Intended Advantage of any Technology is Not Always What Customers Value

Sometimes the planned-for values of a technology are not necessarily the upside users see. Consider multi-access edge computing. The stated value is ultra-low latency performance. But connectivity service provider executives say their own belief is that MEC’s greatest value--as a means of moving workloads to the edge,  will be a reduction of bandwidth use or cost. 

But a recent survey conducted by Heavy Reading--94 percent of whom were connectivity providers--suggests the top motivator for moving workloads to the edge is to “reduce bandwidth use or cost.” “Improved application performance” was fourth on the list, ranked in terms of “top motivators.”

source: Heavy Reading 

To be sure, multiple values exist. But it is worth noting that the intended value as developed by suppliers  is not always the “perceived value” seen by end users or customers.