The Edge of Cloud

In November 2020, the Deloitte Cloud Institute invited Mahadev Satyanarayanan, the Carnegie Group University Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, as the first Deloitte Cloud Institute Fellow.1 Dr. Satyanarayanan (Satya as he’s popularly known) has made pioneering contributions to advance edge computing, mobile computing, distributed systems, and the Internet of Things (IoT) research focused on performance, scalability, availability, and trust challenges in computing systems. We examine the present and future of distributed edge-cloud architectures in an exclusive discussion with Satya; David Linthicum, chief cloud strategy officer, Deloitte Consulting LLP; and Myke Miller, dean, Deloitte Cloud Institute. Diana Kearns-Manolatos from the Deloitte Center for Integrated Research moderated this discussion. But first, a quick foundation on edge computing and five key insights from the discussion.