Dive Brief:
- EY and Dell Technologies launched an initiative to create industry-specific edge computing solutions, the two companies announced Monday.
- The new EY Edge Technologies Lab leverages the EY.ai and Dell NativeEdge software platforms to create edge computing use cases that address latency, security and data reliability issues. The lab will initially focus on developing AI-infused data solutions for manufacturing, life sciences, healthcare, consumer products and utilities, the announcement said.
- The initiative builds on a longstanding EY-Dell Technologies partnership around hybrid cloud enablement and digital transformation services initiated in 2016. In September, the two companies announced a generative AI collaboration after EY invested $1.4 billion in AI technologies.
Dive Insight:
Generative AI breathed new life into the network edge, where countless workstations, IoT devices and user interfaces are busy ingesting data ripe for inference and analytics.
Envisioning potential use cases is relatively easy, whether it’s on the floor of a manufacturing plant, in warehouses and retail outposts or across a utility grid. Scaling up infrastructure, preparing data operations and locking down safety policy are bigger challenges.
The EY initiative will tie AI solutions back to where many organizations ingest operational data, enabling real-time insights at the edge of the network, rather than in centralized public cloud or on-prem data centers.
“This is largely where operational technology — think of computing devices embedded in manufacturing lines, cars, wind or solar farms, homes, aircraft, mines, etc. — resides, versus information technology, which is mostly in data centers,” Greg Cudahy, EY global TMT industry market leader, said in an email.
Organizations can then integrate solutions into their hybrid cloud, multicloud or private cloud ecosystem, Cudahy said.
The partnership will focus on rapidly piloting edge use cases on Dell infrastructure, including PowerEdge servers, edge gateways and desktop workstations, the announcement said.
“The Edge Lab allows us to design, prototype and test solutions,” aligning the tool to the specific cost, speed, latency, service levels and experience priorities of the business, Cudahy said.
