IoT and Edge seems like a perfect match which has already taken the world by turbulence. The billions of connected devices that are as per the estimates, going to be staggering 26 billion in number by 2020 and going to be worth of trillion dollars need an updated, modern infrastructure so that it doesn’t congest the cloud. As of now, cloud is all-in-one solution which takes care of storage, segregation, analysis and numerous other staffs. But, with the massive number of influx of new devices, the internet and moreover the cloud is going to be flooded with information, which if not diverted or taken care of, can impede the whole cloud operation. Fortunately, with the advent of modern science and technology, through Edge, analysis can be performed at the node level which is close to the device for prompt and timely response. There are few companies who are the frontrunner in this case for promoting the next generation breakthrough Edge technology.
Microsoft: This Redmond headquartered company is known to all for its breakthrough innovation and aggressive investment. Microsoft’s product Azure IoT has already bagged second place only to Amazon in terms of market size. The company didn’t stop there but recently launched Windows 10 IoT Core —a flavor of Windows 10 designed for compact devices. As per the promise of Microsoft, Windows 10, in spite of being a single operating system, can execute multiple things from Raspberry Pi board computers and industrial devices to consumer computing platforms. Microsoft’s edge computing capabilities are initially delivered as an extension of the Azure cloud platform.
According to the Microsoft Spokesperson -“Azure IoT not only makes quicker and easier connections between devices and assets, but also a broad customer base across a number of different industries, from transportation and discrete manufacturing, to oil and gas and utilities,”
Cisco: When it comes to networking and connected devices, this company doesn’t need any introduction. It has already garnered worldwide praise and accolade for being the frontrunner in networking domain. The company has been a staunch supporter and believer of IoT and it stands out to be one of the most profitable companies in IoT world. The commitment can clearly be witnessed by the recent acquisition history of Cisco – the acquisition of Jasper Technologies, an IoT software platform development company with staggering $1.4 billion US dollars. Cisco has already built Cisco IoT system and launched it in the market. Apart from that, it is one of the most preferred companies to be chosen for smart cities domain.
Amazon: When the talk is about disruptive technology, the name of Amazon will invariably come. It has always been on the driver seat when it comes to the latest technology and this time as well, it is no exception. Amazon is undoubtedly the leader in cloud computing. In recent years, it has ramped up by investing aggressively in cloud and IoT. Amazon’s AWS IoT, is the latest innovation which is a managed cloud platform which equips the connected IoT devices to communicate and pair in a secured manner to cloud applications and other devices. WS Greengrass is a primary example of AWS’ ventures into the edge computing space.
In 2015, AWS had market share of 27.2% of the cloud infrastructure-as-a-service market, whereas Microsoft had 16.2% of the market, while IBM had 11.8%, and Google had 3.6% as per the estimates of Statista. Amazon recently has come up with Amazon Echo which is a voice-controlled smart speaker that can also control a range of home automation devices and other services. Amazon is already in talks with top companies to strengthen partnership such as Uber, Fitbit, Spotify, and Nest.
IBM: IBM is also ramping up in the IoT space. It has already in advance stage of investing close to $3 billion dollars in global IoT business Unit. IBM is in advance stage of discussion of connected car initiative with automotive supplier Continental Corp. IBM’s cloud service can equip the automobile manufacturers offer services spanning across predictive maintenance to enhanced GPS functionality. IBM’s MessageSight and InfoSphere Streams platforms are already being used experimentally for predicting road conditions using digital mapping and crowd-sourced information.
Google: The list would be incomplete if it doesn’t include Google. The company’s self-driving car technology is one of the finest examples of real-time disruptive IoT applications. It has already on the flee of acquiring IoT oriented companies such as Nest and Dropcam. It has also been actively involved in developing IoT standards and IoT frameworks. Android, Nest, Waymo are some of Alphabet’s top assets in the edge computing space. It has also built Eddystone - an open-source Bluetooth Low Energy beacon for geolocation. Though it is trailing other behemoths such as Amazon, Microsoft and IBM, it certainly has the potential to be the market leader in the near future.
