Across industries, the move to edge computing is accelerating. Businesses are looking for new ways to improve efficiency, reduce errors and better leverage data where and when it is generated.
Yet, a gap exists between edge investment and edge success, with 94% of organizations saying that they are investing in edge applications yet only 10% reporting that they are receiving benefits from those investments.¹ For most, this gap is due to complexity – complexity of infrastructure, expanding operations at scale, operating without skilled people at remote locations and basic maintenance, security and data integration challenges.
As part of Dell’s mission to simplify the edge, in October 2022, we launched Project Frontier, an initiative to deliver an edge operations software platform that would simplify, optimize, and secure edge operations.
Today, we are excited to introduce the next phase of Project Frontier: Dell NativeEdge.
Dell NativeEdge is the culmination of our experience building solutions that reduce complexity and deliver new value at the edge. With NativeEdge, enterprises across industries can securely power any edge application, anywhere, to achieve business goals:
-
- Simplify. Eliminate operational complexity at scale via centralized management, zero touch deployment, onboarding and automated operations of infrastructure and applications from edge to multicloud.
- Optimize. Make the most of edge investments using an open design that works with software applications, IoT frameworks, multi-vendor operations technology solutions and multicloud environments, reduce proof of concept development time and deliver a consistent experience across multiple hardware form factors and price points.
- Secure. Ensure security from design to deployment and all along the supply chain to protect applications, data and infrastructure across the edge estate using Zero Trust security principles.
Reinventing Edge Operations: How it Works
Imagine a large retailer wants to roll out an edge solution across hundreds of stores to run a new retail experience application.
With current IT practices, specialists must provision each store with a hardware solution, pre-stage and deploy infrastructure, software and applications and provide local teams to implement at every site – a process that can take months to complete. Then, they must establish a central management process across all stores, usually separate for infrastructure and applications, introducing a variety of risks to ongoing operations, from degrading customer experience to becoming vulnerable to a security breach or system failure. In many cases, they do the same for each unique use case they add to the store experience.
Fast forward to Dell NativeEdge and these simple steps. First, the optimal technology solutions to run the application are quickly sourced in the platform’s application catalog, a commercial solution or a homegrown application synchronized with their continuous integration/continuous deployment pipeline. Next, each store receives a drop shipment of NativeEdge-enabled devices, which require no specialist support to install. Simply plug in network and power to get started. Then, pre-configured applications are automatically deployed on the new devices. Finally, the entire system is up and delivering benefits within a matter of days or weeks, not months. More importantly, it is monitored and managed remotely throughout the lifecycle.
This new paradigm eliminates supply chain risks and integration failure. It ensures the entire solution is installed consistently in the correct way and helps consolidate multiple applications and use cases into one architecture. Users can apply automated workflows simultaneously to thousands of devices, across all locations.
By the Numbers: NativeEdge Means Value
In an internal analysis² consisting of return-on-investment modeling, nearly 100 customer interviews, and a third-party environmental consultant review for methodology validation, we examined the potential economic impact of running NativeEdge across 25 facilities of a composite manufacturing company. The study found that after three years, the company could expect to see the following benefits:
-
- Up to 132% return on investment for Dell NativeEdge platform costs
- An average of 20-minute time saving per month for every edge infrastructure asset managed with NativeEdge
- Savings on transportation costs by decreasing the need for site-support dispatches, helping to reduce travel time and cutting up to 14 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions
Welcome to the Edge Generation
Dell NativeEdge is a game changer, not just for reducing edge complexity and time to value, but also for eliminating cost barriers and advancing broader innovation at the edge. We are excited to share this innovation with the world and to ensure Dell customers are moving forward with a simpler, more effective edge.
Learn more about Dell NativeEdge.
1 Vanson Bourne “Journey to the Edge” survey, Oct 2022.
2 Based on internal analysis, May 2023. The internal analysis consisted of internal modeling, customer interviews and third-party environmental consultant review for methodology validation.
