Latency to be the new currency of growth in 2021

We have entered into the most exciting digital decade which is expected to bring a new era of interconnection - in which digital applications and services will be of great demand.

This transformation has not been caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, but it has been accelerated by it. This accelerated pace of the digitalization of enterprises will become one of the key factors for future economic growth. As economic activity moves from analog to the digital sphere, there is one thing that all these applications have in common, and this is related to the purely physical characteristics of the speed of light which we call “latency”.

Latency means reaction time such as, what causes the lag we experience with long-distance video conferencing, calls and the time it takes for a transaction to be registered when you’re making online purchases; for getting a smooth reaction and good user experience when using applications that are hosted in the cloud; for the time between executing a stunt in an online game and your counterpart experiencing the result.

From a business perspective, latency issues cost you money. Productivity related to virtual desktops, conference and video calls, and all that is entailed in working from home is dependent on high-performance interconnection. But also industrial activities like remote robotics, AI-supported research and development, and the advances in the product development of the connected cars would not be conceivable without the performance, security, and resilience that come with the lowest possible latency. So, latency in digital services and applications is truly revenue-related.

Such critical applications, of course, have high requirements for both performance and resilience/security, elements that are also extremely closely related to latency. From a performance perspective, the applications need response time in the low millisecond range. They also require a very high level of resilience and security to ensure the seamless transmission of data. Critical applications also entail highly sensitive data – be that business secrets or personal health records – which needs to be secured in a safe environment.

Secondly, when it comes to quality and infrastructure services, latency is the new currency. The need of the hour is how to improve latency and reduce costs for backhaul connectivity. Today, every organisation and tech savvy individuals are looking for high-performance, secure interconnection in order to do business. In the digital world, resiliency is business-critical.

The answer would be the 5G networks. It enables a new kind of network that is designed to connect virtually everyone and everything together including machines, objects, and devices. The 5G wireless technology is meant to deliver higher multi-Gbps peak data speeds, ultra-low-latency, more reliability, massive network capacity, increased availability, and more uniform user experience to more users. Higher performance and improved efficiency empower new user experiences and connects new industries.

Not only does 5G deliver high-bandwidth and low latency wireless data transmission, but the technology is set to play a crucial role in edge computing. Beyond speed improvement, the technology is expected to unleash a massive 5G IoT (Internet of Things) ecosystem where networks can serve communication needs for billions of connected devices, with the right trade-offs between speed, latency, and cost.

Enterprises can take advantage of network edge 5G computing solutions. When combined with edge computing, 5G has the potential to provide near real-time connectivity for network devices, such as SCADA systems, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, drones, autonomous cars, and much more. The reason behind how the 5G core networks will allow for reduced latency times is because of the associated technology by the name network slicing.

Going forward, Indian's Datacenter Market is going to make a huge impact on the national economic landscape. Increased speculation from foreign companies and accelerated adoption of digital technologies across public and private sectors are the underlying driving factors to this rapid evolution. The Data Center market is experiencing this unprecedented investment; there is simultaneously a growing call for such investment to be sustainable. Only a few Data Centers in India are focusing on the renewable energy and energy-efficient power and cooling solutions. As the growth of IoT and remote work is driving the cloud services market to an incredible double digit mark, but in order to properly capitalise this explosion of data it is important to scrutinise where the data is being held. 

Another matter of concern is the increasing reliance on internet and software across nearly every dimension of our lives, which also exposes us to the inherent privacy and security vulnerabilities related to the internet and software itself. In this complex information landscape, one of biggest underlying challenges for information technology (IT) and cybersecurity professionals is how to establish a trusted environment in the age of hypermobility in the ever expanding perimeter driven by the need for 'anytime-anywhere' access to network resources.

Further, remote work and organizational continuity have raised ITs profile during the pandemic, and with that, cybersecurity has become an even larger concern than ever. Large-scale adoption of work-from-home technologies, heightened activity on customer-facing networks, and greater use of online services all present fresh openings, which cyber attackers have been quick to exploit.           

A pop-up has been notifying users that as of February 8, whatsApps privacy policy will change and they must accept the terms to keep using the app. As part of that privacy policy refresh, WhatsApp also removed a passage about opting out of sharing certain data with Facebook.WhatsApp has exposed the phone numbers of the web users on Google Search via indexing.

Let’s wait and watch for the next move how the year 2021 brings new technologies to watch for.

S Mohini Ratna, Editor, VARINDIA