Over the past 10 years, the way we conceive and discuss IT infrastructure has undergone a rapid transformation.First evolved from a static, local-based model; Then, in many cases, quickly move to a hybrid cloud model or a fully cloud-based configuration.Now, with the advent of edge computing, IT professionals must once again fundamentally reimagine the infrastructure they create and maintain.Here's how edge computing is changing the way IT professionals think about infrastructure.

Compute workloads migrate from on-premises to the cloud

It used to be so simple and straightforward: an enterprise's computing center is located in its data center, where all computing workloads are processed.Many enterprises are then beginning to move their workloads to the cloud, enabling greater flexibility and scalability while minimizing management overhead.However, the cloud does have a special limitation, which has become very evident in recent years, causing some companies to rethink how they design and manage their infrastructure.

Anyone who has ever struggled with quality of service issues knows that latency can be a barrier when managing network connections across geographically dispersed office locations.Many business applications, especially bandwidth-intensive services like video communications, slowly stop when they experience severe latency, especially when they have to travel over a wide area network.When this happens, the user experience suddenly degrades and degrades severely.

When data in the cloud has to travel over long distances for connected gadgets and services, latency can also appear suddenly, if not impossible, difficult to use.In these cases, edge computing can play a role in enabling it to deliver critical functionality without compromising performance.

The rise of edge computing

To address this challenge, IT professionals and businesses are once again rethinking their approach to IT infrastructure.Now, they're placing specific compute workloads closer to the edge.This design reduces the distance required for data processing, greatly improving the performance and reliability of applications and services that rely on timely data processing.We've seen this happen with autonomous vehicles (AVs), where fast calculations must be made in motion even when driving in limited or low-connectivity areas.For security reasons, as well as performance concerns, AVs must be able to perform calculations in real time, which is why automakers are starting to place data storage closer to the edge.

As enterprises become more aware that they may need edge computing in certain situations, they are abandoning the data center model that has dominated IT infrastructure design for years.According to Gartner, 80% of enterprises want to close traditional data centers by 2025.As analyst firms painfully point out, workload placement will now be driven by business needs rather than physical location.As a result, the way IT professionals conceive the infrastructure they design and manage is changing again.

New model: Business needs drive workload allocation

IT professionals will no longer conceptualize infrastructure based on cookie-cutter models such as on-premise or cloud-based paradigms.Instead, specific business needs must drive workload placement.This paradigm shift may not come as a surprise in an era where digital experiences, especially customer experience, are heavily impacting the design of technical systems, but it does represent another way IT must remain flexible and flexible IT professionals tailor infrastructure to business needs, rather than trying to transform business systems into a traditional infrastructure model.

As edge computing changes the way technologists think about infrastructure, IT professionals may have to contend with more complex issues while bringing new capabilities and skills into their portfolios.However, to remain competitive and keep pace with rapid digital transformation, it may be the only viable and sustainable path to business growth.