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Mobile Cloud Computing and Corporate IT

Just this morning, I encountered two different articles that discussed the intersection of mobile devices and cloud computing.  At first, I put it down to the accelerated hype that these two technologies have seen over the past couple of years.  The idea that if both are “really good”, then the intersection must be something like “4x good” but couched in terms of vendor-speak like “Today, it’s not just about how quickly a developer can create an experience, but how quickly that developer can build apps that work with unique devices across a dozen platforms” (Jamin Spitzer, Director of Platform Strategies, Microsoft on Microsoft Azure’s integration tools for iOS, Android, and Windows Mobile).
The rise of smartphones and mobile devices cannot be denied as one of the most significant technologies to impact both work and home since the PC.  The pressure that corporate IT is now feeling to roll out smartphone apps for both the customer and internal core IT applications is rising.  But where does “mobile cloud computing” come in?
Mobile cloud computing was first defined back in early 2010 as “the availability of cloud computing services in a mobile ecosystem. This incorporates many elements, including consumer, enterprise, femtocells, transcoding, end-to-end security, home gateways, and mobile broadband-enabled services.”

The obvious advantage of mobile cloud computing is first to the independent programmers or small startups looking to pay for as much horsepower as they need in the beginning to support their mobile app.  As cloud computing is instantly scalable, they can increase their computing power if their mobile app becomes the next “Angry Birds” overnight.
But where is the advantage to corporate IT in mobile cloud computing?
Even though data indicates that the economy is slowly trending upward, IT budgets are still tight. Mobile cloud computing can give IT managers the ability to roll out new mobile applications without the concern that rapid adoption could tax current hardware and software platforms.  Due to the nature of cloud applications, managers do not need huge capital investments in hardware and software.  Once the rollout is complete and adoption levels have stabilized, an evaluation can be made whether the firm has the capacity to host the services in-house or leave them out on the cloud. Done right, such an initiative could offer corporate IT a path to explore further expansion into cloud computing for additional client-facing services. The mobile cloud could simplify security and assist in dealing with demand spikes.

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Perry Hoekstra

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