What trends will shape the content delivery industry in 2020?

2020 will be a year of new technologies and global challenges that demand innovative solutions. The introduction of 5G and the maturation of edge computing will mean significant changes to the way the world sends and receives data. While they could unlock vital new avenues for content delivery, automation, and intelligence, their implementation needs careful thought to ensure internal systems are capable of handling the increased demand that these technologies enable. More data traveling through a complex web of interconnected devices and infrastructure means increased energy use by data centers, which usually means more carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere. Expect data’s hidden carbon footprint to be atop the environmental agenda.

One thing's for sure: 2020 will not just be more of the same. Read on to find out how Varnish will help organizations navigate complex technological and environmental trends this year while engaging bigger audiences and staying competitive in crowded markets.

Sustainability and data’s carbon footprint

Sustainability, and a focus on employing energy-efficient digital solutions with minimal carbon footprint, will become even more important. The world’s data centers are already consuming 3.5% of global energy, and this will double in a few years. With even greater focus on the role of business in addressing the climate crisis, ensuring eco-friendly energy consumption and low carbon output will become something all businesses will have to address at every level of their organization - including digital.

Varnish provides a caching layer, which means that information will not have to be reproduced at every request, meaning fewer servers needed - and energy savings. Caching will be increasingly important to reduce energy cost and global footprint. With 9.8 million websites powered by Varnish today, we have already made a difference.

5G will arrive

5G will begin rolling out in developed economies through the first part of the decade, with the first set of consumer services launching in key markets. In order to build 5G services that can fully leverage the low latency and delivery capabilities the network offers, technologies that can deliver content at large scale with very low latency will be critical. Varnish can deliver content within a sub-millisecond from the request receipt, which will be highly relevant for 5G services.

Increasing competition in the streaming landscape

Even though Disney+, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Twitch, ESPN and YouTube seem to be providing all the streaming the world needs, the market still has a huge amount of room to grow. While the streaming giants will continue to advance the technologies that power their next-gen streaming solutions, the ease with which smaller organizations can enter the streaming industry means that the market for niche or local content, supported by smaller but highly dedicated audiences, can flourish like never before.

Technology will go everywhere

We will continue to see technology integrated into more and more different types of devices, to make them more intelligent and to make our life easier. Most of these will rely on communication with a mothership, which will require the ability to manage a huge number of transactions. Varnish has an important role to play in ensuring that the internet of things (IoT) reaches its full potential.

Edge computing will continue to evolve

Moving content and computing closer to the user has been talked about for a long time, but there is still some way to go. With caching and storing capabilities combined with our real-time rules engine, Varnish is a key technology that can deliver on the possibilities promised by edge computing.

Consumers demand quality at all times

Finally, the need for all websites to be lightning fast and extremely responsive is more important than ever. Users in 2020 are highly sophisticated and much more tech savvy than in the past, and as a result have high expectations for every web experience. That means that sites need to deliver content - whether it’s streaming video, e-commerce catalogues, financial products, and so on - rapidly and without delay. The need for a modern, responsive caching solution that enables this kind of delivery is something that all businesses need in place in order to meet customer expectations. 

Happy customers, healthier planet

So what will 2020 be like? It will be a combination of the themes discussed above, a mixture of increased competition, complex challenges and a race to implement new technologies. Remember, though, that at the heart of these themes is a great opportunity for building advanced, leading content delivery systems that accelerate delivery, reach new audiences and lower carbon footprints, and Varnish Enterprise can help.