Why Observability at the Edge Is Becoming a Boardroom Priority

Every digital interaction is a high-stakes exchange between customers and brands. In a challenging market with higher expectations for digital transformations, infrastructure is one of the few investments that can strengthen the entire customer lifecycle. The network edge, in particular, is becoming a board-level priority, because it’s often where brand reputation and revenue are won or lost.

To support growth in new markets and deliver low-latency services where they’re actually used, organizations increasingly are expanding into decentralized edge environments that scatter infrastructure to multiple remote sites such as regional offices, retail stores, and manufacturing plants. According to IDC, global investment in edge computing is expected to reach $317 billion by 2026. A growing share of that increase is tied to service monitoring, operational control, and intelligent data use—not just infrastructure deployment.

Edge Investments Are Rising Alongside Executive Focus

Disruptions at the edge are rarely contained there. Customers and the employees who serve them often feel the impact first, before technology teams can respond. For board-level leaders focused on resilience and operational excellence, limited visibility at the edge is more than just an information technology (IT) concern. It puts service-level agreements (SLAs) and key performance indicators (KPIs) in jeopardy.

This growing risk is fueling a dynamic market of capital expenditure (capex)- and operational expenditure (opex)-based edge offerings. Innovative investments today help enterprises avoid operational headaches and reduce risk down the line. Seemingly minor technical glitches, whether in a remote office or at the authentication layer, can quietly undermine profit margins.

Customers Expect Reliable Application Performance

Today, more data and users operate outside the enterprise than within it. Without rapid issue detection at the point of origin, the root cause of service problems can be difficult to isolate, especially when issues stem from last-mile conditions that aren’t clearly surfaced at the network perimeter. Remote locations simply weren’t originally designed for this purpose, making them more vulnerable to performance and security problems.

For example, a recurring login issue might stem from latency in authentication systems or timeouts during multifactor flows. Slower performance in a contact center could result from back-end lag, congested network paths, or misrouted traffic—issues that erode service quality and business margins over time.

This also changes how automation and artificial intelligence (AI) can be applied to business operations and technology infrastructure, creating new market opportunities by extending feature sets that enable AI at the edge. If remote locations are blind spots, those systems fall short. For leaders investing in AI to streamline operations or inform decisions, a lack of visibility at the edge adds uncertainty to the very outcomes they’re trying to improve.

Security is also at risk when edge environments lack the layered defenses found in core infrastructure, such as real-time monitoring or strict access controls. Spikes in outbound traffic or repeated access attempts at remote sites can go unnoticed without visibility, increasing the chance of a breach.

Research from Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) found that organizations with strong visibility across distributed environments resolved issues faster and escalated fewer incidents. That kind of operational agility gives business leaders the confidence to move quickly and make smarter decisions amid growing shareholder expectations.

Enabling Observability at the Edge

NETSCOUT provides real-time visibility into service performance via packet-infused Smart Data. With nGenius solutions, including nGeniusONE and remote observability devices, companies gain end-through-end observability, even at the most remote sites, to assure the performance of critical services for customers in their industry.

Download our infographic for examples of how remote site observability challenges can threaten industry revenue and reputation.