Managed edge services revenues to reach $445.3 million in 2021
Managed edge services promises to be a high-growth market as enterprises look to low-latency edge services to address process efficiencies, support new consumer applications, comply with data sovereignty, and deal with security threats.
According to a forecast from IDC, worldwide revenues for managed edge services will reach $445.3 million in 2021, an increase of 43.5% over 2020. Over the 2021-2025 forecast period, the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for managed edge services is expected to be 55.1%.
The next big revenue opportunity
Given the nascent demand for managed edge services, a wide range of service providers and technology vendors are looking at this market as the next big revenue opportunity. Public cloud providers, or hyperscalers, will be key enablers of edge services through the partnerships they are establishing with 5G service providers. Some service providers are considering edge services as the catalyst for the fourth industrial revolution while CDN providers are already shifting their investments toward edge applications.
“Managed edge services represent a significant monetization opportunity for service providers to capitalize on their investment in edge compute,” says Ghassan Abdo, research VP, Worldwide Telecom, Virtualization, and CDN, IDC.
“At the same time, service providers are keenly aware of the potential impact of the edge on their current market position and are watching closely for unforeseen competition from adjacent markets and new disruptors.
Technology vendors including network equipment providers (NEPs) and software, datacenter, and networking vendors are vying to shape this market and play a significant role in delivering innovative edge services.”
Three primary deployment models for managed edge services
- On-premises deployment: This represents managed edge use cases where the edge compute infrastructure is deployed at the enterprises’ premises, also referred to as private deployment. This deployment model is intended to address the need for extra low latency and is applicable to industrial use cases, healthcare, and AR/VR applications.
- Service provider edge deployment: This represents managed edge services provided by edge compute deployed at the provider edge, both fixed and mobile. This deployment model is expected to spur development of a wide range of vertical use cases.
- CDN edge deployment: This represents managed edge services provided by edge compute deployed at the CDN POPs or edge locations. These use cases will enhance content delivery with personalized, high-fidelity, and interactive rich media customer experience.
The on-premises edge is projected to be the fastest growing segment with a five-year CAGR of 74.5%. The service provider edge will be the second-fastest growing segment with a CAGR of 59.2%, which will enable it to become the largest market segment by 2022. The CDN edge segment is expected to have a five-year CAGR of 41.9%.