eBook

Edge Computing 101

Practical Industry Insight for
IT and Operations Leaders

Sponsored by
Practical industry insight for IT and
operations leaders
Expert insight, use case examples, and
global survey findings illustrate opportunities
for leaders to deploy Edge Computing for
process optimization and equipment
reliability.
Edge Computing is transforming operations
across industries from food & beverage to
oil & gas, and even commercial building
management. This emergent technology
harnesses real-time data from critical
equipment and processes to dramatically
improve operational efficiency and enable
new insights through advanced analytics.
These capabilities act as a foundation for
smart cities, smart infrastructure, and
Industry 4.0 manufacturing. By leveraging
connectivity, collaboration, and insight, smart
resources create business value, increase
competitive advantage, and enhance quality
of life.
Given the impact that Edge Computing is
having, it’s only natural for the next question
to be, “What does Edge Computing mean
in practical terms for control engineers, IT
infrastructure and operations leads, building
managers, and other leaders?” This
practical guide to Edge Computing
provides use cases, perspectives from
industry experts, and current trend data
to answer fundamental questions that
leaders have about Edge Computing. Most
importantly, it discusses Edge Computing
in the practical terms meaningful for those
actively engaged in defining automation
solutions.
What is Edge Computing?
A pragmatic definition
Edge Computing offers opportunities
to improve business and production
processes. Decision making is made more
efficient and more resilient through real-time
visibility into operations. Simply put, Edge
Computing accomplishes this step change
in operational performance by bringing
computing resources into close proximity
with the critical equipment where operational
data is generated and applied.
Edge locations, aka the operational edge,
might include points of sale, manufacturing
floors, material handling equipment, access
control and monitoring points, and most
dramatically, assets installed at remote
geographic locations. Placing these
computing resources at the Edge minimizes
both data latency and security risk, allowing
analysis and processing in situ – at the
process itself.
Recent years have seen the rise and
maturation of nearly ubiquitous web services
driven by cloud computing. However, use
of servers installed in centrally located data
centers — even if offering vast data storage,
sharing, processing, and analysis — is
inappropriate for real-time data collection
at edge locations. Bandwidth constraints
result in data latency, making the success
of a pure cloud strategy doubtful. Edge
Computing complements centrally hosted
cloud services and is ideal for mission-critical
workloads at the operational edge.
Infrastructure & applications Edge Computing 101: Practical Industry Insight for IT and Operations Leaders 2
Modern Edge Computing platforms offer
highly automated, low-touch computing
capability with built-in virtualization,
redundancy, automated data protection,
and application recovery. Along with the
decreasing cost of IoT sensors, Edge
Computing provides teams with a new
approach to network architecture and data
collection, one that was previously cost
prohibitive.
This discussion of the practical aspects of
Edge Computing includes the results of a
recent global survey of business and
technology professionals conducted by EDGE
CFE Media & Technology. Survey results
COMPUTING
shed light on opportunities, challenges, and
attitudes pertaining to Edge Computing.
Combined with expert insight and use case
101
examples, IT and operations professionals
can gain perspective needed to plan their
Edge Computing strategy.
“
Edge Computing
complements
centrally hosted cloud
services and is ideal
for mission-critical
workloads at the
operational edge.
 Edge Computing 101: Practical Industry Insight for IT and Operations Leaders 3

Food & beverage FOOD & BEVERAGE

Small Food & Beverage Makers Take to the Edge
Expert input
The food & beverage industry includes processing, packaging, and
Case study distribution of raw food materials. The industry seeks efficient
operations for its many commodity products subject to intense
price competition. Other sectors feature flexible operations that
respond to consumer demand for innovative products.

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Small food & beverage makers take to the Edge “OT organizations spend their time Edge Computing 101: Practical Industry Insight for IT and Operations Leaders 4

troubleshooting issues that can range from

“In the food & beverage industry you’re dealing
failed components in the field, to running out
with many different sized plants,” said Scott Jack,
of disc space on a drive because a log fills
a consulting systems engineer with Stratus.
unexpectedly, to training a new operator, to
Small, multi-generational companies may have interfacing with management, to addressing
adapted slowly, Jack said, but today automation imperatives to increase production yields,”
is something they embrace. “They don’t Jack said.
necessarily have IT or operations technology
With ztC Edge, multiple applications can run on a
expertise in-house to support advanced
single platform. Management, administration and
automation and compute resources. That’s why
support of ztC Edge is easier because there is
they need a solution. They will work with a
no need to worry about the hardware. If a failure
systems integrator or have on hand one or two
occurs, a replacement is automatically shipped to
savvy individuals to set up a platform, but they
be plugged right into the network.
rely on remote support and monitoring of the unit.
Remote troubleshooting is invaluable to them,”
Jack said.
“We see Edge Computing being installed in small
factories,” Jack said. “It’s a supportable solution EXPERT
that will last for 10-plus years. ztC Edge is a

INPUT
Among food & beverage makers, large
platform that can be used by anybody that’s doing
organizations are accustomed to swapping out
industrial automation. ztC Edge easily
hardware. They can target a small set of
accommodates workloads of 5,000 I/O points
operating systems to support. Smaller
and three to four operator workstations.
organizations are more budget constrained.
One ztC Edge can run a small operation, or in
Their automation investment must perform for
combination, an entire large factory.”
a longer period. They’re not accustomed to

“
switching out compute equipment every three
to five years, which is traditional with the larger
vendors of off-the-shelf, rack-mounted servers
and different types of process control systems.
The Stratus ztCTM­ Edge Computing platform, for
example, is appropriate for the compute With ztC Edge, multiple
capability needed by small to mid-size operations,
Jack said. ztC Edge has integrated virtualization
applications can run on
functionality to host virtual machines or an a single platform.
operation’s full compute environment.
 Edge Computing 101: Practical
Edge Computing IndustryIndustry
101: Practical Insight Insight
for IT and
for Operations LeadersLeaders
IT and Operations 5 5

When it comes to producing
and distributing shelf
life-constrained beverages,
unexpected downtime has
major impact. This rings true
for many food & beverage
suppliers.
It was true for Dogfish Head
Possibilities for greater use of
IT-based automation and
machine-to-machine connectivity
were also of interest. Finally,
managers were concerned with
growing cybersecurity risk.
Any solution had to be tailored to
Dogfish Head’s operations, while
was key to a long-term solution
for Dogfish Head.
The solution reduced the control
system hardware footprint from
six servers to a single virtualized
platform. Full redundancy, along
with 24/7/365 monitoring and
automated e-mail alerts, gives

Craft Brewery, Milton, DE, a craft
brewer producing more than
260,000 barrels of beer per year.
Not long ago, with critical
processes and systems
nearing obsolescence and
lacking technical support,
Dogfish Head decided to address
growing risk of substantial
downtime or even facility
shutdown.
“If we’d go down for a significant
amount of time while brewing,
we can lose entire batches of
beer,” said Liz Stairs, process
improvement specialist, Dogfish
Head.
CASE
allowing room for continuous brewery management its
process and facility improvement sought-for peace of mind.
as the business grew.
“With the solution that ProLeiT
After reviewing other brewers’
best practices, Dogfish Head
and Stratus provided, we’re not
limited by our automation STUDY
chose process control system. We’re able to grow,”
applications, including Stairs concluded.
manufacturing execution
system (MES) functionality,
from ProLeiT, a Chicago based
supplier of process-control
solutions for breweries and
other food & beverage
categories. ProLeiT today is
part of Schneider Electric.
Dogfish Head also chose
solutions from Stratus
Technologies for failure
prevention. Ensuring continuous
availability of critical operations
 Edge Computing 101: Practical Industry Insight for IT and Operations Leaders 6

Smart buildings and SMART BUILDINGS AND BUILDING MANAGEMENT

building automation Smart buildings deliver services that make occupants content,

Expert input productive, and secure. These services include illumination, thermal
comfort, air quality, physical security, and sanitation, all meant for
Case study delivery at low cost and environmental impact over the building
lifecycle. Smart buildings use information technology to connect
subsystems that typically operate independently. Systems share
information to optimize total building performance. Smart buildings
interact with operators and occupants for new levels of visibility and
actionable information.

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Building automation and the new normal and resource intense. Zero-touch Edge-based Edge Computing 101: Practical Industry Insight for IT and Operations Leaders 7

compute solutions are a more effective way

In the face of the current COVID-19 pandemic,
buildings and building technology solutions will
need to evolve and adapt to this new world to
keep us safe and secure. In the following inter-
view with Duncan Cooke, senior business
development manager of UK & Europe for Stratus,
Cooke explains why these new technologies will
need to be deployed at the edge.
Q. How do building automation professionals
envision the new normal, i.e., life post-Covid?
Cooke: They are looking to significant growth
in the kinds of data that building management
to quickly support needed infrastructure changes.
Q. How will Edge provide benefit in the return
to work?
Cooke: Many buildings have an infrastructure
already in place and the capability to support
devices and applications. What’s different with
Edge solutions is that they are flexible,
accommodating change without system
redesigns or additional cost. They are easy
to deploy, without the need for specialist
resources; they should be self-supporting yet
capable of remote connectivity, reporting, and

systems will handle. Some foresee that
implementation of new policies around safe
working, social distancing, contact tracing, and
EXPERT
management as operations demand.
Many parallels exist between the way Edge

temperature checks will result in more technology
being deployed at the Edge, and more data being
collected with fewer specialist resources to
manage and process it.
Q. What role will building automation play?
Cooke: Building automation systems (BAS),
including traditional access control (ACS) and
INPUT
Computing is used in industry and how it’s used
in smart buildings. Building management and
security systems provide access control using
video monitoring, card readers and cameras.
At the end of the day it’s much like other, more
industrial forms of monitoring and control with
a certain amount of processing at the controller
level.

“
video management (VMS) software are the
frontline systems. BAS enables the data
collection and sharing required to manage
applications supporting health screening and
response coordination. But traditional IT-led
solutions are expensive and difficult to deploy,
Zero-touch Edge-based
often requiring specialist resources. The ability
to upgrade or enhance a building’s compute compute solutions are a
infrastructure in a simple, secure manner is
fundamental. more effective way
Q. What role does Edge Computing play in these
on-going changes?
to quickly support
Cooke: Edge-based infrastructure and associated needed infrastructure
changes.
compute solutions are an effective way to deploy
and manage these environments. Adapting
centralized, data-center centric solutions to
accommodate Edge devices can be expensive

STL ST. LOUIS LAMBERT
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Unified operations center powers St. Louis Lambert International Airport’s digital transformation
At St. Louis Lambert
International Airport, siloed
information technology and
operations systems left
managers in the dark,
hampering collaboration and
decision making.
St. Louis Lambert is the largest
and busiest airport in
Missouri, with as many as
250 peak daily departures
to 74 nonstop domestic and
international locations. Its four
active runways, two terminals
and five concourses have
expedited more than 190,000
aircraft operations, assisted
15.6 million passengers and
shipped more than 74,000 tons
of cargo per year.
Over the past 30 years,
improvements and
modernization projects were
done in one part of the airport
or the other. As a result, nine
separate and dated controls
interfaces were used in
managing different parts of
the airport.
TM
Following an operations review,
executives sought a single
system for operating the entire
facility. The unified operations
center (UOC) would
integrate all the systems
already installed. Scalability
would allow incorporating
solutions, devices, or systems
added in the future.
Quantum Solutions,
Warrenville, IL, installed a
common, unified solution,
based on the AVEVA System
Platform and solutions from
Stratus. The solution
integrated the islands of
automation into a centrally
connected facilities and
building management system.
Remote clients allow
interface with all operations
within the airport. The UOC
enables greater visibility into
the facility infrastructure,
using the open and scalable
software architecture from
AVEVA, backed up by the
redundancy of Stratus
computing platforms.
Edge Computing 101: Practical
Edge Computing IndustryIndustry
101: Practical Insight Insight
for IT and
for Operations LeadersLeaders
IT and Operations 8 8
Stratus prevents critical
business application failure
and ensures continuous
availability, even if underlying
hardware components fail.
It also allows end users
to build, test, deploy,
maintain, and scale
applications through a
CASE
standards-based application
development environment.
Today, the St. Louis Lambert
STUDY:
International Airport has a fully
redundant, easy-to-use, and
fully integrated UOC solution.
“
Stratus prevents
critical business
application failure
and ensures
continuous
availability.
 Edge Computing 101: Practical Industry Insight for IT and Operations Leaders 9

Midstream oil & gas MIDSTREAM OIL & GAS

The midstream sector processes, stores, and transports
Expert input
— primarily through pipelines — oil, natural gas, and natural gas
Case study liquids from petroleum producing areas to the downstream
sector of oil refineries and petrochemical plants.
The midstream oil & gas industry is unique in the sprawling
and remote nature, geographically speaking, of its operations
along oil & gas pipelines.

Sponsored by
Rotating equipment, remote areas and the
midstream oil & gas sector
The collapse in oil prices triggered by the COVID
crisis is causing distress across the oil & gas
industry, said Corie Allemand, global leader for oil
& gas industry with Stratus.
“It’s a very cyclical industry. We’ve experienced
downturns before, but every time we come out of
a downturn, technology is the lever that helps us
find the new normal. It’s the key factor in doing
more with less,” Allemand said.
The upstream sector — exploration and
production — felt the COVID impact quickly and
severely. The midstream is more transportation
oriented. The midstream may be moving fewer
barrels than before, but those assets remain
running. Global midstream infrastructure
continues to expand.
“Midstream operators must deploy new
computing architectures that eliminate the scale
and capacity constraints that currently exist at
the operational Edge due to legacy infrastructure
and standard computing resources,” Allemand
said.
Maintaining all species of rotating equipment is
a big part of the mission in midstream oil and
gas. These midstream assets — compressor
and pump stations, for example — are in remote
areas. The need for support in these remote
areas can make use of advanced applications
and analytics challenging.
“That’s why it’s important that Stratus solutions
are simple, protected and autonomous,” said
Allemand. “It’s a sophisticated solution but you
don’t need an IT service technician in the middle
of nowhere to set the thing up. It’s efficient to
install, bring online and commission.”
Edge deployment supports midstream operations Edge Computing 101: Practical Industry Insight for IT and Operations Leaders 10
in at least three areas:
• Product movement visibility to track and account
for gas and liquids assets
• Asset management and predictive maintenance
through analysis and condition-based monitoring
of critical assets
• At compressor and pump stations, to support
process monitoring and control, involving SCADA,
time-series historians, or other industrial system
control elements.
Use of Edge Computing to process the data
where it is generated and only transmit anomalies
or required data elements from those applications
EXPERT
limits congestion on the communications
infrastructure.
INPUT
Further, Edge Computing allows multiple
application deployments on a single compute
platform. With virtualization, operators and
integrators do more with less infrastructure, and
less support is required for that infrastructure.
“
Edge Computing
complements
centrally hosted cloud
services and is ideal
for mission-critical
workloads at the
operational edge.
 Edge Computing 101: Practical
Edge Computing IndustryIndustry
101: Practical Insight for IT and
Insight forOperations LeadersLeaders
IT and Operations 11 11

Continuous, dependable gas transmission and compression station operations achieved

Columbia Pipeline Group
operates 15,000 miles of
pipeline extending from New
York to the Gulf of Mexico
and one of the largest
underground natural gas
storage systems in North
and data acquisition
(SCADA), time-series data
historians, human-machine
interfaces (HMI) and
industrial control system
applications.
“Now that the Stratus
system is up and running,
and in place, we never think
about it. Performance has
been exactly what we
expected,” said Steve Adams,
lead automation electrical

CASE
The chosen application
America. Today it is part of engineer, Columbia Pipeline
solution uses advanced
TransCanada. Group.
analytics, including machine

When Columbia Pipeline
Group decided to upgrade its
systems, compliance with
Pipeline and Hazardous
Materials Safety
Administration (PHMSA)
and Control Room
Management (CRM)
regulations were a priority.
Critical to the upgrade plan
was implementation of fully
redundant compressor
stations, including
compressor pumps and
turbines, valves, and safety
and control systems, as
mandated by the CRM
regulations.
Compressor stations,
located at intervals of 50
to 100 miles, require fully
redundant computing
platforms to operate
supervisory control
STUDY
learning techniques, to detect
and address problems before
unplanned outages or
catastrophic failures can
occur.
A Stratus virtualization
solution decreased the
number of servers required,
as well as the associated
service burdens, eliminating
risks associated with a
multiple server approach.
The always-on platform
provides an operationally
simple system for operational
visibility. Virtualized
applications run remotely.
Real-time analytics are Columbia Pipeline Group
conducted without data
loss or the need for on-site
IT expertise.
 Edge Computing 101: Practical Industry Insight for IT and Operations Leaders 12

OEM machine builder MACHINE BUILDERS

Machine builders equip their solutions with additional sensors and
Expert input
computing devices to enable predictive quality and maintenance, as
Case study well as process optimization efforts. Machine builders want to offer
ease of start-up and virtual commissioning capabilities. Devices can
use vibration monitoring, condition monitoring, and torque
signatures to identify issues before they become problems.

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Machine builders are integral to digital Edge devices. Industrial and panel PCs used by Edge Computing 101: Practical Industry Insight for IT and Operations Leaders 13

transformation efforts machines or equipment can fall into this gateway

category. Yet they lack the performance that users
The machine and equipment manufacturer (OEM)
need. Modern Edge Computer platforms, on the
space is highly competitive. Each generation of
other hand, deliver virtualization and built-in
equipment maker offers price and performance
redundancy which simplify usability and increase
improvements over previous generations. Design,
reliability, and are still purpose-built for harsh
engineering, and product management
environments,” said Prost.
departments evaluate tradeoffs related to
technology investment and associated equipment In these cases, purpose-built Edge compute
price increases as they bring new designs to platforms are required to meet customer needs.
market. Edge Computing delivers the characteristics and
capabilities necessary for machine and equipment
Machine and equipment manufacturers (OEMs)
manufacturers to enhance their current designs
can leverage Edge Computing to meet unique
and transition to the delivery of smarter equipment.
requirements.

“If an OEM is producing high volume, if there’s a

high cost of downtime, if there are reporting or
“Enterprises should absolutely look for
virtualization, redundancy, and high availability EXPERT
in Edge Computing platforms. Solutions that are

regulatory requirements, Edge platforms are
cost-effective. Even incremental improvements
in these environments deliver measurable
benefits and return on investment in overall
equipment effectiveness or less downtime,” said
Aric Prost, senior director, OEM at Stratus.
INPUT
scalable and appropriate to their applications are
paramount for digital transformation success,”
Prost said.
Embracing digital transformation enables machine
and equipment builders to enhance design and

“
supports the development of new services around
In the same way that PLCs and HMIs
equipment performance and maintenance.
revolutionized equipment design a generation
ago, Edge Computing can advance digital
transformation efforts, further leveraging data
collected by control systems and sensors. This
approach enables real-time analytics for operators. Modern Edge Computer
Data is collected and analyzed locally. Data can
also be sent to the Cloud for deeper analysis in platforms, on the other hand,
a variety of applications.
deliver virtualization and
Machines and OEM equipment are fundamental
elements of production. Digital transformation can
built-in redundancy which
only be achieved by smart machines purpose-built simplify usability and
increase reliability, and are
by the OEM in collaboration with the end user for
its specific needs and environment.

“In practice, machines and equipment today are still purpose-built for harsh
equipped with PLCs, and some have gateway
environments.

Stone processor OEM delivers flexibility, functionality with edge computing solution
Not far from the birthplace
of the European Renaissance,
north Italian machine builders
are taking advantage of
opportunities available
amidst a modern-day
industrial renaissance, aka
the digital transformation of
manufacturing.
Breton S.p.A., Castello di
Godego, Italy, has since 1963
manufactured equipment,
machines, and plants that
produce and process
engineered stone, natural
stone and metals.
Not long ago, Breton realized
it needed to equip its
machines with a
purpose-built solution for
Industry 4.0 environments.
For one, Breton needed a
better redundancy option for
stone processing machines
used in mission-critical
applications. More generally,
the team wanted a solution
focused on operations
environment useability. This
would enable operations to
deploy, integrate, and
maintain equipment in legacy
environments, without undue
reliance on IT departments.
Wonderware Italia shared
with Breton an OT solution
that combined AVEVA
System Platform software
with Stratus ztC Edge,
constituting a simple,
protected, and autonomous
Edge Computing solution.
Stratus ztC Edge platform:
• Included the redundancy
capability for automation
fault recovery without
downtime or data loss
• Used virtualization to run
multiple applications on a
single computing platform
• Installed in an electrical
cabinet part of the machine
itself
Wonderware Italia partnered
with Breton’s controls &
development department to
validate the solution. A key
step was solution validation
by the Breton IT department.
In due time, Breton
embedded the solution in
machines built in Italy for
sale to an Indian company.
Test, deploy and commission
took eight hours less time
than comparable previous
projects. Reduced set-up time
Edge Computing 101: Practical
Edge Computing IndustryIndustry
101: Practical Insight Insight
for IT and
for Operations LeadersLeaders
IT and Operations 14 14
was required to
configure the redundancy
option. It took only 20
minutes to copy virtual
machine images and
upgrade the system.
CASE
Virtualization-enabled
applications installed on
the Stratus platform included
STUDY
a remote desktop server
for access and availability,
an object server for the
platform engine, and an HMI
and historian.
“Stratus is a visionary in
meeting the needs of
machine builders looking
to develop new offerings for
Industry 4.0 environments.
Stratus’ unique box of
available technology
– virtualization, redundancy,
protection, security,
customizable availability,
and industrial interoperability
– is a leap forward over
traditional IPCs and server
configuration,” said Michele
Vario, OEM and business
development director,
Wonderware Italia.
 Edge Computing 101: Practical Industry Insight for IT and Operations Leaders 15

Research insights
Implementing Edge
Edge & IT adoptions
Applications & data
analysis at the Edge
Barriers to Edge
deployments & top
use cases

|
Sponsored by
CFE Media & Technology’s global Edge Computing survey found business, What capabilities should be implemented on the Edge versus the Edge Computing 101: Practical Industry Insight for IT and Operations Leaders 16

industry, and technology subject-matter experts moving forward with
Edge Computing initiatives. Nearly 70% said they were so engaged.
Meanwhile, roughly one-third still need a plan.
Those surveyed understood that Edge Computing addresses challenges
related to cloud computing and were looking to a hybrid Cloud-Edge
Computing model to address them.
Cloud, to properly address bandwidth, latency, network availability
and security issues?
Respondents look forward to computing environments that blend
traditional or cloud computing with application hosting on virtual
servers and Edge devices, equipped for analytics, that are simple
to deploy and easy to manage.

67% Responders engaged with Edge Computing Initiatives.

Does your company have a plan to implement Edge Computing?

67%
35%

IMPLEMENTING
At this time, company does not have a plan
to implement Edge Computing
30% 33%
Planning

EDGE
25%
26% Proof of concept
20%
Pilot program
15%
Full-scale rollout within 12 months
— greenfield environment
10% 13%
My company has fully implemented
11% Edge Computing
5%
Full-scale rollout within 12 months
6% 6% 4% — brownfield environment
0%

What capabilities should be implemented on the edge versus the cloud, to properly
address bandwidth, latency, network and security issues?
45%

Controls-base data processing

40%
42% Edge-base devices hosting
35% 39% applications and analytics

30%
37% 37% Application interfaces
32%
25% Simplified operational technology

20%
Virtual servers
21%
15%
18% Application hosting

10% Don’t know which capabilities

should be implemented
5%
Other
1%
0%
What best describes your organization’s stance toward What technologies are your company incorporating, along with Edge Computing 101: Practical Industry Insight for IT and Operations Leaders 17

adoption of Edge Computing?
More than half of those surveyed are leaning forward,
indicating we may be nearing the tipping point for adoption.
Edge Computing, to make your engineering, manufacturing, and
operations systems more productive?
Connectivity, cost-effective acquisition of additional data sets, and
continuing growth of computational power culminate in possibilities
for unified systems that increase real-time visibility and increasing
analytics use.

Which describes your organization’s stance on the adoption of Edge technology

35%

30%
33% 33%
25% We are conservative about Edge technology and are taking a wait-and-see approach

20% We are pragmatic about Edge technology, but will act sooner rather than later

EDGE & IT
We are early adopters on the leading Edge
15% 20% We are sceptical and usually late to adopt new technology

14%
ADOPTIONS
10%

5%

0%

What technologies is your company incorporating, along with Edge Computing, to make your engineering,
manufacturing and operations systems more productive
45%

40%

35%
41%

30% 35%

25%
25% 24% 24% 24% 24%
20% 23%
22% 22% 21% 20% 20%
19% 19%
15% 17%
16% 15% 15%
14%
10% 13% 12%

9%
5%
1%
0%

Smart sensors Engineering information Engineering tools and warehouse Manufacturing execution system Entreprise system integration Learning and AI (enterprise level)
management
Cloud data processing Mobility solutions Additional sensors Open standards and protocols Machine learning and AI (operations level) Digital twins and modeling
Document and data System backup Edge computers Simulation and modeling Virtual intergration and simulation Augmented reality
management and recovery
Edge devices Gateways Increase connectivity Product lifecycle management IIoT platforms for connectivity Other
What applications have you implemented, or plan to implement, What types of data analysis should your company be undertaking Edge Computing 101: Practical Industry Insight for IT and Operations Leaders 18

on Edge computers? at the Edge?

Most of those surveyed are looking to implement applications that Data analytics applied in industrial computing environments most of-
require autonomy, need significant bandwidth or apps that can’t ten support predictive maintenance and predictive quality applications
tolerate latency. or are aimed at process automation. Machine learning and analytics
apply computerized statistical methods to production environments.

What applications have you implemented, or plan to implement, on Edge computers

35%

30%

35%
39% Apps that require autononomy
30%
Apps that need significant bandwidth APPLICATIONS &
25%

DATA ANALYSIS
Apps that can’t tolerate latency
30% 30%
20% Don’t know

15%
18% 18%
None

Other
AT THE EDGE
10%

5%

0% 2%

What types of data analysis should your company be undertaking at the Edge/perimeter?
40%

35%

37% 37% Diagnosis analysis, filtering and monitoring (e.g. measuring health
performance reliability of machines systems and processes
30%
Metrics and measurement real-time analysis (e.g. sensor-based measurements
such as temperature speed vibration humidity video feeds)
25% 31%
Implementing rules-based actions based on real-time data analysis

20% AI or machine learning analysis

23%
15% Heavy, data intensive time-series analysis

17% None
10%
Other

5% 10%
1%
0%
What are the barriers to Edge Computing deployments in What Edge Computing use cases do you see as most valuable? Edge Computing 101: Practical Industry Insight for IT and Operations Leaders 19

your organization?
Top use cases today – equipment uptime and reliability, advanced
Survey respondents say lack of education on if, when, and process control, and asset performance management – will evolve
how to use the technology and applications is the foremost as organizations gain more experience at the Edge.
barrier to Edge Computing deployment in their organizations.
Respondents’ lack of know-how and security concerns are
slowing the achievement of the full benefits of Edge Computing.

What are the barriers to Edge deployments in your organization?

45%
Lack of education on if, when and how to use technology and applications

40% Security concerns

35%
41%
41% Lack of budget BARRIERS TO
Technology deployment challenges

EDGE DEPLOYMENTS
36%
30%
Lack of in-house Industrial Internet of things (IIoT) skills
31%

& TOP USE CASES

25% Uncertain return on investment (ROI)

27% 27% 27% Issues integrating with existing infrastructure

20%
Difficulty making the business case
22%
15% 21%
Lack of demand for IIoT insights
16% Corporate resistance
10%
14% 14%
Data sovereignty business case
5%
None of the above as I feel my company has implemented
6% Edge connectivity at the appropriate pace
0%
2% Other

What Edge computing/real-time analytics use cases do you see as most valuable?
60%
Advanced process control
50%
54% Device failure detection
40%
49% Quality inspection
30%
Asset performance
34%
20% 29% 28% SCADA/HMI

10% None
13% 3%
Other
0%

Edge Computing offers IT and operations
departments benefits that improve
performance through operations visibility
and reliability for mission-critical
applications.
Forward-looking leaders and organizations
should make it a priority to explore the
possibilities of Edge Computing and then
begin with initial implementations so as
For more information about use cases and how to deploy Edge Computing:
Based in Massachusetts, Stratus develops
Edge Computing platforms that allow teams
to capture critical data from edge locations
and deploy multiple software applications in
a single, purpose-built compute device with
redundancy for reliability.
to learn and scale. As this discussion of
practical aspects of Edge Computing makes
evident — through survey results from peers,
insights from industry experts, and case
studies — leaders in a range of industries
have identified high-value opportunities
around process control, asset performance
management, and reliability by harvesting
data from the edge.
For leaders digitally transforming their
operations to drive predictable, peak
performance with minimal risk, Stratus
ensures the continuous availability of
business-critical applications by
delivering zero-touch Edge Computing
platforms that are simple to deploy and
maintain, protected from interruptions
and threats, and autonomous.
Edge Computing 101: Practical Industry Insight for IT and Operations Leaders 20
In sum, 67% of the global survey
respondents say they are moving
of the global survey
respondents say they
67%
forward with an Edge Computing strategy.
are moving forward
Yet there is still time to jump start your
Edge Computing initiative, explore the
possibilities, and avoid getting left behind. with an Edge Computing
strategy.
For 40 years, we have provided reliable
and redundant zero-touch computing,
enabling global Fortune 500 companies Visit Stratus.com
and small-to-medium sized businesses to
securely and remotely turn data into Contact us
actionable intelligence at the Edge, cloud,
and data center – driving uptime and
efficiency.
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