What’s next on the intelligent edge: 3 trends driving digital transformation

Digital transformation has rapidly become a strategic and competitive imperative. The path to success is clear: focus first on the people within your organization then empower them with the right technology. Arm them with new capabilities—communication across systems or business units that didn’t talk before, changing from manual to digital process, secure connectivity everywhere, high reliability, new insights—and you will soon find your organization doing things that simply weren’t possible before.

This is all happening thanks to the intelligent cloud and the intelligent edge. It’s not just PCs and smart phones that now keep us connected. Billions of new devices—smart speakers, refrigerators, lights, drones, and thousands of tiny sensors embedded everywhere, to name just a few—are now linked to the cloud and communicate with each other. These devices at the intelligent edge can perform complex computing, powered by the intelligent cloud, from anywhere: on the manufacturing floor, on a city street, on a power line, or in the departments in a store.

The potential is exciting, but the universe of possibilities is huge. So it’s not too surprising that I often hear customers ask, “With so many choices, how can we be sure we’re acquiring the technologies and devices that will actually help our people and customers achieve more?”

As your organization embarks on the journey to intelligent cloud and intelligent edge computing, consider three key trends to frame your thinking. They’re a great starting point for understanding what’s coming next, so you can implement solutions that help your business succeed—and create experiences that people love.

Trend 1: Connected PCs at every price point

Smartphones have given consumers instant access to the people and the information they care most about, and its whet their appetite for more. They want the power of a PC, the portability of their mobile, always-on connectivity, long battery life, and sleek form factors across all their devices.

We now have the ability to pair our devices with a connected and responsive cloud. This is fueling the creation of next-generation Windows PCs and entirely new product categories. These machines are setting new standards for speed, security, durability, and great design. Microsoft provides the reliability, security, and scalability of cloud and AI services. And we work with PC manufacturers and silicon partners to build new kinds of intelligent edge devices that are priced within reach of many more people and organizations. 

Trend 2: Device as a Service

Historically, a customer or business bought a PC loaded with Windows, then bought a copy of Microsoft Office and any additional apps. Enterprises likely added on services such as enterprise mobility and device management.

This is evolving to a new business model called Device as a Service or DaaS. DaaS helps businesses of all sizes purchase their hardware and services in one motion. Large enterprises can simplify their hardware management and implement an end-to-end rollout that frees up IT staff while assuring secure connection to services and business-critical applications. 

Through DaaS, a customer purchasing a device and Microsoft 365, gets a complete, connected solution, including Windows 10, Office 365, and Enterprise Mobility + Security. It’s an approach that boosts productivity, fuels teamwork, and helps businesses keep their employees, data, and devices secure.

Further, DaaS solutions that include Microsoft 365 provide built-in intelligence and analytics that help administrators manage device upgrades. It leverages tools like Microsoft Intune and Windows AutoPilot that make setup and configuration of new devices fast and easy.

The ability to be always on and always connected is fundamental to these experiences, and they’re about to get even better with 5G.

Trend 3: Connecting everything with 5G

Between 15 million and 20 million 5G handsets are expected to be sold in 2020. And 5G networks will accelerate a new wave of connected computing. They will support billions of IoT and edge devices that can take full advantage of these distributed networks by processing high volumes of data at much faster speeds.

Our product suite and platforms are well aligned to this future. Microsoft Azure will continue providing the cloud infrastructure necessary to support the development of applications for an ever-expanding range of devices and mobile use cases. Streaming experiences will significantly improve with 5G:

• File transfers on OneDrive that used to take minutes will happen in seconds.
• Windows Virtual Desktop over a remote PC or a phone will be even more seamless, with users accessing media-rich files like PowerPoint presentations and videos from remote locations with lower latency.
• On-the-go gaming over mobile phones will expand, with more ways to play. In 2020, we’ll bring Project xCloud to Windows PCs, and we are collaborating with a broad set of partners to make game streaming available on other devices.

Connectivity from the chip to the edge

A new era of Windows devices, services, and connectivity is making transformation achievable for organizations of every size. This wave of innovation is accelerating, powered by 5G and the synergy created by collaboration across the industry, like ours with silicon and PC manufacturers. The result is intelligent edge devices that are faster, more affordable, more functional, and more connected than ever before. When we put these devices to work over 5G networks with services like Microsoft 365 and Project xCloud, we will bring new levels of productivity and creativity to customers and organizations around the world.

Are you ready for digital transformation to empower you and your business?