Intel is buying the Smart Edge platform business from Canada-based Pivot Technology Solutions for $27 million in a push to increase its presence in edge computing. Smart Edge is a cloud-native platform for edge environments to deliver services closer to the end user.
According to Intel’s announcement, “The expansion of computing in the network and at the edge is an important growth opportunity for Intel – an estimated $65 billion silicon addressable market by 2023. Edge computing is an opportunity that is accelerating with the rollout of 5G networks.”
Indeed, 5G networks will have a fundamentally different architecture than previous generations of wireless, with the 5G network topology much more distributed and traffic flowing not just from core to edge, but also from edge to core, and from cell site to edge.
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“This transaction enhances our ability to address the 5G network transformation with a leading position in edge computing,” said Dan Rodriguez, Intel VP in the data center group and GM of Intel’s network compute division, in a statement.
Smart Edge is already an Intel Network Builders partner. The Smart Edge software runs on a virtualized server based on Intel architecture CPUs that sit in the mobile network last mile. The Smart Edge appliance hosts virtual network functions (VNFs) for customer enterprise services and boasts built-in CDN intelligence for caching and distributing content. In addition to providing a complete NFV environment that can support the addition of service-provisioning VNFs, the Smart Edge platform integrates a built-in analytics probe to collect real-time statistics on data traffic and application analytics.
Intel says that Smart Edge’s software is also highly complementary with Intel’s Open Network Edge Services Software project.
According to Reuters, Smart Edge did not generate significant revenue in the first six months of 2019.
About 25 Smart Edge employees will join Intel’s Network and Custom Logic Group when the transaction closes, which is expected before the end of the year.