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Edge capabilities provide the facility readiness for deploying edge computing and a measure for enterprise strategy execution. This proposed framework enables enterprises to assess the current state of edge capabilities within its facilities.
There are other proven capability maturity models that consultants and strategists use to assess edge capabilities individually. These models provide a detailed analysis, identify areas in need of improvement, and offer a road map for improvements.
The framework that is described in this section does not contradict these models, which are focused on specific capabilities; rather, it provides a reference framework that is appropriate for all cases. Because of this, businesses using another maturity model for single capabilities can feed that information into this overarching reference model.
The edge mature capability framework is a reference model to evaluate the current situation of edge computing at individual facilities to support IEM. The framework is depicted in the following figure, where Level 5 indicates a facility with the most mature edge capabilities.
Individual facilities fall into different levels of edge capability maturity as described in the following table. The level at which a facility is categorized indicates its IEM-readiness.
Level | Description |
Level 1: Ad hoc | Reflects disorderly management of edge capabilities and sub-capabilities at individual facilities; partial or no alignment with enterprise strategy |
Level 2: Emerging | Individual facilities and their key stakeholders are enforcing best practices and standardization to drive edge capability improvements; partial alignment with enterprise strategy, and some IEM capabilities can be adopted |
Level 3: Defined | Edge capabilities at individual facilities are consistent and driven by enterprise strategy; IEM modeling is adopted to deploy best practices and guidelines |
Level 4: Optimized | Edge capabilities are integrated for quantitative and qualitative monitoring and management by corporate IT or individual facility IT for continuous improvement |
Level 5: Agile | Edge capabilities support agility to drive innovation of new products and production processes, cost-effective IT support, onboarding of emerging OTs with scalable edge computing |