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Introduction to edge

This introduction is for technology leaders in manufacturing who face the challenge of running modern software applications and machine learning on the factory floor at hundreds or thousands of stations.

Not everything can run in the cloud. We wish it were not true. Cloud makes deploying, managing and updating software so much easier than before, for customers and software vendors alike. But there are legitimate barriers to running some applications in the cloud, namely: autonomy, latency, security, compliance, bandwidth and cost.

Every technology leader faces the challenge of keeping pace with innovation or face being defeated by competitors who do. Nevertheless, the biggest challenge you face is finding and keeping the people who know the latest technologies. Technology is outpacing your team’s ability to acquire or hirer the skills necessary to keep up.

Your instincts tell you that it should not be this way. Technology should work for us, make our lives better, not bury us. Technology should make our jobs easier, not harder. Your instincts are right. It’s not your fault that you are falling behind in innovation. The vendors are dumping the problem in your lap rather than solving it for you.

The Edgecell team has been helping companies like yours solve the challenges of edge computing for more than three years. This handbook is a distillation of what we have learned. We want to help you avoid:

  • spending a ton on infrastructure with no return on investment
  • getting stuck with a single cloud provider
  • taking too long to deploy innovations and falling behind competitors
  • hiring an army of rocket scientists to sustain your innovations

It is possible to deploy and manage software on premise (at the edge) like you do in the cloud, even if you have thousands of locations, without the need of an army of rocket scientists.

Stop struggling to keep pace with technology. Instead, lead the innovation in your company that will delight customers and increase efficiency.

Start now, start small and scale quickly.