Edge View

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Meet the Experts

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Dave McCarthy

Research Vice President, Cloud and Edge Services, Worldwide Infrastructure Research

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Jennifer Cooke

Senior Research Director, Cloud and Edge Services, Worldwide Infrastructure Research



IDC's Edge View is intended to aid technology organizations, hardware vendors, software developers, services suppliers, and investors in better understanding the buying intentions of their customers and helping devise strategies and solutions that address current and emerging use cases for technology and workloads at the edge. This includes outlining the primary motivations for deploying infrastructure and applications closer to where data is generated and consumed and exploring aspects such as latency, cost, resiliency, security, and compliance.


Markets and Subjects Analyzed


  • Edge computing platforms: Examines the current and planned use of edge compute, storage, and connectivity solutions
  • Edge software: Covers systems infrastructure software solutions that provide the basic foundational layers of software for bare metal infrastructure hardware resources to host higher-level application software, including the virtualization, container, orchestration, and management software used to configure, control, automate, and share the use of those resources across heterogeneous applications and user groups
  • Edge-provisioned services: Details the opportunity for public cloud, communications, content delivery networks (CDNs), and colocation services provisioned by suppliers using edge platforms to deliver workloads at the edge

Core Research


  • Executive summary (annual)
  • Digest of survey findings (annual)
  • Banner book with worldwide and regional insights where available (annual)
  • Readout/webinar (annual)
  • Unlimited access to associated analysts for inquiries
  • Ability to request nonvendor-related data for reprints (additional charges
  • Note: In addition to the aforementioned research available for the base price, subscribers will be able to access nonvendor-related data for reprints. Subscribers also gain the ability to provide input into future surveys. IDC will provide subscribers the ability to gain country, company size, and other nonpublished insights via custom market intelligence (CMI) add-ons. Subscribers will also have the option to purchase customized content packages, additional readout sessions, and other bespoke data insights via CMI add-ons.

In addition to the insight provided in this service, IDC may conduct research on specific topics or emerging market segments via research offerings that require additional IDC funding and client investment.


Key Questions Answered


  1. What are the major drivers of and inhibitors to edge adoption on premises and in service provider facilities?
  2. Which financial metrics will matter in edge investments, and how will they evolve?
  3. Which deployment models and technologies are gaining traction in the edge market?
  4. What challenges do organizations experience when deploying infrastructure at the edge?
  5. How are edge investments linked with business growth and innovation?
  6. How are investment decision makers evolving as edge supports business and operations-led innovations?

Companies Covered