makers who recognise the need to invest in hardware to overcome these latency concerns, and the 47% that claim to have already initiated planning for investment in software solutions.
These findings are detailed in a new report, “Distributed Devices”, published today by Kollective. The report also investigates what IT professionals can do to ensure that all devices at the edge of their networks are reached effectively, securely, and at speed.
Suggested reading: Comparing fog computing with edge computing
Commenting on the research findings, Kirk Wolfe, VP of Corporate Development at Kollective said, “There is a clear recognition from IT leaders (33%) that investment in new software will allow for more computing at the edge, but there remain legitimate concerns over the cost of implementation, connection speeds and security.
“In particular, there are numerous network concerns to overcome to keep networks safe and avoid potential attacks. For businesses choosing not to update all of the devices on a regular basis, the outcome could be disastrous, affecting employees, customers and the business as a whole. A peer to peer technology platform such as a Software-Defined Enterprise Content Delivery Network (SD ECDN) can address these issues of latency, cost and security; distributing files, video and patches to edge networks on a large scale.”
Related read: Comparing IoT services: AWS vs Google vs IBM vs Microsoft
To download Kollective’s full Distributed Devices research report, along with a related infographic, visit https://go.kollective.com/distributed-devices-wp.html