Seven Cloud Computing Trends in 2012 (Part 1)

Seven cloud computing trends in 2012 - Part1

With 2012 well underway, a few new trends in cloud computing have already been identified. At all levels of implementation, cloud hosting continues to dominate the industry. More than mere storage space, these hosted solutions now offer software-as-a-service (SaaS) and even platform-as-a-service (PaaS) functionality for business. As more business is accomplished using cloud computing technology, many companies are developing a higher comfort level with these advanced systems and are willing to … [Read more...]

Mobile Cloud Computing Will Skyrocket in 2012

Courtesy of kaysha (flickr)

It’s no surprise that many cloud experts predict that mobile cloud computing will become increasingly important in 2012. Given the numbers of smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices shipped every day, more and more users are relying on the cloud as the main driver for satisfying their computing needs, whether it is data storage, applications or infrastructure. A simple Google search for smartphone sales in 2012 quickly reveals booming sales expectations, not least in growing markets … [Read more...]

Mobile Network Operators and the Cloud (Part 2)

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This is the second article from my conversation with a UK-based consultant regarding mobile network operators (MNOs) and their position in the cloud computing and third-party data center market. MNO Platforms are Not on Their Way to the Cloud When it comes to MNOs, I think most will prefer to run their platforms in their own data centers. Keep in mind that most are running proprietary platforms for their mobile networks and VAS platforms How Mobile Networks and Data Networks … [Read more...]

Mobile Network Operators and the Cloud (1/2)

This article is the first of two about our conversation and is a general description of how I see MNOs currently positioned to the cloud. The second article will be somewhat more technically inclined. Telecoms are late entering the cloud domain Companies bring different perspectives to cloud computing, depending on their market, location, jurisdiction, and industry. In addition, the “cloud” has a very open meaning and encompasses a variety of configurations, mainly public, private and … [Read more...]

What’s Next for the Mobile Market – after HP’s Strategy Turn?

Just over a year ago, HP acquired Palm together with its webOS smartphone operating system and a few new smartphones. HP had some ambitious plans of leveraging its innovation culture and marketing channels to firmly establish itself as an important player in the mobile technology ecosystem. HP discontinues developing smartphones and tablets How times have changed. Last week, HP announced that it will discontinue operations for webOS devices, specifically the TouchPad and webOS driven … [Read more...]

Improving the Mobile Cloud

Although most agree that mobile cloud computing holds a great promise for delivering cloud solutions to individuals and even critical corporate applications to employees by enabling access from anywhere, there are still several barriers that need to be addressed to elevate its usefulness and capabilities. For mobile cloud computing to reach its full potential, the following three critical challenges need to be addressed, as detailed in a recent article by Bryan Betts: Lowering network … [Read more...]

More Trends in the Fast-Growing Mobile Apps Market

Nielsen

According to a new Nielsen report, already one in four US adults have smartphones that are more powerful than the computers initially used to send men to the moon. Nielsen predicts that by the end of 2011, the majority of mobile subscribers in the US will have smartphones. What may that mean for mobile apps? Let’s take a look at some data on recent trends. Mobile Apps Since 2009, the Nielsen Company has issued an annual survey called the Mobile Apps Playbook, monitoring and providing … [Read more...]

Will the Mobile Cloud resolve Fragmentation?

A new survey called the “Q2 2011 Mobile Developer Report” conducted by Appcelerator and IDC holds some interesting information about the mobile cloud and smartphone platforms. According to the survey, interest in the Android platform among mobile app developers has recently plateaued, primarily due to concerns around fragmentation and disappointing results from early tablet sales running Android. At the same time, momentum is shifting back toward Apple and its iPhone and iPad. Furthermore, … [Read more...]

Will the Skype deal pay off for Microsoft?

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Microsoft’s deal to buy Skype for $8.5 billion is the largest acquisition in the history of the company. After reportedly outbidding Google and Facebook, Microsoft has a number of solutions that can potentially benefit from this acquisition. But does Microsoft have the right strategy? Skype Has Terrific Exposure Skype has almost 700 million registered users globally, most of them using the free chat, voice and video services from PC-to-PC, or from one Skype account to another. … [Read more...]

The Mobile Cloud: Why it’s so important

A new survey of mobile cloud computing does a good job in defining mobile cloud computing and how it is going to impact cloud computing in general. Firstly, mobile cloud computing is defined as cloud computing extended by mobility and a new ad-hoc infrastructure based on mobile devices. In essence, mobile users are provided with data storage and processing services on a cloud computing platform rather than on the mobile devices themselves. A branch of cloud computing According to the … [Read more...]

Mobile cloud computing and smartphone security

smartphone security

From a security standpoint, it seems inevitable that the mobile cloud is going to be an important enabler. Mobile device platforms, especially open-source smartphone platforms and tablets , are under increasing pressure from hackers and potential virus threats. The first security threats became visible in the mobile domain in 2004, but have been growing ever since. Earlier, mobile phones had limited feature sets and were relatively protected within the operators “walled gardens.” With the … [Read more...]

The Amazon Cloud Turns Five

This month, Amazon Web Services (AWS) turns five years old. As a leader in infrastructure as a service (IaaS), its impact can hardly be overestimated especially as an cloud enabler for SME‘s, new SaaS providers and, increasingly, an option for large companies that want to migrate infrastructure and services to the cloud. In retrospect, it’s amazing to see the number of services that AWS has added to its portfolio in the past five years. The original offering that provides basic compute … [Read more...]

HP’s Cloud Strategy and WebOS

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It’s becoming increasingly clear that with last year’s purchase of smartphone maker Palm and its WebOS, HP is going to develop its own cloud offering. HP CEO Leo Apotheker announced this week that HP wants to provide the platform of choice for cloud services and connectivity and that HP will launch a public cloud offering in the near future. Apotheker also says everything HP will do in the future will be delivered as a service. HP also intends to install WebOS on a variety of devices, … [Read more...]