Do you believe the hype?

Many of you have undoubtedly heard the hype: the ability to break all encryption, discover the cure to cancer, and unlock the mysteries of our universe.

Quantum computing gets a lot of attention, and rightfully so, as some of the world’s most powerful corporations and governments are investing billions of dollars into building these technologies. According to Verified Market Research, the quantum computing market is projected to grow from USD193 million in 2021 to USD1.37 billion in 2027, representing a CAGR of 30.02%. 

It’s a bit of an arms race, if you will, as the immense security and economic implications desired from quantum computers could be revolutionary:

• Achieve exponential increases in computing speed, accuracy, and scale compared to classical computers
• Ability to address intractable problems that are unsolvable with today’s computers
• Transform entire industries and unlock new opportunities across the IT and business world

However, as with any new technological innovation, the hype can often outpace product development. This hype can be dangerous because it creates unrealistic expectations that negatively affect perceptions, timing, and growth.

The reality is, quantum computers are very much in their infancy, and there are significant engineering hurdles on the R&D front that prevent these computers from scaling to solve critical problems today and delivering tangible business value.

As it turns out, building one of these machines, which aims to exploit subatomic particles and their quantum behavior to perform calculations, is incredibly complex, difficult, and expensive. Many experts believe quantum computers are still decades away from becoming a practical reality.

Nonetheless, the quantum buzz has many companies preparing their organizations for a potential quantum reality. This is largely due to the recent investments and “advancements” in quantum computing, such as the claim of “quantum supremacy,” which claims that a quantum computer can solve a problem that no classical computer can solve in a feasible amount of time.

While these interested parties could be genuinely optimistic about the potential of this technology, it is also possible they are experiencing FOMO or “Fear Of Missing Out.” If you’re not thinking about a quantum strategy, chances are your competitors are, as it could one day deliver a significant competitive advantage.

So the question is: Are you missing out?

The Applications of Quantum Computers 

You might ask yourself: “What kind of business problems are quantum computers expected to solve, and how might it add value to my business?” For the executives considering allocating budgets to one day implement a quantum strategy, it is critical to understand the business applications of this technology.

According to many studies and market research reports, optimization is the largest and most promising application for quantum computers. These problems are abundant across virtually every industry (logistics & supply chain, finance, energy, life sciences) and are well suited to benefit from the capabilities conceptualized by quantum computing.

What is optimization?

Optimization is selecting the best solution among various alternatives to a problem that minimizes or maximizes an objective or goal. As an example, let’s say you’re an Amazon logistics planner. Your job is to create an optimal delivery schedule for a fleet of Amazon trucks that includes the shortest, most efficient routes to minimize delivery time and operating expenses while maximizing customer satisfaction and profits. This scheduling problem (famously known as the Travelling Salesman Problem) is too large for classical computers to solve optimally. Quantum computing, on the other hand, aims to solve this problem nearly instantaneously regardless of size and predicts to add tremendous value in operational efficiencies and savings to the bottom line.

However, today’s quantum computers haven’t demonstrated the ability to outperform classical computers when solving optimization problems. It’s not even close.

Optimization, particularly mathematical optimization, is not a new concept. Many companies leverage existing optimization technologies on classical computers to tackle a myriad of real-world business problems that often result in dramatically improved operations, cost savings, and profit margins. Although these approaches typically render good solutions to many problems, they are often suboptimal/approximate solutions. They cannot address the huge yet extremely valuable optimization problems that many feel only quantum computers can ultimately solve optimally.

But what if there was another way to solve these problems? One that isn’t limited by the unavoidable bottlenecks of today’s computers and doesn’t rely on quantum mechanics to perform calculations?

Enter MemComputing.

MemComputing represents a new computing architecture proven to deliver the performance expected of quantum computers today using standard electronics. Based on the computational efficiencies of the human brain, this physics-inspired computing architecture naturally converges to solve the most complex optimization problems orders of magnitude faster than today’s best classical and quantum optimization techniques.

The MEMCPU™ Platform is a cloud-based solution that allows our clients to upload and solve their most complex optimization problems in minutes or seconds. Currently being used by many companies within the Fortune 500 today, the MEMCPU Platform delivers solutions that immediately translate to millions of dollars in cost savings, dramatically improved operations, and a competitive advantage over competitors. For an extensive list of use cases further validating the technology and its impact across industries, please refer to our case studies page.

So this highlights the question:

If the quantum hype is attracting you to explore a possible quantum strategy, doesn’t it make sense to start analyzing where optimization may be relevant in your organization today?

This would allow you to begin identifying, modeling, and solving optimization problems today using existing technologies, such as the MEMCPU Platform, while implementing best practices if/when quantum computers ever become readily available.

Getting Started

Although it is easy to get caught up in the excitement of quantum computing, there is still a long way to go before these technologies can address real-world optimization problems that will have a useful business impact. 

However, the good news is that there are many ways, as mentioned above, to get started on your optimization journey and realize the tremendous returns that these technologies offer. 

If you’d like to explore more about the MemComputing technology and how it addresses a variety of today’s most challenging optimization problems across industries, visit our website, or register for a free account and get started today. 

Why wait for Quantum when MemComputing is here today?

For the first five companies to sign up for an account and mention this blog post, we will grant an extra 20 hours of free compute time.