Reader Forum: Mobile cloud computing – The value-added role for service providers

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In a few short years, cloud computing has gone from a mere concept to a firmly entrenched strategic technology in businesses around the world. It has carved the path for new business models, and transformed the way companies are run, services are provided and customers are served.
But cloud computing is not limited to the conventional definition of enterprise or consumer applications and data being hosted in the cloud and accessed on-demand via the fixed broadband network. It has attracted the attention of the mobile industry, and companies like Google Inc.are promoting a form of mobile cloud computing where applications running in the cloud are accessed from a thin handset client or even a browser, providing virtually unlimited processing power, huge amounts of storage and the promise of cross-device platform compatibility.
There’s no doubt that this form of mobile cloud computing has huge potential. Research firm ABI predicts that the market for mobile cloud applications will grow from $913 million two years ago to $19.7 billion by the end of 2014.
However, this definition of mobile cloud computing is very limiting, particularly for service providers such as mobile operators, as it does not leverage the powerful assets of the mobile network itself. What’s more, with initiatives such as the GSM Association’s OneAPI and the Wholesale Application Community, which has adopted the OneAPI standard, the mobile industry is beginning to align itself to fully exploit the potential of mobile cloud computing.
The true value of mobile cloud computing lies in extending the principles of cloud computing – such as on-demand access, pay-as-you-go, everything-as-a-service and device-agnostic applications – to the mobile domain. Mobile operators have valuable assets, such as reliable communications, billing relationships and customer intelligence, that can be used by third parties, such as enterprise solution providers and application developers, to improve their customers’ experience and differentiate their service offering. Until now, these assets were difficult to access due to industry fragmentation and technical barriers, but mobile cloud computing will allow third parties across many verticals to easily tap into these enablers via the mobile cloud, allowing them to reach and bill any end user on any network, using any type of device.
The real power of mobile cloud computing is perhaps best illustrated by an example. The market for enterprise collaboration solutions is growing in importance, driven by the need to increase productivity and reduce project lifecycles, increased multi-site and home working, and the adoption by many businesses of social networking-style practices for internal employee interaction, network building and information sharing. Solutions such as Microsoft Corp.’s SharePoint, IBM Corp.’s Lotus Live suite, and more recently Chatter from Salesforce.com, all aim to make it easier for employees to collaborate, whether they are producing a document, managing project tasks or simply wishing to communicate in real time as a group. Moreover, these solutions are increasingly being delivered as a cloud-based service and accessed via a desktop browser or mobile application.
Such enterprise collaboration solutions are prime candidates for mobile network-enablement via the mobile cloud. At this point, it’s important to be clear about the distinction between “mobile enablement” and “mobile network-enablement” – the former tends to mean the simple rendering of an existing Web or desktop application on a mobile device, whereas mobile network-enablement means embedding on-demand network capabilities into the application to increase its utility, whether the application itself is Web/desktop-based or mobile device-based. This combination of a cloud-based enterprise collaboration service being augmented with mobile cloud-based network enablers creates additional value that goes well beyond the simple act of making an existing application portable.
So, you could think of a cloud collaboration service such as Chatter being augmented with network-derived location and presence information, allowing members of a group to see each other’s real-time whereabouts and current status and making decisions on the best way to interact with each other based on this information. Then, using the messaging and call control capabilities of the mobile network, set up an instant or scheduled group call without the hassle of booking a conference bridge and distributing dial-in details and passcodes.
All of this is possible by extending the base enterprise collaboration service using simple-to-use APIs, provided either by mobile operators or cross-network mobile cloud providers. The advantage of the latter approach lies in the ability to reach all employees regardless of which mobile operator they are a subscriber of – many businesses today acquire their mobile services from multiple providers and/or allow some employees and contractors to use their own phones for business. In some cases the additional features will be created by third-party developer members of the enterprise collaboration solution provider’s developer program (for example, Force.com, from Salesforce.com).
What’s particularly interesting is that as well as individual apps companies, existing cloud providers that specialize in different vertical industry segments such as digital entertainment, financial services, logistics and distribution, news/information services and mobile marketing, are looking to add mobile capabilities to the mix of on-demand services that they currently offer to their customers. These providers are gearing up to implement mobile cloud-based services, striking deals with multiple operators on the back end, but each targeting their own verticals from a go-to-market perspective.
A recently launched example of such a mobile cloud service is NeuStar Inc.’s Intelligent Cloud. This offering provides mobile marketers, app developers, enterprises, and content providers services such as carrier billing, discovery and mobile intelligence services, cross-network messaging, and location capabilities – all in conjunction with existing NeuStar services such as barcode clearing, digital content locker, and short code campaign management.
In summary, mobile cloud computing has the potential to deliver significant value across the entire mobile ecosystem, not just to the over-the-top providers of mobile cloud-based applications. Operators can monetize their network assets and extend their reach into previously untapped market segments; mobile cloud providers can offer new, differentiated services to their clients; and app developers or enterprise solution providers can easily mobile-enable existing applications while reaching and billing customers seamlessly across multiple operator networks.