Mobile cloud computing

As more and more people and various industries start adopting cloud technology, the cloud will grow bigger and bigger. Cloud computing is seen by many as the next wave of information technology for individuals, companies and governments. 

Last year at Gartner Symposium, Gartner predicted that by 2013 mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common Web access device worldwide, and by 2015, media tablet shipments will constitute 50% of laptop shipments. That said, there will be a higher rate of adoption of mobile devices.

The future thus lies in integration of cloud and mobile technology. The term most commonly referred to as mobile cloud computing.  Mobile cloud computing was defined in a 5 March 2010 entry in the Open Gardens blog as "the availability of cloud computing services in a mobile ecosystem”.


Mobile cloud computing as a concept isn’t entirely new, but its widespread adoption and clouds scalability across devices and platforms is a question mark and is being worked upon.

 

 

 

Thanks to IBM, we have a new foundation for Mobile computing. As IBM claims, this new foundation allows users to easily connect their mobile applications to a variety of cloud services and back-end systems. Clearly, the technology is new and poised for rapid growth along with the growth in mobile devices, cloud technology, and enabling technologies.

The biggest advantage from mobile cloud computing is that because the application-support infrastructure is hosted on a highly advanced and shared cloud platform, mobile app developers and users get more higher quality applications and at a very low price. Also cloud supported applications are updated and replaced automatically, intuitively, and with tremendous speed. Amazon has rolled out its cloud platform to thousands of developers, integrating the platform into Kindle, Amazon Instant Video and Amazon MP3 products.

However, there are a couple of barriers to the upcoming mobile cloud conversion. First, the cloud is not yet completely regulated and concerns are raised over mobile security.

Again IBM is at the forefront to tackle this issue. Scott Hebner, VP of Marketing, IBM software group talks about IBM's Integration of Mobile Cloud Computing and Mobile Cloud security.

 

Second barrier is the flickering networks that hinder smooth access of information over cloud. Adequate networks are continuously required to maximize the usage of mobile cloud.

Not deterred by these barriers, companies continue to explore this growing space of mobile cloud computing. For instance, MobStac developed a mobile cloud publishing platform that provides tools for faster development of mobile applications and websites for the customers. Here is an interesting watch from MobStac - Mobile Cloud Publishing.