Why private edge networks are gaining popularity

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Unleashing the value of real-time data from the edge on secure, scalable mobile platforms that deliver intuitive experiences is the future of private edge networks. Edge computing’s rapid growth continues to attract many competitors, from startups to global telecom providers, all focused on becoming a platform standard.

Alef’s launch this week of a Mobile Toolkit they claim enterprises can use to deploy an edge network in 60 minutes without 5G is the latest example of the innovation driving the market. Alef’s goal is to prioritize users’ needs for a more intuitive, understandable way to get the benefits of edge platform-as-a-service (PaaS), peer-to-peer edge and private edge networks.

Why private edge networks are gaining popularity

Alef’s expertise in APIs, building strong developer relationships and solid track record of enabling enterprises’ mobile applications with EdgeNet serving as the mobile abstraction layer are helping to create the mobile network-as-a-service (MNaaS) market. Dominant competitors in the edge PaaS market currently include Avassa, F5 Volterra Voltstack, KubeEdge and others. In addition, Alef also competes in the peer-to-peer edge computing market against Equinix, Fasetto, mimik technology, Rajant, Storj and others.

What is driving private edge computing’s rapid growth

Business leaders are rapidly accelerating their digital transformation strategies to support new business initiatives and growth strategies in 2022. PwC found that 60% of executives said digital transformation is their most critical growth driver this year. Real-time data is an essential fuel for driving any successful digital transformation, intuitive.

The demand for real-time data and insights across enterprises is a strong growth catalyst for edge computing. IDC predicts worldwide spending on edge computing will reach $176 billion in 2022,expected to grow to $274 billion by 2025. By 2023, it is expected that more than 50% of enterprise-generated data will be created and processed outside the data center or in the cloud, up from less than 10% in 2019. Gartner’s Hype Cycle for Edge Computing, 2021 includes 33 technologies this year, most of which are now in the Innovation Trigger phase of the hype cycle.

Alef’s new product announcement aims to improve mobile developers’ productivity, enabling them to gain more value from real-time edge-based applications and the data they produce. The fuel that feeds each of the 33 technologies on the hype cycle is real-time data captured on smart sensors and other edge devices.

Important factors that are contributing to edge computing’s growth in enterprises today include:

Managing edge networks’ complexity needs to improve

Barriers to holding private edge networks back from gaining greater adoption in enterprises are how difficult they can be to configure and scale across diverse platforms securely. Alef is prioritizing an intuitive approach to network configuration and API-based platform to solve integration challenges, which is what enterprises need today to begin utilizingprivate edge networks.

Alef’s platform is designed to provide mobile app developers with a development environment and tools to take advantage of 4G, LTE, 5G and certain Wi-Fi implementations without knowing the details of these diverse technologies. Their goal in creating the Mobile Toolkit is to help enterprises reduce the risks of misconfiguring private edge networks by simplifying the setup process.

The Mobile Toolkit contains a core set of APIs, Alef Access Point, eSIMs, devices and a walkthrough starter guide, relying on the CBRS spectrum, which is publicly available. Alef’s openEdge API Platform enables enterprises to create a private mobile network inside the firewall as part of their enterprise network.

Athonet, Celona, Federated Wireless, Geoverse and Nokia are competitors at the platform level. Alef’s bold move to create a Toolkit will inspire innovations from startups and large-scale competitors alike.

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