How Edge Computing Will Evolve in 2023

With some of the most notable minds on Wall Street giving a bleak prognosis of the economy in the year ahead and continuing to worry that inflation is eroding everything, business leaders are bracing for rough times in 2023.

To manage their way through an uncertain economy, companies will put more scrutiny on every part of the business, including the millions of dollars spent each year on research and development. While spending on edge computing is still expected to grow, executives are eager to see real-world applications of projects that, up until now, have thrived in laboratories. For edge computing professionals, 2023 is the time to get real.

Moving Out of the Lab and Into the Real World

Edge computing moves computing power and storage to devices at the edge of a network instead of the cloud or a central server. The recent explosion of data allows for real-time decision-making, and edge computing enables companies to collect and analyze data closer to the source rather than upload it to the cloud for later analysis. Industries such as energy, manufacturing and retail are adopting edge computing to optimize performance, reduce costs and gain efficiency.

The oil and gas industry has leaned heavily into edge computing. Many sites are located far from the nearest town and don’t have an experienced IT professional on-site to handle technical issues. With edge computing, companies can monitor their wells and pipelines remotely and in real time, reducing equipment failure and keeping workers safe.

While there are opportunities ahead to demonstrate the value of edge computing, it may not be easy, and companies shouldn’t falter even if some prominent projects fail. Leaders should continue to search for affordable ways to deploy software in the field that delivers actionable data. Rather than custom software solutions, more businesses are starting to embrace the idea of using commodity hardware and running multiple applications on a single device.

More Cloud Apps Will Find Their Way to the Edge

Technology veterans who watched (or lived through) the “lift-and-shift” to the cloud are now considering whether that same approach will work for the edge. And while a few smaller, nimble companies might be able to get away with running everything on a container, that strategy isn’t possible for most companies with decades of infrastructure investment.

Instead, there’s an increasing convergence of old and new technologies at the edge. As companies seek to modernize their operations, they find that a mix of legacy systems and cutting-edge technologies is critical for success. To make that mix work, more cloud apps will have to find a path to the edge. By pushing data and computing to the edge of the network, companies will be able to save on massive upload charges and begin to make edge projects a business success.

Security at the Edge Will Become a Major Factor

The proliferation of devices at the edge and the lack of established security protocols will almost certainly create potential vulnerabilities for a major company in 2023. Managing that risk will require careful planning and investment to ensure that these systems are secure and reliable.

Over the past 10 years, we’ve been trained to think about security in terms of a network. Everything runs in a data center with armed guards out front, preventing anyone from tampering with what’s inside. Today, however, devices that run on the edge might be stored under a retail counter, where it's easily accessible for tampering or theft, or even just a random store clerk plugging their phone in to charge. The security stack you have to cover when you deploy to the edge is much broader, so there are a lot of components that will need renewed attention.

But Traditional Approaches to Security Won’t Work

Edge computing projects are well-suited for unguarded, distributed environments, but that creates a new set of challenges for security professionals. The traditional models don’t work in situations where neither hardware, software, nor users can be trusted.

Rather than hacking a server or network, vulnerable targets might include surveillance cameras (as in the case of the 2021 Verkada hack that breached more than 150,000 of the company’s cameras in factories, warehouses, offices, gyms and schools) or even networked HVAC systems (which is how a massive customer data breach started for Target in 2014).

The good news is that best practices for protecting the edge are already emerging, such as building on a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) and leveraging purpose-built open frameworks. Security must be a Day 1 consideration with devices designed to always be remotely manageable and security policies decided by the user or controller.

Leveraging the Edge for Business Success

Even if the near future doesn’t appear rosy, there remains a tremendous opportunity to leverage edge computing for business success. I’m convinced the edge will transform industries and force lagging companies to innovate faster. It’s the difference between a $20,000 operation to send technicians in a truck to a remote location to reboot a system versus three clicks in a dashboard. Getting to that point won’t be easy, but the time to begin is now. It’s time for the edge to get real.