In the past, people imagined a time when everything that needed constant monitoring no longer required actual humans to do the task. A day when the data collected would not require manual processing in order to derive usable information. And a time when the prohibitive costs associated with manual labour could be channelled to better uses.
Now with the advent of the Internet of Things in commercial (IoT) and industrial settings (IIoT), those dreams look set to be fulfilled in more ways than ever imagined in the sci-fi fantasies of Hollywood.
Wireless connectivity can now be pervasively integrated into the smallest sensors and devices.
Where immense volumes of data need to be transmitted, 5G technology is on the horizon for quick solutions at the edge. Neural networks and even quantum computing will eventually enhance artificial Intelligence and machine learning to make even better use of collected data in real time, reducing the need for human intervention.
At the forefront of Industry 4.0, enterprises will reduce manual labour through the use of seamlessly connected robotics, sensors, production lines and quality control services. Human intervention and the margin of error are reduced, while productivity and cost efficiency will reach unprecedented levels. The previously elusive goal of satisfying extremely elastic demand with reasonable prices, great user experiences and customer service will become an achievable goal in every sector.
Seamless Connectivity is the Key
The world is changing faster than ever before. Traditional services such as transport and banking are being reinvented and driven by the rapid adoption of a cloud-based model. Social interaction is forever changed as people from all walks of life have become even more intertwined with one another over social media and messaging apps.
The underlying driver of all these technological marvels is: cost-effective on-demand, high speed and seamless digital connectivity to intelligent interconnected ecosystems. It is this connectivity that fuels frontline systems such as IoT, IIoT and other enterprise tech to ramp up autonomous machines and systems. Further upstream, this same super connectivity is needed to process big data to derive meaningful intelligence and action.
However, the reality is that there is much catching up to do at the back end: many enterprise networks are straining at the seams, running on legacy infrastructure built on inflexible hardware and disparate connectivity protocols operating in silos. Clearly, elastic connectivity is the key to the future, and it is also the lack of it that is holding up massive progress for now.
Achieving Elastic Connectivity
Enterprises and network providers are aware of the benefits and urgency of achieving seamless elastic connectivity in their core network infrastructure. Existing or emerging solutions are available to cater to the widest range of architectural and strategic constraints. For instance, software-defined networking (SDN) that delivers programmable interconnection between data centres, clouds, internet exchanges and large networks using ethernet technology.
Holistically, the bottleneck in network innovation is the tentative, wait-and-see approach that traditionally prevails due to numerous priorities as well as management and strategic constraints. Some enterprises develop proof of concept with small-scale sandboxes and trials, but often turns out to be unsustainable for long-term growth as a result of scalability issues.
Success stories and case studies certainly help over time, to convince innovators to take the next leap into seamless elastic connectivity. Yet, every day of delay in digitally transforming the network is a year of lost opportunities. From enterprises to service providers, no one is susceptible to the effects of technology on connectivity.
Paving the Way Forward
The rate of tech adoption in digital transformation is speeding up, but the pace and momentum still have some ways to reach critical mass. There needs to be greater collaboration between technology players to deliver better outcomes and drive new innovation in this connected economy.
As a matter of fact, connectivity will pave for an intelligent world. The application of IoT, cloud computing, artificial intelligence and blockchain will be driven by the way they connect. Imagine the massive volume of data being transport in a minute between businesses, consumers and billions of devices.
Over the last 15 years, Epsilon has been helping customers and partners make connectivity a seamless enabler of their business, having worked with fellow industry players, managed service providers, digital unicorns, cloud companies and enterprises of all sizes. We enabled them to build their network infrastructure, connect their end-users across regions, access multiple public clouds, enabling localised peering and even expand their portfolio with connectivity offerings.
The future of connectivity begins today. Is your network ready for the future?
