A country like Singapore puts great importance on digitalisation, as evidenced in the Smart Nation initiative that aims to integrate technology in government affairs, transportation, the health system, and more. As such, businesses that are based or are operating in the Lion City are not only encouraged, but even expected to invest in better technologies to keep up with the fast pace of today’s highly digitalised economy. Technology is understood to help businesses cater more effectively to the growing needs of their customers and to become more competitive in the process.
One such investment that a business owner like you shouldn’t overlook is a high-performance computing (HPC) solution. Here’s an overview of what HPC entails and how it can help your business get a leg up in your home industry:
Higher Speeds, Greater Power
We’re now at an age where every business or organisation typically generates huge amounts of data. But the data may mean nothing if there’s no effective way to make sense of it. Time-sensitive information that can be gathered from your business database, for example, will be rendered moot if it can’t be processed and delivered on time. This is where HPC comes in.
HPC pertains to technology that’s able to process large amounts of data at faster speeds, beyond what normal desktops are capable of. This makes an HPC solution ideal for operations that have heavy computing workloads.
An HPC solution can function on-premise, through the cloud, or in a hybrid set-up that uses both. The latter is often ideal for businesses that plan on expanding, as it allows clients to scale computing operations depending on their needs. For example, you may use HPE servers on-premise to handle your current computing tasks, but should you need more computing power, HPC cloud solutions can supplement these easily.
HPC set-ups will also prove more energy-efficient, considering that you won’t have to run your systems for too long. An HPC configuration may get the job done in a fraction of the time it takes less powerful computers to do so.
Applications for HPC
Overall, the appeal of HPC technology for businesses lies in its ability to tackle large-scale, demanding computing workloads and deliver results in a timely manner. But given its power, HPC can also lend itself to many useful applications. Below are some examples in which HPC is utilised in various ways, for various sectors:
1) AI and Machine Learning
Singapore is among the leading regions in Asia Pacific when it comes to adapting artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace. Businesses are eager to adapt AI in their operations in order to improve operational efficiency, reduce the costs of human error, utilise automation tools for higher productivity, and provide better customer service.
If you’re part of a large-scale business, an HPC solution will allow you to fully utilise what AI has to offer despite the size of your enterprise. Paired with your HPC solution, AI technology can help you provide more personalised customer service, better detect fraudulent transactions, recognise pertinent patterns in your customers’ behaviour, and more. It can also parse through big data accumulated by your business to facilitate machine learning, which will then allow your AI to improve itself whenever accomplishing its designated tasks.
2) Manufacturing and Supply Chain Logistics
Manufacturing companies can use HPC technology to manage their operations, from production to delivery. This is done through improved AI assistance run by powerful HPC systems.
Inefficiency in the supply chain can result in wasted time and resources, so having an HPC system in place can help minimise those losses and ensure well-oiled operations for manufacturers. In a similar vein, HPC technology can also help predict machine failures, giving manufacturers the foresight to have the hardware in question fixed and thus reduce downtime.
3) Medical Research
Medical research can also benefit greatly from HPC. For example, genomic sequencing—that is, deciphering DNA sequences to understand diseases or to develop vaccines against them—can be incredibly complex and taxing to analyse. Analysing even the simplest genome can produce a large amount of data. But HPC technology will enable researchers to better process all the data gathered and do so at faster speeds.
HPC can also contribute to medicine research as well as in the simulation of biological systems to understand disease progression better. In the near future, it will continue to play a key role in formulating more effective treatments.
4) Financial Analysis
The finance sector can benefit from HPC technology by using it to run the predictive analytics that are crucial in risk mitigation and investment analysis. It can also help finance professionals stay on top of market changes, which will put both financial institutions and customers at an advantage when big investment-related decisions have to be made. The technology can also recognise patterns and see how these will affect trends down the line.
Adopting HPC Technology Today
It’s important for any contemporary enterprise to keep up with evolving technologies in the business world, else it risks lagging behind its competitors. HPC is one such innovation you should learn about and consider investing in so that you can optimise your current business operations and improve the way you handle and process data.
Don’t let your data go to waste; rather, make it work for you by gleaning useful information from it to improve your business. If you anticipate further growth and expansion in the coming years, it only makes sense to explore HPC technology and use it to your advantage as soon as possible.
