The 5G hype has been a beating drum growing louder over the years, and across industries, the value it can bring is clear. Retailers and grocery stores are utilizing connected robots within warehouses to move and stack supplies. The energy industry has vehicles on-site with extraction engines being managed from a control center, with video cameras providing clear visuals over 5G to the operator. In healthcare, 5G offers real-time delivery of patient data that analyzes imaging test results and provides detailed analytics of their condition.
But even with this capacity for innovation, 5G adoption remains surprisingly low. A recent report from the Capgemini Research Institute surveying 1,000 senior executives shows that 70% of organizations still haven’t progressed to trials or real-world implementations of 5G. Only 37% expect to have 5G scaled across multiple location sites within the next three years.
What’s slowing the adoption? Several challenges are proving to be big barriers to progress. The first is the difficulty of integrating 5G with existing networks and IT systems. There’s also a lack of access to the 5G and edge application ecosystem. And, an area that’s very top of mind for all executives given the recent high-profile data breaches: Managing the cybersecurity of 5G networks.
Introducing 5G networks in enterprises brings complexities with technology and how to manage the ecosystems. What is the right model? Should you build or buy? Do you partner with telecommunications companies or equipment providers?
But companies that do find a way to break through and implement 5G across their businesses are gaining plenty of value. Out of those surveyed who have successfully scaled their 5G programs, 60% are experiencing greater operational efficiency. 45% say they can launch new products faster and 44% have increased their workforce productivity.
Clearly, there’s a gap. Crossing the threshold from the 5G planning and concept phase, to gaining the true benefits of 5G infused across the organization, requires resources, buy-in, and the right technology.
The Use Case and the Business Model
The critical question for enterprises is: what’s the right use case? With the emergence of intelligent industry, enterprises are looking to leverage data to generate new revenues, improve productivity, and deliver new experiences to their clients. This requires products and platforms to be connected so that data can be collected through trusted and secure methods. 5G could be the answer for a cost-effective, connected ecosystem for intelligent products and services. But enterprises need the right business model to ensure ROI and a localized compute for governance and analyzing the collected data.
Enter: The edge compute.
Approaching the Edge
Perhaps the greatest area of opportunity to close this gap and capture the true potential of 5G will come from edge computing. While 5G adoption is relatively low, 98% of organizations surveyed say they’re either already, or planning in the next three years, to offer 5G-based edge computing services. Fifty percent said they’re hoping it will increase performance and reliability and 46% hope it will help them improve their data security and privacy — two of the major barriers holding 5G back for many looking to adopt it.
For organizations looking for edge computing to be the catalyst that supports their 5G journeys and ambitions, here are three areas to focus on to make this a success:
Data analysis
In near real-time, organizations can analyze massive quantities of data thanks to edge computing – and it’s driving decision making. Manufacturers use the analysis they gain from edge to improve productivity with automation and to activate fresh use cases like remote robotics, assisted maintenance and digital twins. The automotive industry is leveraging the data analysis brought on by 5G and edge to achieve new innovations as well — including remote software updates, collision avoidance and HD maps. It’s helping automakers to progress toward the promise of connected and autonomous cars.
Connectivity
Speaking of connectivity, enterprises require intricate and widespread IT systems to enable their digital applications and overall technology ecosystem. To do this, they need reliable connectivity. 5G can make the complex network framework easier to understand, which is beneficial for IT organizations. Combined with edge, those connectivity benefits are vast — and can drive major digital transformation initiatives.
Cloud
More enterprises are shifting to the cloud, and edge now has a presence which is more distributed, yet also more localized. It gives organizations additional confidence in their security and privacy through cloud-to-edge service models that will be essential for 5G to be successful. Combining a telecommunications infrastructure within a public cloud, in a simplified manner, is just another example of edge computing’s benefits to strengthen 5G adoption.
5G as a technology is a long-term play that will take place over the next several years, but organizations should get started on their journeys or risk being left behind. The use cases and benefits are clear, and barriers to entry are manageable for enterprises to overcome. By leaning into edge computing as a core catalyst to scale 5G across the business through the convergence of fast, reliable connectivity and data, companies will capture the full potential of all the value 5G has to offer.
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