Intelligent CIO LATAM Issue 35 | Page 40

CIO OPINION
Of course , the sheer volume of data produced by these multiple devices can seriously hinder a company ’ s network infrastructure , which can only process so much data without problems arising with bandwidth and lag time .
That ’ s where edge networking comes in . This is a data management system that supplies digital resources to your users by merging edge devices with your business network to process and interpret data close to the source without the need for huge data centres .
Moving to the edge has become a key investment for businesses looking to deploy innovative technologies such as generative AI because they can now process data where it happens – at the boundary of edge devices – as opposed to in the cloud where latency and security issues abound .
This not only helps to accelerate business decisions but also gathers valuable information at the point of origin to improve both product offerings and customer experiences . hosted in the cloud . By placing edge devices closer to the users of these cloud-based applications , the distance that data must travel is greatly reduced , which means lower latency .
By placing security controls closer to this cloud-hosted data , it also reduces the risk of your private network being compromised by outside attacks .
Furthermore , a well-configured edge network can overcome congestion problems that might occur with devices and applications by rerouting traffic to the correct destinations and ensuring that your network is not overloaded .
Then there ’ s the cost savings . By deploying devices on the edge and thereby offloading the processing and storage requirements to the edge , businesses can reduce the costs they would typically incur to purchase from cloud providers .
That said , not all edge networks are created equal and a poorly configured edge can turn all these benefits into disadvantages .
What ’ s more , businesses can vastly reduce data transfers over external networks , minimising the threat of data breaches while maximising bandwidth usage and ultimately improving customer outcomes .
First and foremost are the security risks . Businesses need to make sure their edge is ultra-secure and can respond to threat incidents emerging from different devices or locations .
A well-configured edge network can significantly improve the performance of applications that are
Secondly , without the correct knowledge and training , your IT team may quickly be overwhelmed by having
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