High-performance computing (HPC) is increasingly running on the cloud or at the edge, which is reducing its dependency on local data center infrastructure and placing it within reach of businesses that cannot afford the upfront investment that building a local data center requires, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GloablData’s report, ‘High-Performance Computing – Thematic Research’, reveals that all major cloud providers, including AWS, Google, and Microsoft Azure, have invested in and started offering HPC services through the cloud in the last decade. Leading HPC players report yearly double-digit growth rates in the 10% to 20% range, substantially faster than their overall businesses.

Filipe Oliveira, Senior Analyst at GlobalData comments: “The growth trend in HPC is likely to continue in the next decade as companies are pouring research and development (R&D) resources into the technology. Oracle, IBM, HPE, Intel, and Microsoft were the top HPC patent assignees in the last decade. In 2020, the number of HPC patents granted was 713% higher than in 2010. A substantial chunk of this growth is happening in the cloud.”

HPC used to be the realm of research departments at universities or the military. Cloud computing, despite its shortcomings, has democratized access to the technology. GlobalData’s report predicts that the process of uncoupling from local data centers is likely to continue as the technology is now being deployed at the edge. The benefits of edge computing include improved performance, low-latency and cost savings.

Oliveira adds: “HPC deployed at the edge can bring high-performing processing power to sectors such as retail, live entertainment, and gaming, where data must be processed close to where it is generated to minimize latency. For example, using HPC at the edge when streaming live entertainment allows for editing with minimal latency.”