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It is difficult to ignore the significant impact of cloud computing for enterprise and end-users. Enterprise users leverage on its scalable factor to meet their software needs and improve network performance. On the other hand, end-users experience simplified lives from the cloud, including better communication channels and increased productivity. When mobile meets the cloud, mobile […]
It is difficult to ignore the significant impact of cloud computing for enterprise and end-users. Enterprise users leverage on its scalable factor to meet their software needs and improve network performance. On the other hand, end-users experience simplified lives from the cloud, including better communication channels and increased productivity. When mobile meets the cloud, mobile cloud computing emerges, resulting to a richer user experience.
Juniper Research published a survey on mobile cloud adoption, indicating that the “Annual revenues from cloud-based mobile applications will reach nearly $9.5 billion by 2014, fuelled by the need for converged, collaborative services, the widespread adoption of mobile broadband services and the deployment of key technological enablers such as HTML5 and the Open Mobile Alliance’s Smart Card Web Server (SCWS).”
Here’s what happens when mobile meets the cloud:
Native and Mobile Cloud Apps in Mobile Devices
Go to the iTunes Store or PlayStore and you will find tens of thousands of native apps that you can install in your mobile device, whereas mobile cloud apps allows users to view and access the app UI (user interface) using a mobile web browser that requires an Internet connection.
The emergence of native and mobile cloud apps allows both the enterprises and consumers to use them for convenience, productivity and efficiency while on the go. They can check their mail via Gmail, ask Siri or Google Voice for directions, store files in Dropbox and access other cloud-based apps. It also allows enterprises to implement BYOD strategies that enhance project collaborations.
Opportunities for App Developers
Cloud computing is now becoming the de facto way to build and deploy apps, providing opportunities for app developers to create and innovate through online tools and APIs as platforms.
Since cloud service providers offer scalable cloud platform for developers to build and test apps, a rising league of startups and amateurs are given the opportunities to monetize native apps and build cloud-based apps for large enterprises. Working in a cloud environment also increases the speed and enhances collaboration among the developers.
Mobile Cloud Apps for Enterprise Users
Mobile cloud computing is defined as the infrastructure where both data processing and storage happen outside the mobile device, whether that is a tablet, smartphone or pocket PC.
Juniper Research said that, “Enterprise applications will account for the majority of revenues over the next five years, with businesses increasingly seeking to capitalise on the ability of Platform as a Service (PaaS) providers to offer scalable, flexible data storage solutions allied to device agnostic, synchronised office services.”
Statistics prove that enterprise users are becoming mobile cloud adopters, a phenomenon that clearly shows the substantial contribution of cloud for corporate data users. Compared to native apps that require users to install it in the device, mobile cloud apps are safer since the data are installed on the cloud rather than in the device.
Entertainment, Leisure and Games for Everyone
Mobile users can watch a live stream using a tablet, play a multiplayer game and use Google Voice assistant for queries. All these are possible through the hosting capabilities of cloud that provides richer experience on entertainment, leisure and games anytime and anywhere as long as there is Internet connectivity.
Cloud Technology Improves Network Coverage
The disruptive effects of mobile cloud computing push the telecommunication service providers to improve their broadband coverage. Mobile cloud apps require a faster Internet connection because it requires data processing and storage outside the handheld device. 3G and 4G networks along with Wi-Fi connectivity are the mediums for better connectivity on mobile devices.
Since the exchange of data leads to high volumes of traffic, a centralised processing concept called Cloud-RAN (Radio-Access-Network-as-a-Service) has the ability to leverage on the cloud techniques to centralise the computational resource of mobile networks and perform the baseband processing.
