Tata Communications launches edge computing platform for enterprises

Tata Communications has unveiled CloudLyte, a fully automated edge computing platform to meet the increasing needs for real-time data processing, low latency applications, and smart decision-making in enterprises.

Through a “solution in a box” approach, CloudLyte will provide enterprises with the platform, infrastructure, network, managed services, and specific business applications, the company said in a statement. The unified offering will allow deployment “within minutes,” and easy scaling, the company said.

Tata Communications expects a growing demand for this as more businesses become hyperconnected and the use of technologies like 5G and IoT grows.

“There are zillions of digital interactions that happen at the edge — between machines, between humans and machines, and between humans,” said Neelakantan Venkataraman, the global head of cloud and edge business at Tata Communications. “Enterprises want to know how they can capture these interactions… to drive innovation at the edge, create operational efficiencies, and monetize these interactions.

Pilot phase insights

In its pilot phase, Tata Communications worked with enterprises across verticals including retail and manufacturing.

In retail, they introduced digital signage that contextualizes the shopper’s presence. It presented relevant ads or promotions based on the shopper’s immediate context — unlike traditional large LED screens that display static images or videos irrelevant to the time, day, or month.

In manufacturing, they consolidated operational data into a single data lake to enable analytics and potentially leverage AI for insights.

“This integration [in manufacturing] has already reduced potential downtime by about 60% and improved production efficiency by 20%,” Venkataraman said.

Pricing strategy

The company will offer two pricing models — one based on CPU resources used and the other it terms as “use case as a service.”

“Our goal is to transition more towards the latter model as it aligns closely with client needs, especially as our use cases become more integrated and clients gain a deeper understanding of the advantages they offer,” Venkataraman said.

Edge computing often revolves around specific use cases, he added. For instance, if a customer is implementing a video analytics use case, Tata Communications can offer pricing per user per month, or per deployment per month. “This allows customers to easily understand their costs, especially if they’re deploying multiple use cases across numerous locations,” Venkataraman said. “For example, if they are implementing 10 use cases across 100 stores, the cost calculation becomes straightforward and transparent.”