The newly launched native-edge software platform by Intel simplifies the development, deployment, and management of edge AI application software.
Latest Update: At the 2024 World Mobile Congress, Intel unveiled a groundbreaking edge platform. This modular, open software platform enables enterprises to develop, deploy, operate, secure, and manage large-scale edge and AI applications as conveniently as in the cloud. The integration of these functionalities will shorten deployment cycles for enterprises and help reduce Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
Pallavi Mahajan, Vice President and General Manager of Intel's Network and Edge Software Division, stated, "Edge computing is at the forefront of digital transformation, with advancements in AI technology accelerating this trend. Leveraging our extensive customer base and years of software planning, we are entering a new phase, committed to providing a comprehensive edge-native platform. This platform aims to meet the demands for large-scale infrastructure, application software, and efficient AI deployment. Our modular platform is designed for this purpose, providing enterprises not only with outstanding edge infrastructure performance but also simplifying application software management, thereby empowering enterprises to enhance competitiveness and significantly reduce overall ownership costs."
Significance: As the core venue for data generation, the scale of edge computing is growing rapidly. Moreover, an increasing number of edge computing deployments are incorporating AI technology. Automation plays a crucial role in edge computing for enterprises: it not only facilitates competitive pricing strategies but also effectively addresses challenges of labor shortages, drives innovation, improves efficiency, shortens time to market for products, and offers novel services.
However, working at the edge often presents complexities and challenges for various reasons:
Although there are customized solutions for these challenges, they often rely on closed systems and proprietary hardware, leading to high costs and time-consuming integration of traditional systems and adding new use cases.
How Intel's Edge Platform Empowers Enterprises: With its open modular design, the platform provides instant solutions for various industries. By integrating Intel's extensive experience in edge computing and wide ecosystem support, the platform can meet various urgent edge use case demands. Enterprises can choose to purchase complete solutions according to their needs or autonomously build solutions using existing environments. Enterprise developers can build edge-native AI application software on new or existing infrastructure and have the capability to implement end-to-end edge solutions for specific use cases.
About Edge-Native Infrastructure: The platform includes the OpenVINO™ AI Inference Runtime, designed specifically for edge AI. Additionally, the platform provides security automation features for policy-based IT and OT management tasks. Intel's OpenVINO has evolved over the past five years, helping developers optimize application software for low latency, low power consumption, and deployment on existing hardware (especially edge hardware), enabling efficiently running AI applications on already deployed standard hardware without expensive upgrades or refactoring.
The platform provides a control panel that allows IT and DevOps personnel to configure, bootstrap, and manage various edge nodes, including edge servers, industrial controllers, HMI devices, and other devices. This feature is implemented in a zero-touch manner, ensuring security and simplifying remote management processes. The entire process can typically be completed in less than a day, with a maximum of two days.
Furthermore, closed-loop automation enables operators to trigger business logic from edge operation alerts using policies and observability, optimizing the efficiency of the entire network operation and significantly reducing overall ownership costs.
Deep heterogeneous hardware awareness not only provides excellent capabilities for resource allocation to achieve optimal energy efficiency but also brings zero-trust security features developed jointly for Intel architectures.
About Edge AI + Application Software Features: The platform will provide powerful AI capabilities and tools for enterprise developers, including:
Application of Intel's Edge Platform in the Partner Ecosystem: Intel's edge platform has received support from industry leaders and a wide ecosystem, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Lenovo, L&T Technology Services, Red Hat, SAP, Vericast, Verizon Business, and Wipro.
Customer Feedback on Intel's Edge Platform
Lenovo: Charles Ferland, Vice President and General Manager of ThinkEdge and Communication Service Provider Division at Lenovo Group, stated, "The new Intel Edge platform deployed on ThinkEdge servers integrates Lenovo's Open Cloud Automation and Lenovo XClarity solution suite, enabling enterprises to develop, deploy, operate, and manage edge applications on a large scale as conveniently as in the cloud. Backed by Intel and Lenovo's deep industry experience and outstanding ecosystem, this integrated solution provides a seamless experience that combines true edge-native security features with near-zero-touch configuration and management. In addition, during the built-in OpenVINO runtime, it can help enterprises adapt to edge and hybrid AI solutions across industries, from finance to healthcare to smart cities and retail."
L&T Technology Services (LTTS): Abhishek Sinha, COO and Director of LTTS, expressed excitement about collaborating with Intel on the new edge platform. He highlighted the platform's potential to democratize edge AI solutions, citing its seamless operation on standard hardware and its innovative edge-native AI runtime powered by OpenVINO for inference. Sinha emphasized the platform's strong innovation and competitive energy efficiency, underpinned by deep hardware optimization. He assured enterprise clients that Intel's edge platform would propel them into a future of superior product performance and diverse possibilities.
SAP: Drew Leblanc, Head of Strategic Alliances at SAP, underscored the simplicity in accessing edge AI computing capabilities through their collaboration with Intel on the new edge platform. By integrating SAP Business Technology Platform® (SAP BTP) and SAP's commercial software transformation capabilities with Intel's technology, Leblanc emphasized their commitment to delivering value to customers continually. He expressed anticipation for the new use cases that their collaboration with Intel would unlock at the edge.
Vericast: Hans Fischmann, Vice President of Digital Product Management at Vericast, discussed the pivotal role of Intel's new edge platform in driving the convergence of digital media and physical experiences in the retail industry. Fischmann highlighted their partnership's aim to revolutionize digital advertising by seamlessly integrating edge AI capabilities running on standard hardware with immersive customer experiences. Leveraging a scalable modular platform, they aim to deploy zero-trust security configurations in public environments, catering to individual stores as well as large retail chains.
Wipro: Ashish Khare, General Manager and Global Head of IoT, 5G, and Smart Cities at Wipro, emphasized their collaboration with Intel's focus on simplifying customer access to edge and AI solutions. Khare noted that Intel's new edge platform addresses the challenges of edge complexity on standard hardware, enabling Wipro to deliver exceptional performance and drive client performance growth.
