Compute is getting more standardized, right? The answer is actually “yes and no.” Although standardized computing via public cloud platforms is growing, so is the list of specialized compute readily available for consumption on these same platforms. Once again, cloud is lowering the barrier to entry by providing easy and on-demand access to these highly specialized compute infrastructures that were previously available to only a few heavily funded groups. These technologies offer capabilities that enable complex simulations, massive data analysis, and intelligence, which can be leveraged across all industries, including financial services, retail, and automotive. Earlier this month, my colleagues Mike Gualtieri, Brian Hopkins, Danny Mu, and I published a report that digs into the past, present, and future of specialized infrastructure and the opportunities it presents. Here’s a sneak peek at a few of our findings:

  • Industries lean heavily on high-performance computing (HPC) for problem-solving. Every industry uses these technologies. Optimal configurations are those that minimize runtime of massive batch jobs that require very high volumes of calculations or data throughput. My favorite examples? Running credit risk assessments for loan applicants and simulations for pharmaceutical and COVID vaccine development.
  • AI is getting trained faster with HPC. Not only can you use specialize compute to run AI/machine-learning (ML) workloads, but you can also use this infrastructure to accelerate the development, training, and production deployment of ML models. If this is your target use case, evaluate these technologies by their throughput limitations and latency when handling your AI workloads.
  • It’s at least another decade before quantum computing. Emerging technology that has considerable commercial promise exploits subatomic phenomena and quantum physics to solve computationally complex problems. Although it still has no practical advantage over classical systems, R&D in this field is advancing at blazing speeds. We even see examples of “quantum inspired” computing options emerging.

To read more, check our report on the Forrester website: Specialized Infrastructure Is Creating New Industry Insights.