There’s a lot of press about ‘Cloud Computing.’  It’s being touted as the next big thing in information technology.  Most people are in the middle of a cloud when it comes to understanding this important top: they are surrounded by a fog and can’t make much sense of it. 

And, when you add mobility to cloud computing, many think you have an oxymoron by putting two words together that you may feel don’t make any sense, e.g. government intelligence.  Here’s what you need to know about cloud computing and how mobile plays an important part of the overall architecture.

I was a guest speaker at the CTIA Wireless show recently held in Las Vegas.  The topic was “Cloud Computing Meets the Mobile Enterprise.”  This was a panel session hosted by Eric Lundquist, Editor of Ziff Davis Enterprise. 

Cloud computing is a more up-to-date term about work in remote servers that form a cloud of computing resources.  The web is a form of cloud computing since most of the information that we access using a web browser is collected by a number of different servers located remotely.  The term cloud computing has become popular to reference significant computing environments covering everything from enterprise resource management to atmospheric modeling. 

Many feel that all you need in a client such as a PC or a SmartPhone is a browser.  You use it with a wireless link to the remote resources such as the public worldwide web or privately for enterprise resources.  However, this doesn’t always give the user a great experience that’s ‘friendly’ in the interaction between the user and the device.

In my remarks, I pointed out that the best user experience relative to cloud computing is one in which the user interaction is managed locally via the client such as a SmartPhone. It takes into account the local, smaller screen and the sequence in which the user would most benefit from access to the remote resources.  Significant computing and data management can be done in the cloud and the results sent to the client so that the user benefits from the result but managed in a user-friendly manner.

In essence, give to the local, mobile client the things it can do best and give to the cloud the things it can do best.  Don’t try to control the user experience from the cloud.  Doing everything in the cloud isn’t the best answer (doesn’t enable a good user experience).  And, mobile-only won’t often be able to provide enough computing resources.  But, a hybrid of the two makes the most sense.

If you need any evidence that this is correct, just look at the explosion in the number of mobile applications put into the Apple Apps Store as well as the BlackBerry App World and Android Marketplace.  Many mobile applications today access data remotely or enable others to participate with you in the application such as a multi-player game.  If we run the iPhone weather application (powered by weather.com), it is set up to easily review the weather in the cities that you follow.  But, the weather forecast is managed in the cloud and sent to the mobile device so the user has a great experience.

Another term you’ll hear often today is Software as a Service or SaaS.  This is a similar nomenclature but is defined as cloud computing for a single application.   This is a more modern term than application service provider (ASP).  SaaS helps businesses operate in an ‘on demand’ and ‘pay-as-you-go’ basis but, again, to get the best experience in a SaaS environment requires the development of a mobile client so that the user has the best experience locally and the SaaS provides the computing resources in the cloud.

So, when you hear the term Cloud Computing, think of zillions of servers working together to form a cloud of computing entities.  And, remember that a hybrid Mobile/Cloud architecture provides the best user experience. 

Written By:

J. Gerry Purdy, Ph.D.
Principal Analyst
Mobile & Wireless
MobileTrax LLC
gerry.purdy@mobiletrax.com
404-406-5309
 
Disclosure Statement: From time to time, I may have a direct or indirect equity position in a company that is mentioned in this column.  If that situation happens, then I’ll disclose it at that time.