Mobile Cloud 2017 will provide a great platform

About the conference

In the recent years, cloud computing has cultivated the outsourcing of computing resources like IT infrastructures, service platforms, and software. With the emergence of ultra-fast 4G mobile networks and highly-featured smartphones, tablets, and wearable computing devices (e.g., with always growing sensing capabilities), the prerequisites are now met for bringing cloud computing to the mobile domain. While first commercial products are restricted to the sharing of files, contacts, etc. among different devices, more sophisticated applications still have to be developed. Future applications of mobile cloud computing will take advantage of the many sensors available on mobile devices, enable new utilization of their generated big data, and have an impact on almost all activities of our socialand business life, and include, but are not limited to, mobile marketing, social networks, smart cities, health care, and business processes.

IEEE Mobile Cloud 2017 will provide a great platform to allow researchers and professionals in the industry to exchange their latest research results and development activities on mobile cloud computing and services. The primary objective is to share research ideas and results, emerging industry technologies, and latest advances.

The Power of the Cloud

Juniper Report notes that the key to mobile’s future depends on the processing power of the cloud itself. Cloud-based mobile apps can scale beyond the capabilities of any smartphone. Cloud apps have the power of a server-based computing infrastructure accessible through an app’s mobile interface. It does not only allow non smartphone owner to access the same mobile applications, but allows the apps themselves to become more powerful.

Cloud Apps and the Mobile Marketplace

Earlier this year, Gartner researchers estimated that $7 billion will be generated by the app store businesses and would reach $29.5 billion by 2013. This would grow even more by 2014 when the mobile cloud-based application market is expected to near $9.5 billion. From these comparisons, it appears that in the near future, there will be more growth for both traditional, device-based apps and mobile cloud-based apps.

Cloud-enabled Enterprise Mobility Growth

Juniper Research sees that enterprise will drive mobile growth. It notes that 75% of the mobile cloud-based application market is represented by enterprise users. Thru smartphones mobile apps, corporate users can company data, share files, collaborate on projects and more.  Moreover, there will also be benefits for consumer-oriented apps. In the next four years, mobile apps will comprise an increasing proportion of the total revenues with business plans that involve subscription-based content and mobile advertising.

HTML5 Will Drive Mobile Computing Revolution

ABI Research released a major study in mobile Cloud computing which details how HTML5 technology, mobile applications and mobilized enterprises will lead the growth.

Juniper Research believes that enterprise applications will account for the bulk of mobile cloud app revenues. HTML5, the core language used to create the web, will bring about a dramatic revolution. HTML5 is the proposed standard for next version web markup language. The cloud-based apps offer improved offline data caching, where the apps will still work even if Internet connection is down. HTML5-enabled apps also reduce server load demand which will make cloud-based mobile connectivity as a means to improve access of nations and locales with poor coverage.

Cloud Apps in Your Mobile

Google’s Gmail and Google Voice for iPhone are just two of the well-known mobile cloud apps. Mobile cloud computing is referred to as the infrastructure where both the data storage and the data processing happen outside of the mobile device. From a consumer’s point-of-view, a cloud-based mobile application is similar to an app purchased or downloaded from a mobile application store like iTunes, where the processing power is driven not from the handheld device, but from the cloud. When launched from the iPhone homescreen, the apps perform like any other app on the iPhone.

Cognitive computing and cloud platforms will change the future of the business

As businesses and governments embark on their digital transformation journey, cognition changes how they engage with their clients. 

Enterprises need cognitive solutions that turn vast amounts of data into insights and competitive advantage. They need access to a cloud platform, not only for IT capability, but for speed and agility. To understand this aspect of customer centricity with digital transformation and more, the Delhi chapter of Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) recently organized an interactive session with IBM India Managing Director Karan Bajwa. 

According to Bajwa, the architecture of any such platform must be a hybrid, spanning both public and private clouds, because businesses will want to leverage their existing investments in applications, IT infrastructure and, most of all, their data. In short, to win in the cognitive era, data matters. Businesses control their data and insights matters. 

In the session, the attendees got a deeper understanding of how Cognitive Computing and Cloud Platform solutions can help companies unleash a new era of innovation and growth. Bajwa also talked in depth about IBM's strategy in India to make digital transformation a reality for businesses. 

"IBM's discussions have always been rooted in the fact that the industry is completely reordering. This era of Cognitive and Cloud will change the way business and societies operate. In this era, our clients are going to make three key architecture decisions that is going to determine the course for the next 25 years - cloud, data architecture and artificial intelligence,'' said Bajwa in a statement. 

Drawing upon a specific use case - Cognitive Fashion, IBM Research India, Director Sriram Raghavan shared insights on how Cognitive solutions can help enhance a customer's retail browsing or buying experience, while IBM India/South Asia Partner, Digital, Kurup Prasad presented on how Digital transformation is not about the technology, but more about the organization's aspirations for their customers, employees, and ecosystem. 

5 Things to Consider When Choosing a Cloud Drive

A client of mine recently purchased a Samsung tablet and wanted to view files from two devices, the tablet and a Windows 8 laptop. In this case, accessibility to files from multiple devices when traveling was the highest priority requirement, but it got me thinking. There are many different cloud drive services to choose from, each with varying features. Add to that that any one person will have differing requirements and you get a bit of a recipe for complications. Want to set up a cloud drive that'll work the way you want it to? Here's a list of considerations to help you make the right choices. 

Security and Privacy

Keeping your data secure is important and each cloud offering has built-in security. With storage of any information, the key question to ask yourself is how sensitive the data is and what the impact would be (to your business or your family) if that data were compromised. For example, if someone gains unauthorized access to personal information, that's likely to pose a greater risk for you than if your stored music files are hacked.

Once you’ve answered that question, look at what features your shortlisted cloud drive suppliers offer:

• Each will have some method of authentication, so follow best practice rules for passwords by choosing something that is not in a dictionary, keeping it to yourself only and changing it often.
• Some cloud providers enable you to store your authentication details in a settings file for easier usage. If this is the case, consider adding additional security measures for your device (such as a screen-lock password) so that if someone else picked it up, they would not have immediate access to your cloud stored data.
• Is the data transferred to and from your device using secure protocols such as https? If not, someone else may be able to "see" your information in transit.
• Are the files stored in an encrypted form on the cloud drive? This makes it harder to get at your data in the event that someone gains unauthorized access to the cloud supplier’s infrastructure. There are also additional tools available that enable you to encrypt files before storing them in the cloud, such as BoxCryptor for Google Drive.

Accessibility

How do you want to access the data in your cloud drive and where do you want to access it from? There are two ways you could use the cloud storage from your device:

• Use the cloud storage as a backup copy only and either manually copy or update the file in the cloud, or use desktop tools (if provided by the cloud drive supplier) to synchronize file changes you make on your device with those on the cloud.
• Only work with the file in its cloud location, and avoid copying it to your local machine. This is useful to expand the storage available on your device. Check that you have the necessary tools on the device to support how you wish to view or work with them.

With new devices appearing all the time, you should also check that the specific ones that you are using are supported by the cloud drive supplier. In the case of my recent client, Sky Drive was already integrated with Office 2013 on the Windows 8 laptop, while Google Drive and Dropbox were already available on the Samsung tablet. What we needed to do was to consider which would best to support how my client wished to interact with the files being stored.

Cost

Think about how much storage you need now and also in a few months’ time. How will your data grow? All of the cloud drive suppliers provide a specific amount of storage for free, but check the price plans should you need to go beyond this, so that you understand the possible costs. Otherwise, you might find yourself looking to change suppliers because the costs have risen unexpectedly.

It's good practice also to periodically review what files you have in the cloud and remove those you no longer need. Be disciplined in doing this. It will cost you less money and it will reduce your risk if any data breach occurs.

Availability

Recent outages to cloud suppliers have attracted headline news. It’s possible that there will be outages to any service. But remember that your access to the cloud is granted via other services; Internet service providers and wireless access points may also suffer failures. Ask yourself what the impact will be if you can't access your cloud drive when you need it.

If the answer is "No big deal, I can wait and try again later," then that’s one end of the scale. But if the answer is "I absolutely need it when I need it," you'll have to take some steps to mitigate the risk that you won't be able to gain access. Make sure your files are available locally so that if your cloud drive is not accessible, you can still get to them. (This is just one drawback of cloud storage. Read about more in The Dark Side of the Cloud.)

Add-Ons, Features and Other Doo-Dads

A number of cloud drive suppliers include productivity tools to support working with stored files. For example, Google Drive includes a very functional office suite, removing the need to have other software licensed and installed on your device. Sky Drive access is provided within Windows 8 and Office 2013 to make file synchronization easy to set up. It also integrates with online versions of Microsoft Office (Office 365). 

Cross-check any included add-on features with your Availability and Accessibility considerations. While these may be convenient, make sure they also suit how and when you want to work with your information.

Cloud Storage, Here I Come?

As with many things in life, one feature or aspect of cloud storage can catch our eye and become the greater part of your decision making. In choosing a cloud drive, include the above considerations in your deliberations to determine which is the most important for you. It will help you select a solution that works the way you want it to.