The \u201cas a service\u201d model is relied on heavily by companies today to meet a wide range of needs. Software as a Service (SaaS) may be the most recognizable of these services, but Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) are also widely used.<\/p>\n
A newer addition to the \u201cas a service\u201d catalog is Edge as a Service (EaaS). Edge computing\u2014the use of cloud computing to put latency-sensitive and latency-critical workloads as close as possible to end users\u2014provides tremendous performance improvements and data backhaul reductions. EaaS empowers innovators like software providers and infrastructure providers to build, integrate, and operate edge services efficiently and effectively.<\/p>\n
There are many factors to consider when evaluating EaaS solutions, and feature sets generally fall in one of two buckets, must-haves or nice-to-haves. The following five characteristics are absolute table stakes when it comes to selecting an EaaS solution.<\/p>\n
1. Granular control<\/strong><\/p>\n
The right EaaS solution enables you to focus on determining the needs of your team and your customers first, and then leverage the power of EaaS technologies to design and implement solutions that are tailored to meet those unique requirements. In order to achieve this, EaaS solutions must provide granular, code-level control to seamlessly integrate edge solutions into existing stacks and workflows.<\/p>\n
How the Webscale CloudFlow platform enables granular control<\/strong><\/p>\n
The CloudFlow Control Plane is built on top of a GitOps paradigm, enabling DevOps teams to configure and manage their distributed environment from a centralized, integrated, secure control plane using familiar tooling.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
2. Exceptional flexibility<\/strong><\/p>\n
Many organizations just beginning their Edge journeys start by exploring the capabilities of familiar Cloud and Content Delivery Network (CDN) service providers. Cloud providers (e.g. AWS, Google, Azure, DigitalOcean, etc.) are well-versed at supporting diversity of edge workloads, but often fall short in enabling technical product teams to easily deploy and manage those workloads across a distributed footprint. CDN providers, on the other hand, have deep experience in distributing workloads across global edge networks, but the workloads supported are limited to static asset delivery and other basic, fixed functions, without support for truly custom workloads.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
EaaS solutions are specifically designed to solve for the shortcomings of existing Cloud and CDN capabilities, and therefore must be flexible enough to not only support custom workload requirements, but must also have the network reach and adaptability to distribute workloads in the most suitable locations to meet desired outcomes in a cost-effective manner. In choosing an EaaS solution, be sure to evaluate not only its ability to provide the solution you need today, but also consider how the solution can evolve as the company\u2019s needs increase or evolve.<\/p>\n
How the Webscale CloudFlow platform solves for flexibility<\/strong><\/p>\n
Flexibility is at the core of the CloudFlow platform. The CloudFlow Edge AppSpace<\/a> enables organizations to easily distribute custom workloads and applications (e.g. containers, serverless, Node.js), while also offering out-of-the-box, add-on edge security and performance modules from leading solution providers. In addition, organizations benefit from CloudFlow\u2019s Federated Edge and Multi-Cloud Network<\/a> (AWS, Azure, Google, DigitalOcean, Equinix, Akamai, Lumen, Rackcorp) powered by CloudFlow\u2019s patented Adaptive Edge Engine<\/a>, along with the ability to bring your own infrastructure into a project.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
3. Advanced security and compliance<\/strong><\/p>\n
How the Webscale CloudFlow platform solves for security and compliance<\/strong><\/p>\n
The CloudFlow platform is built on top-tier hosting providers, extending all of the network layer protection and capacity provided by industry heavyweights like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Lumen, etc. In addition to the core security features built into the platform, Webscale partners with industry-leading security solutions that can be easily deployed alongside your distributed applications, including advanced WAF and bot management technologies. (Visit the CloudFlow Edge AppSpace to learn more<\/a>.)<\/p>\n
CloudFlow also helps keep your organization compliant. The patented Adaptive Edge Engine<\/a> intelligently deploys workloads and routes traffic based on your specified compliance and regulatory requirements, including PCI, GDPR, and more.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
4. Simple and intuitive user experience<\/strong><\/p>\n
How the Webscale CloudFlow platform approaches UX<\/strong><\/p>\n
Adaptive Edge Engine<\/strong>
\nCloudFlow\u2019s patented Adaptive Edge Engine (AEE)<\/a> intelligently and continuously tunes and reconfigures your edge delivery network to ensure your edge workloads are running the optimal compute at the optimal location for your application. By offloading the burdens of infrastructure provisioning, workload orchestration, scaling, monitoring, and traffic routing, the AEE helps reduce your operational overhead while ensuring that the platform is running in the most cost-effective way to meet your desired outcomes.<\/p>\nObservability Suite<\/strong>
\nCloudFlow\u2019s suite of observability tooling<\/a> gives organizations the insights they need to understand how their edge stack is performing at any given time. CloudFlow\u2019s innovative Traffic Monitor<\/a> goes beyond standard dashboards and graphs to give users an immersive and holistic Edge observability experience.<\/p>\n5. Outstanding business value and scalability<\/strong><\/p>\n
How the Webscale CloudFlow platform delivers business value and scalability<\/strong><\/p>\n
EaaS: Edge Computing Simplified<\/h3>\n
Getting to the Edge with your applications doesn\u2019t have to be difficult. And taking the first step is simple \u2014 contact Webscale today<\/a> to learn more about how EaaS is improving the Internet and how CloudFlow\u2019s innovative edge technologies can help you achieve your business goals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"