/ Public Relations / By

New study by gridscale, techconsult and eco shows:

Edge computing is essential for digital transformation in the DACH region

  • 53 percent of DACH companies recognize a growing need for local data processing
  • A need for edge computing: increasing requirements for data security, data sovereignty and an increase in latency-sensitive applications
  • 87 percent of IT decision-makers consider uniform management of edge and cloud infrastructures to be essential

Cologne, 04.06.2024 – gridscale, the multi-cloud and edge computing specialist from Cologne, today published the results of the first broad-based edge computing study in the DACH region. The study results show that edge computing is becoming the driving force behind digitalization at a majority of the companies surveyed (53%), especially for innovative IT applications such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), Industry 4.0 and intelligent building management (smart buildings). 87 percent of those surveyed consider uniform management of edge and cloud infrastructures to be essential. The study was conducted by the IT analyst firm techconsult, in cooperation with the association of the cloud computing industry EuroCloud Deutschland_eco e.V., on behalf of gridscale. IT decision-makers in more than 200 companies with 50 or more employees from Germany, Austria and Switzerland were surveyed.

Increasing demand for local data processing

The study “Between Heaven and Earth: Edge computing in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in 2024” shows that more than half of the companies surveyed (53%) have identified an increasing need to provide their IT infrastructure locally. This trend is reinforced by the increasing volume of data processing, which more than three quarters of companies (76 percent) report. In addition, the need for local data processing is being driven by rising data transfer costs (54 percent) and a desire for better performance through low latency in application operation (81 percent).

Data security and sovereignty as the main drivers

The growing requirements for data security (71%), data sovereignty (66%) and sustainability (69%) are also leading to a rethink of the IT infrastructure. The study shows that latency-sensitive applications are on the rise, with 57 percent of companies already experiencing an increase in such applications within their companies. These findings underscore the need to expand in-house edge computing capabilities to avoid delays in data processing and digitize more critical business processes.

Hybrid cloud management as a must-have

At 87%, the majority of companies emphasize the importance of uniform management of all edge and cloud infrastructure services via a hybrid cloud management platform. In addition, just under two thirds of companies (63%) report an increasing need for external support in the provision of IT infrastructure. Medium-sized and large companies in particular prefer supra-regional, European cloud providers, while smaller companies prefer local service providers.

“The results of our edge computing study very clearly and impressively show the importance of edge computing as a technology in the DACH region and the great advantages IT decision-makers see in it,” explains Henrik Hasenkamp, CEO of gridscale. “By processing workloads locally, close to their users and customers, companies can effectively manage the growing demands for speed, cost and security.”

“We are very pleased about the publication of this edge computing study, as we believe it confirms a trend that we have been observing on the market for some time,” explains Andreas Weiss, Director of EuroCloud Germany. “Data volumes are growing exponentially and digitalization is encroaching ever deeper into users’ core business. For many companies, edge computing provides an answer to how they can better manage data-intensive key technologies such as AI and machine learning.”

The full study “Between Heaven and Earth: Edge Computing in Germany, Austria and Switzerland 2024” is now available for download free of charge here.

A download with images is available here.

About gridscale

The Cologne-based tech company gridscale is known for its innovative multi cloud- and edge computing solutions, and provides its customers a seamless plug-and-play platform for building and maintaining state-of-the-art hyper-convergent IT infrastructures. IT resources can flexibly provided as private or public cloud services exactly when and where they are needed, and can quickly and easily be expanded to almost any data center, co-location landscape or edge environment. The gridscale software combines various deployment scenarios for customer data in a centralised management dashboard, and ensures that each user is able to access locally managed as well as publicly available IT capacities from a single, user-friendly access point, resulting in a highly effective cloud environment.

gridscale is run by its founders Henrik Hasenkamp and Marc Dittmann. Since August 2023, gridscale has been a part of OVHcloud, the European cloud services market leader. Based on gridscale’s technology, OVHcloud is working to establish 150 new locations, successfully provided as part of the “Local Zone” brand.

Further information: https://gridscale.io/en/

Press contact

PIABO PR GmbH
Sybille Zimmermann
Phone: +49 30 2576205 – 17
gridscale@piabo.net