ABI Research says as distributed computing allows the processing of payloads at different locations within the private networks, it reduces the strain on the cellular network core and therefore enables a smoother network performance.

In digitised enterprises, data will be generated in all possible different locations of the respective site. Distributed computing allows data to be processed much closer to their origin.

“By reducing the transmission data between the place of origin and the place of processing, distributed computing drives down end-to-end latency, as any avoidable data transmit will be scrapped,” Gergs explains.

Commercially, distributed computing will allow for more economical network deployments, removing one of the most important barriers to entry for enterprises considering deploying a private network.

As distributed computing allows the offloading of certain processing capabilities to existing public infrastructure (e.g., a hyperscaler cloud), it will lower the total cost of ownership (TCO) by reducing the amount of dedicated infrastructure needed to be deployed on enterprise premises.

However, a certain level of dedicated infrastructure will always need to be deployed to preserve each enterprise network.

“Enterprises often transmit highly sensitive data—think about the condition of production assets, the conditions of a mine or the remote operation of cranes. No enterprise owner is prepared to see this kind of data leaving the respective premises. As such, suppliers need to ensure that user plane data can always remain on-premises,” Gergs says.

The study predicts distributed computing will be the next big trend in tech.

“The spheres of influence are not yet set in stone, and the next few years will be pivotal for many established and new companies,” Gergs concludes.

These findings are from ABI Research’s Distributed Computing in Private Networks application analysis report.

This first appeared in the subscription newsletter CommsWire on 25 May 2022.