As near real-time services and applications proliferate, seventy-five percent of enterprises expect latencies of less than 5 milliseconds. This evolution is driving the need for edge computing, according to an edge computing study from Lumen Technologies and Intel.

The global survey, which was conducted by IDC on behalf of the two sponsors, found that nine in ten respondents needed 10ms less latency. By taking computing far closer to the point where it will be used, edge computing is seen as the best way to meet these demanding latency requirements.

The study, entitled “Edge Computing Solutions Powering the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” found that 75% of respondents see edge computing as a strategic investment. In addition to the reality that older approaches struggle to meet latency needs, respondents see the centralized infrastructure and bandwidth it demands as cost prohibitive.

Forty-percent of respondents plan to invest in edge solutions in less than a year and 54% said they are comfortable using a technology service provider for their edge platforms. IDC found that 73% prefer a flexible managed model with subscription-based services. This fits with the popularity of consumption based models across industries in both business-to-business and business-to-consumer implementations, the study authors note.

“C-suite leaders across verticals are looking to edge computing solutions to achieve significant operational efficiencies and improved security and compliance by limiting movement of data,” Ghassan Abdo, research vice president, WW telecom, virtualization & CDN at IDC said in the press release. “They also want to deliver better customer experiences. All of these priorities can be addressed through edge computing solutions.”

The survey is based on 800 IT and operational decision makers at companies of various sizes. Responding companies are in the energy, logistics, government/public sector, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, and retail banking industries in the United States, India, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Singapore.