Gartner: Top 10 Key Technology Trends for 2013

By Saroj Kar On November 6, 2012 1 Comment

Gartner named the top 10 technologies and trends in IT that will be strategic for most organizations in 2013. The analysts presented their findings at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo conference, which was held in Orlando last week. Gartner calls a strategic technology that can have a major impact on the corporate market in the next three years. These technologies are formed at the junction of four converging forces social networks, mobile devices, and cloud information management.

10 main strategic trends in IT in 2013 are:

The Onslaught of Mobile Devices Gartner predicts that by 2013, mobile phones will overtake PCs, becoming the most popular device to access Web in the world, and by 2015, over 80% of all mobile phones sold in mature markets will be smartphones. However, only 20% of these devices will use Windows. By 2015, the supply of media tablets will amount to almost 50% of notebook shipments and Windows 8 will occupy the third place after the Googles Android and Apples iOS. Native Mobile Apps and HTML5 In the market of tools for creating both consumer and enterprise applications, there are more than 100 vendors. Now Gartner classifies mobile software development tools into several categories. In the next few years there will be no single tool suitable for all types of mobile applications. JavaScript performance will push HTML5 into mainstream of web applications. However, the native applications will not disappear and will always offer the best user experience and the most advanced functionality. Personal Cloud

Private cloud is gradually replacing the PC as a place where users keep their personal content and where they subscribe to the service and store personal settings. Private cloud will cause a unique combination of services, web resources, and means of communication that will be the basis of their work with the computer and communication. Corporate Showcase Applications Organizations face the need to showcase their own applications, as some vendors will limit their display to only certain types of devices and applications. Gartner expects that by 2014, many organizations will provide mobile applications to employees through private showcases applications. Internet of Things Internet of Things is a concept that describes how the Internet will expand to the extent that physical objects, consumer devices and physical assets would become more attached to the web. Key elements of Internet of Things, which are embedded in such objects, are built-in sensors, pattern recognition technology and NFC-payments. Smart phones and other smart devices do not just use the cellular network, they communicate via NFC, Bluetooth, LTE and Wi-Fi with a wide range of devices and peripherals watches, displays, medical sensors, smart posters and home entertainment electronics. Hybrid IT and Cloud Computing Gartner predicts that CIOs will do more roles with less resources and cloud computing will push them to go in that direction but it requires more strategy planning. This new mediation role will allow IT departments to consolidate and expand its influence within the organization and become an important force in the face of new, more complex requirements associated with the growing adoption of cloud as an approach to the consumption of IT. Strategic Big Data Companies will start abandon the concept of single data warehouse containing all the information to go to multiple systems with multiple content management, several data warehouses and management of specialized information. Actionable Analytics As productivity and lower cost, IT managers can now afford to adopt the analysis and simulation for each business process. With the cloud, data warehousing and mobility, data analytics, optimization and simulation can be used anywhere and at any time. In-Memory Computing In-Memory computing technology can handle real time and huge amounts of data for internal and external users. The analysis firm says we can now more quickly detect correlations between events in millions of tens of milliseconds. The ability to run applications in both transactional and analytics against the same data set, opens unexplored possibilities for business innovation.

Integrated Ecosystem The market is transitions towards more integrated systems and ecosystems because users want to take advantage of lower cost, simplicity and security. To meet this demand, companies will intervene on several points including combine hardware and software appliances and packaged services

The Future of Cloud Computing 10 Predictions

By Martin Tantow On June 24, 2011 7 Comments

The cloud is revolutionizing computing as businesses and organizations shift from client-server model to cloud computing. In the next years, technology experts and users expect to live mostly in the cloud as they work through cyberspace-based applications accessed from networked devices. GigaOM Pros research releases new opportunities in the cloud, new architectures and startups in the space.

Here are the 10 cloud predictions for the next year.

1. Large organizations will host important applications with cloud providers like AWS and Rackspace. Also, commodity IaaS providers will build up their services for these enterprises. 2. There will be an increase in solid-state drives among commodity and enterprise IaaS providers. New classes of applications and services will be made possible to run optimally in the cloud. 3. In the private cloud space, there will be contraction. The presence of large-vendors and OpenStack-based products will make way for less-successful startups to gather acquisitions. Specialized private cloud startups wont have a hard time finding buyers as they will begin rounding out their private cloud portfolios with acquisitions that deliver specific capabilities. 4. As large vendors realize the need to stake their claims, PaaS acquisitions and launches will be a profitable market. HP, Dell and even Oracle will facilitate PaaS in their public and/or private offerings. 5. The convergence of big data will continue. It will result to advanced analytics features, publicly hosted data-crunching services like the Amazon Elastic MapReduce, and optimization of private cloud software as it incorporate Hadoop clusters or other parallelprocessing systems into the cloud infrastructure.

6. Bigger revenue will be generated for startups that address data-center-to-cloud latency. With the rapid improvement of intra-cloud computing, storage and networking performance, one hindrance would be moving some applications types to the public cloud because of the large quantities of existing data. 7. AWS will be launching a partner program to increase integration with private cloud software. There will also be an open source play for the growing OpenStack support. 8. After the data breach that involves an IaaS cloud or cloud storage service, we will get to see the emergence of a de facto or an official cloud security standard. Cloud providers will be driven to agree on a security protocol that is much better that what they currently have. 9. There will be an increase in PaaS offerings for specialized mobile platforms because Apples iCloud and other consumer-focused cloud services popularity. The current PaaS offering are not well-suited for mobile applications. Developers will look into cloud-based gaming and other mobile applications. 10. Data virtualization will pick up its momentum as data integration gives way. Data virtualization offers the benefits of centralized access without the need to maintain extracttransform load (ETL) system or as large a data warehouse, critical differences as data sources multiply to include SaaS applications, cloud servers and mobile devices.

Cloud Computing Skills Required for IT Employees

By Florence de Borja On February 6, 2013 2 Comments

With the present impact of cloud computing on data access and storage, job descriptions are also experiencing some sort of a metamorphosis as businesses move to the clouds. This welcome change isnt only transforming the IT departments but also the company, as a whole. Today, IT is no longer relegated to fixing issues. Employees in IT departments are now expected to search for cost effective cloud computing applications. With cloud computing, Chief Information Officers can now focus on creating business strategies rather than devote their time to fixing IT problems. There is now a growing demand for cloud strategy consultants, cloud architects, and cloud service planners. In a report released by the Center for Economics and Business Research and EMC, they claimed that the growing demand for cloud computing services will generate at least 446,000 jobs yearly until 2015.

Hotel, retail, and distribution sectors are expected to benefit the most but the public sector is expected to be in great need of about 801,000 cloud computing professionals for the next 5 years. For business, financial, and banking services, around 207,000 cloud positions will be created. Initially, cloud computing requires people with managerial skills because they are expected to take the lead in evaluating cloud computing offerings, creating the firms strategy towards its planned movement to the clouds, negotiating services and contracts with cloud providers, working with the firms legal and procurement departments, as well as choosing the appropriate cloud applications for the company. However, as more and more businesses troop to the clouds, there will be a need for other cloud professionals such as cloud product manager, cloud network engineer, cloud systems engineer, cloud consultant, cloud systems administrator, cloud developer, cloud engineer, cloud sales executive, and cloud software engineer. Skills required for these jobs will include vision and innovation skills; project management, leadership, and business communication skills; negotiating and supplier relationship skills; planning, analysis, and business architectural skills; and technical proficiency. Because cloud computing presents a fresh way of doing business, it is important for a cloud computing professional to fully understand how to tap cloud computing to run the enterprise. Cloud platforms must be simulated in order to find out if the cloud service meets the needs of the company. Leadership is also an important cloud computing skill because cloud applications must be brought into the company to improve the business. A cloud computing professional must be able to negotiate with cloud vendors with the companys interests in mind. He must be able to raise questions about intellectual property rights, physical location, data availability, service level agreements, and service interruptions. Planning is also important because the cloud professional is expected to create a road map for cloud implementations within the company. Lastly, the cloud computing employee must possess the necessary technical proficiency in order to secure the operations of the business in the cloud.

Four Layers of Cloud Computing

By Czaroma Roman On May 1, 2011 2 Comments

Cloud computing can be described as the new era in the world of computing. It is composed of several layers, all of which can be accessed by users connected to it. Understanding what each layer comprises of, the functions of each

layer, how these layers interact with each other, including the need for diverse technological skills to make the elements work together, are all essential. Cloud computing demands a mix of technology skills, negotiating skills, and people skills and business acumen. By simplifying the cloud computing concept into layers, it is easier to define the roles and skills needed within the overall structure to see where your business fits into the model. Here are the four key layers of a cloud environment and the technological skills required to better understand the aspects of cloud computing. 1. The Virtualization Layer This layer forms the foundation of cloud technology. This enables user request for computing resources by accessing appropriate resources and deploy large numbers of virtual machines (VMs) on hardware. The most important skill needed is understanding virtualization management principles, such as load balancing. Other necessary skills are having knowledge of the virtualization platform, storage, connecting storage to a virtualization host, and allocating storage properly. Networking knowledge is also needed to configure hosts properly. 2. The Networking Layer It is in this layer that solid understanding of network protocols such as TCP/IP and domain name server, including switching and routing principles are needed. The ability to rework the entire network on the fly is also essential, especially in network that features numerous ISP connections and devices. 3. The OS Layer The core skills required are ensuring that the system is properly tuned for its role, setting up a server with correct applications and settings, and maintaining optimal performance settings. To ensure that cloud services are optimally deployed, delivered and maintained, networking skills are also vital in this layer. 4. The Application Layer This is the most utilized layer of cloud computing. The cloud provided needs responsibility in the management of the software and databases, including installation, updates and removal. Cloud developers should have knowledge in JavaScript, XML and Perl languages, as well as back-end infrastructure applications like Apache, Tomcat and SQL. As more functionality moves to the internet cloud, every provider and user is needs to develop set of skills required. As time progresses, these layers will shift, blur or might even disappear entirely. As business move into the cloud, it is vital that thorough understanding is involved as to what elements, skills and changes are involved in the process.

Cloud Computing to Change How Jobs are Done

By CloudTimes On December 27, 2011 Leave a Comment

Cloud computing is obviously a game changer and a life changer; this brings to mind how the nature of work and jobs will be affected in 2012. This includes not just the IT Technology, but all jobs that operate on the cloud. IT will play a strategic role on the direction that businesses will take as cloud makes it a more scalable and reliable platform. Partner and principal technologist of Concentrated Technology, Greg Shields told Jason Helmick of Interface Technical Training, For a long period of time, IT was in that Wild West mode. We were making up the rules as we go. You dont grow your own food. You dont raise your own cows anymore for meat. You go to the grocery store because somebodys figured out that I can create this experience that is the grocery store, and I can do it at a lower cost, both in time and in dollar cost. IT leaders are now tasked to identify and generate resources whether they are from the existing data center or they are from the public cloud. CIOs are also expected to identify and develop relevant cloud computing infrastructure. A recent study of 685 CIOs was conducted by CA Technologies. The figure showed that 54% of the CIOs were happy from cloud computing for it gave them more time on business strategies, development and innovation. 71% said that they already migrated to cloud computing and see their position as a viable means to generate additional management roles, unlike CIOs that have not been virtualized.

The greater challenge that companies are faced with as a result of this trend is to find highly skilled people. VP of global marketing CTO for EMC Corporation, Chuck Hollis said in his blog, If youre an IT leader, youve got an interesting challenge on your hands. You most likely dont have the right portfolio of end-state roles, skills and processes. And you are probably lacking the people with skills who can lead the change from present state to future state. Other jobs that will be on demand include application development professionals and managers, enterprise architects, cloud capacity planners, cloud architects, cloud service managers and cloud solutions consultant. Cloud is expected to be part of each applicants portfolio and will be an integral part of their job qualifications. COO of The Open Group and CEO of the Association of Enterprise, Steve Nun said, Business executive involvement will be especially helpful when outsourcing IT processes, such as cloud computing. Business executive involvement will be especially helpful when outsourcing IT processes, such as cloud computing, IBMs Kevin Daley and Vice Chairman of The Open Group Business Forum added, Cloud will help increase the speed of development and change. The business architect will be called upon to ensure the strategic relevancy of transformation in a repeatable fashion as cycle times and rollouts happen faster. Hollis of EMC emphasized that IT people will become the infrastructure enablers. The cloud has also placed software engineers on the spotlight; in fact, CareerCast identified it as the best job position in 2012. Here, is a glimpse of the new breed of professionals as a result of cloud computing: Cloud Computing Architect Provides a key role in cloud architecture and design plus the implementation of various cloud-based solutions; also collaborates with CTO, engineering and product managers to drive optimized cloud solutions. Cloud Specialist Provides the expertise in troubleshooting design and engineering problems by working closely with engineers and project managers. Lead Software Developer Provides cloud-focused business solutions that will increase company value and enterprise growth. Also provides continuous upgrade of the cloud platform to allow cloud integration with platforms such as Google and Amazon. Systems Engineer Provides support for a seamless transition of services to the cloud computing platform. It also involves development of cloud-based business plans and strategies with high RMA, performance level and security. Cloud Architect Provides technical support for clients and prospective users and interacts with CIO and CTO levels regarding best cloud practices that will benefit the clients. Cloud Alliance Manager Provides management and control of cloud partnerships through effective marketing programs that will be equally beneficial for all stakeholders.

Virtualization & Cloud Computing Subject Matter Expert Provides the expertise from cloud computing roadmap development from a technical and mission perspective, plus identification of probable cloud obstacles and provides solutions for them.

CIO Summit 2011: The Future of Cloud Computing

By Irmee Layo On July 25, 2011 Leave a Comment

IDCs Asia Pacific Cloud services and technologies principal analyst, Chris Morris predicts that the future challenges to be faced by the chief information officer (CIO) of 2015 will be trends in outsourcing, the cloud giants dictating the trends with cloud vendors and the converged IT infrastructure. According to Morris who spoke at the recent CIO Summit 2011, there are four specific frameworks that will change the cloud model forever.
Outsourcing 3.0

The first one will be Outsourcing 3.0, this will directly affect how services used on mobile devices, mobile phone applications and information analytics will evolve and integrate within the cloud platform. Morris said If you just assume that the Cloud is a place to put your application in, or replace infrastructure then you are going to get left behind. Morris predicts that Outsourcing 3.0 will be just another tool kit in 2015. He said Outsourcing 3.0 using the cloud would have a full portfolio of services from commodity to mission critical services, and because of that service management plays a critical part of the IT service cycle.
Hybrid Cloud to Include Data Center Transformation

The second model will be the changes with the hybrid environment of both the public and the private cloud. There will be more integration among the two and this will evolve to include cloud-based data centre revolution. There is a long way to go with data center transformation, as the target for large enterprises is 100 virtual machines per server by 2012, Morris predicted. The network and storage is being overstressed by the number of virtual machines and the ROI is not being addressed, Morris said.

Big Data Will be Part of Cloud Supplier Portfolios

Morris also predicts that the provision for Big Data will become part of the Cloud suppliers portfolios. In fact, according to the IDC statistics that was released in 2010, 9.8 exabytes of data storage was purchased by cloud suppliers from the Asia Pacific alone. Morris said The Cloud service provider has a big part to play in this as they have the relationships with the storage providers that are on demand. According to Morris, there will be a change in the suppliers portfolio of services, because suppliers will gradually decrease leaving only the cloud giants that can give more service offerings for the users. Morris said By 2015 public cloud will probably be more important than virtual private cloud because those security and reliability levels will have come up and there will be 80 per cent of new applications developed for public cloud. The cloud suppliers capability need to be closely monitored. Your future will depend on your ability to source and manage these applications from a public cloud environment. You as a CIO are going to be dealing more with Cloud service hosts, far fewer technicians, and the vendors are going to vanish. We predict that up to 35 per cent of your key vendors will be Wiki trivia by 2015. The trend with the cloud vendors is that they will be taken over and be offered partnerships due to their wide base of customers in the cloud market.
The Cloud Skills Base Will Change

Finally, the model of cloud skills base will revolutionize IT technology operations with outsourcing organizations that manages technology and IT people. If you are looking at the future mix of an organization, it would be 80 per cent technicians and 20 per cent management. That means you need to retrain and re-skill people who can manage services, Morris said.

Mobile Cloud

Mobile cloud computing is gaining stream. According to the latest study from Juniper Research, the number of mobile cloud computing subscribers is expected to grow rapidly in the next five years. Cloud-based mobile market will generate annual revenue of $9.5 billion in 2014 from $400 million in 2009, at an average annual increase of 88%.

This phenomenal growth is driven by new web standard HTML5, increased mobile broadband coverage and the need for always-on collaborative services for the enterprise.
Cloud Apps in Your Mobile

Googles 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 consumers point-ofview, 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.
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-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.
The Power of the Cloud

Juniper Report notes that the key to mobiles 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 apps 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.

5 Major Trends in Mobile Cloud Computing

By Martin Tantow On June 5, 2011 7 Comments

If a survey will be conducted on the most glorified technology trends of the year, there are only two answers most people will say; its either cloud computing or smartphones and tablets. Its everywhere on wall discussions of most IT forums and communities. While some vendors are busy slapping these products, the trend is still up for these two giants. And millions of dollars on investment continue to flood into cloud computing and mobile applications. Major companies like Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle and IBM are only a few of the major investors who are willing to empty their pockets for it. What is so interesting is the intersection happening between cloud computing and mobile computing, giving rise to the new trend in the Mobile Cloud. Although mobile cloud and the Cloud may seem to be interchanged and viewed as one and the same, they are actually different with regard to security, platform infrastructure, design and many others. Other differences will be noticeable as the new mobile cloud continues to evolve. Mobile cloud in its infancy has very strong major trends to look out for:
1. Acceleration in the Consumerization of IT through Mobile Computing

The increase in demand from workers to access non-PC devices and be able to work everywhere on smartphones and tablet PCs speeds up the consumerization of mobile computing. David Link, CEO and co-founder of ScienceLogic says about IT operations and cloud solutions, IT cant think about things on a node-by-node basis anymore. They must think of resources as aggregate services that they must make securely available to a number of devices, including phones and tablets. As social networks like Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin continues to be popular and convenient for users, they have now become a place to do business and work using mobile gadgets. The tremendous increase in demand for smartphones and tablets has a parallel demand for IT solutions to speed up applications development for mobile computing while

ensuring security is in place.

2. Risk Challenges are Evolving

The issue of security vulnerability in mobile computing increases the risk more than double and has caught the attention of hackers to invade smartphones and tablets. This has been examined and authentication verification was strengthened. Certain security protocols have also been established like limitations to access and data modification from end-users. However, this may only work for awhile because IT people will either find a way to work around these restrictions that are often a less secure platform. Custie Crampton, VP of Mobile Device Management Technology at Tangoe, said, There is risk with everything. The risks are double edged, you run the risk of having your system hacked or you also run the risk of losing key and talented people for not putting up with the technology demands. Crampton believes that there is no way, but to move forward with mobile computing, If you create different categories of data, you can then define what each level means and how to control it, he said.
3. Mobile Computing will Revolutionize How Work is Done

When mobile computing entered the cloud, one of the first applications that got the highest demand was email access; whether it was for personal or business use. That is why Microsoft, Google and Salesforce.com laid out immediately their cloud based email platforms. A recent Frost & Sullivan report summarized in this statement the company demand for email to be on the cloud: After years of uncertainty, the North American hosted enterprise email markets have finally taken off. As businesses perceive email as mission-critical, they were skeptical about email applications residing outside the enterprise in a third-party data center in the past. However, the entry of large cloud-based providers and on-premise email vendors has lent credibility to the software as a service (SaaS) delivery model. In addition, technology maturity and cost advantages have helped spur the growth of hosted email services among enterprise users. Mobile cloud computing will change and speed up how work is done especially for those in sales and marketing. This trend is a welcome paradigm shift for mobile users, but will put a tremendous pressure with IT solutions providers.
4. Mobile Computing will Become the Internet of Things

Joy Weiss, President and CEO of Dust Networks says about Internet getting everywhere, If you can put a sensor and a network anywhere, then think of all of the places you might want to monitor and all of the data youd like to collect. Today, with sensors running on batteries or harvested energy, you already have the ability to get information from anywhere or connect to anything anywhere.

This is where mobile computing will cross the threshold; while everyone else are busy managing and building the cloud platform and infrastructure, network servicing companies are getting their devices ready to mix everything together, making it the Internet of Things.

Projections made by IBM, Cisco and Ericsson that there will be 1 trillion Internets connected to mobile phones by 2015 was moved up by IBM to 2013. Network companies and mobile computing will be the cornerstone for end users and service providers such as: sensor networks, smart grids and smart buildings.
5. Mobile Computing is Here to Stay Whether People or IT are Prepared or Not

David Link of ScienceLogic who tagged mobile computing as the Internet of Things and Device-aggedon, referred to this even in the early adoption of cloud computing. In fact, many people are unaware that smart grid and smart parking meters they now use are all cloud-based applications. Even business owners who are firm about their stand not to move their core applications to the cloud, are also unaware that while they are using Salesforce.com, OpenAir and other SaaS applications, they are already in the cloud.

Top 5 Predictions for Mobile Cloud Computing

By Martin Tantow On December 30, 2011 Leave a Comment

A recent survey was made by Cisco IBSG (Internet Business Solutions Group) on the impact mobile cloud computing will have on businesses this coming 2012. The survey was conducted over 1,000 respondents from various businesses and the results were very interesting. The top 5 predictions from Cicsco IBSG was released via a cloud computing infographic to help users to better understand what mobile cloud is all about. Here, are the following predictions they made:
1. Video Conferencing via Mobile Applications will be Common for the Workplace More people will find video conferencing via their mobile phones very convenient for the virtual workplace. This platform is run with the use of a desktop webcam, telepresence station or

2.

3.

4. 5.

simply a mobile device unit. To date, only 20% are ready to maximize this cloud feature, but by the end of 2012 the prediction said that more people will make the most of this cloud application. Unified Cloud Solutions will be the Demand for most Businesses Businesses will be more apt to use different gadgets including mobile phones, so the demand for integration and unified cloud solutions will be the trend. Users will want a seamless transfer of files and even calls from a mobile phone to an office work phone. Mobile Phones will be an Active Extension for Desktops Many users will clamor for virtual desktop integration (VDI) Users will demand the same desktop experience and performance on their mobile phones. This will provide users the flexibility and mobility they need plus it will make the business more productive. Personal and Professional Limitations will Haze The mobile cloud will make work and social life more meaningful as the Internet access through mobile cloud becomes accessible and secure, which will make business more fruitful and personal life in a state of balance. Thin Client and Mobile Devices will be the Trend for 2012 Use of device will shift away from the smartphone as data and files are stored in the cloud. The security issue will be managed through a thin- client approach, so that when devices are stolen the risk of losing the data can be managed as well.

Cloud Computing and Smartphones

By Martin Tantow On March 1, 2011 1 Comment

For the past two years, the tech industry trends have revolved around cloud computing and smartphones. As Venture Capital firms rapidly invest in cloud computing and smartphone companies, it is important to look at how these two technologies interrelate. Today the majority of mobile applications do most of the data storage and processing on the mobile devices themselves and not in the cloud, going forward cloud computing and smartphone technologies will evolve into a mobile Cloud, with mobile specific infrastructure, cloud storage, security and compliance, and applications among other things. As users/employees spend less time on PCs and notebooks and more time on smartphones and tablets, to access information and perform work related functions, it is crucial for cloud service vendors to deliver cloud functionalities compatible with a number of different devices, including smartphones and tablets.

Mobile cloud computing has many advantages among the few listed below:

Sharing information and applications without the need of complex and costly hardware and software as the business computations are run in the cloud. Enhanced features and functionality of mobile phones through new cloud applications. Ease of access and development since the access point to mobile cloud computing is through a browser and not a mobile operating system. Cheaper for cloud computing vendors to build mobile cloud applications because of economies of scale, i.e access to all smartphone devices, one application can be shared and accessed by many smartphone users. Broader reach, since mobile cloud applications can be accessed through a browser, the cloud computing applications can be reached by all mobile users not only smartphone users, as long as the mobile has access to the internet.

Some of the potential pitfalls to mobile cloud computing is the lack of internet speed and access. Also, mobile cloud computing presents challenges already inherent in PC and Notebooks such as security breaches, and viruses attacks, and it is thus important to have identity authentication as well as controlled and secured access. Mobile cloud computing will provide many benefits for cloud computing, mobile network operators. Among those benefits: increased reach, reduced costs, and reduced reliance on hardware and software equipments.

The Future of Mobile Phones is in the Apps

By Martin Tantow On May 9, 2012 Leave a Comment

The network solutions company, Juniper, is anticipating 60 percent growth in the next couple of years due to its cloud computing strategy and focus on telecommunications service providers. Juniper knows that internet users will start looking past devices, gadgets or hardware. Focus will be on services and gadgets will have to learn how to interact with each other in order to allow users a seamless data experience. The future of mobile business is not about mobile phones. Its about the user and how they expect data services to serve them, regardless of where they are and what device they are using.

Smartphone Penetration is Growing

By the end of 2012, smartphone sales internationally will grow 25 percent. That is 472 million in 2011 to 630 million. The key is in evolution of smartphones itself. Just a few years back, Blackberry was the only smartphone accepted in the corporate world. Now, iPhones and Androids have replaced most of Blackberrys market share. Maravedis anticipates that over 50 percent of smartphones will be Android OS, 18 percent will be iPhone, 13 percent will be Windows and 12 percent will be Blackberry.

Mobile Phones as Data Silos

When Google introduced the Chromebook last year, one message was clear. Google wants us to rely on the cloud. Programs, files, applications and media are all browser based and in the cloud. Chrome is not the only browser that synchs with the cloud for contacts, emails, bookmarks, and even games. However, all of these browsers still have to store user information on the hardware itself. Chrome OS does not. Everything is in the cloud which allows people to log in to any device and access all their files, applications, media, and information.

Mobile Phones as Apps Multiplier

Appcelerator and IDG determined that 84 percent of smartphone users are using cloud-based services. The majority of this is primarily pushed by popular social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even Skype. These sites create mobile versions of their sites allowing users to log in and use the service seamlessly. However, growth of apps supplements is coming fast. For example, there is an app that allows a user to access any data of file from his phone and send it through Dropbox with only a couple of clicks. There is also an app that allows a user to access files on his desktop and other data through a mobile phone. These apps are making carrying laptops unnecessary. Everything can now be put in the cloud and accessed through the phone.

Mobile Phone as Unifier of Fragmented Devices

Development of intelligent technologies such as HTML 5 is making it possible and easier for developers to create applications and services that operates across all platforms. It is also minimizing problems such as latency as it allows data caching. Unstable internet connection is becoming less of a problem. CND or Content Delivery Network is also allowing dynamic re-routing of traffic based on user location (read our review on CloudFare). This development has motivated more people to own multiple devices. Theres the desktop in the office, laptop for personal use, tablet for external meetings, and now, a smartphone. The

mobile phone seems the one poised to unify all devices. Desktops and laptops are most likely going to be left in the office or homes and tablets are still considered not quite a laptop, not quite a phone. Mobile phones are the ones thats capable of doing everything personal computer can do.

So, Whats the Future

The future of mobile phones is in the clouds. Its not about providers anymore. Its not about the features of the phone. It will be about that mobile phones are becoming the primary computer of everydays life. Development should be made to allow for seamless integration with other devices and overcome latency limitations.

Gartner: Personal Cloud to Replace Traditional Business IT Solutions by 2014

By Irmee Layo On March 22, 2012 2 Comments

Gartner Special Research team conducted a study to identify how business enterprises plan to thrive in the coming years. Obviously, the cloud had significantly influenced how business strategies are done and how customer needs are met. Gartner released two reports that looked into the cloud computing trends; entitled, The New PC Era: The Personal Cloud and the Consumer Research: Personal Cloud. The traditional business IT solutions will soon be replaced by personal cloud by 2014 according to Gartner, Inc. Gartner projects that the personal cloud will revolutionize user experience because of its outstanding level of flexibility. This is as users become engaged with various computer devices in their daily activities whether in business or in personal computing. In addition to this, the mobile cloud continues to entice users as it continues to leverage on its features, strengths and applications that are expected to improve user productivity and satisfaction levels. Gartners Research vice president, Steve Kleynhans said, Major trends in client computing have shifted the market away from a focus on personal computers to a broader device perspective that includes smartphones, tablets and other consumer devices. Emerging cloud

services will become the glue that connects the web of devices that users choose to access during the different aspects of their daily life. Enterprises were left wondering for the past two years as to how client computing solutions will affect the market in the next five years, and what other developments will arise. Many call this era the post-PC era, but it isnt really about being after the PC, but rather about a new style of personal computing that frees individuals to use computing in fundamentally new ways to improve multiple aspects of their work and personal lives, said Kleynhans.

Driving Forces that Shape Cloud Computing Trends

Consumerization several factors serve as precursors to the trend in information technology and how it has affected the user consumerization. Among the key factors include individual differences in technology expectations, social and Internet influences, various mobile device innovations, data availability and empowerment of consumers. Virtualization flexibility and scalability of IT organizations were significantly improved by virtualization. It has minimized irregular incidences as a result of application issues from various operating systems, processor architectures and a wide genre of devices. Virtualization has made it possible to allow applications and processes to integrate seamlessly in the emerging cloud computing world. Applications user design, delivery and consumption have dramatically changed the corporate environment and the business market. The emergence of various applications raised the need for better cross-platform portability and flexibility, user experience and powerful cloud-servers. Self-Service Cloud the cloud platform provided a new level of opportunity and empowerment to users. Users can now have the scalability and endless resources to accomplish their IT solution plans that are highly dependent on user choice of applications, content and services. Mobility the partnership of the mobile industry and the cloud can perform outstanding business and personal IT solutions. This is mainly from the mobile computing convenience and flexibility features. The other emerging mobile cloud user interface has made user experience very practical. Mobile features included touch-based aspects, complex interaction facilities, contextual and speech facilities and a huge level of freedom. Mr. Kleynhans said, The combination of these megatrends, coupled with advances in new enabling technologies, is ushering in the era of the personal cloud. In this new world, the specifics of devices will become less important for the organization to worry about. Users will use a collection of devices, with the PC remaining one of many options, but no one device will be the primary hub. Rather, the personal cloud will take on that role. Access to the cloud and the content stored or shared in the cloud will be managed and secured, rather than solely focusing on the device itself. Additional reports are to be released before the end of this month as Gartner releases its new analysis on its webinar entitled, Personal Cloud and the $2T Consumer Market.

Other than the reports from Gartner, cloud market continued increase in revenues has also made a point with the personal cloud. In particular, the Android market continues to top the mobile cloud market as it continues to design and develop new apps that are focused on excellent user computing experience. Among the highlights of the Android apps include the easy navigation tabs between several pages; background music plays while using other apps; the new file sharing system called webshare links, excellent photo viewer, accounts and password multiple saving setting and UI improvements for tablets. Another personal cloud using Drobo with Pogoplug has features that will improve media streaming and file access and sharing. Drobo has excellent personal cloud features that are offered at such affordable cost; with Drobo, users can consolidate files without so much hassle by doing away with dealing with external drives, automatically protects stored files and data without the need for configuration to restore settings, heavily secured access points from any device, huge data storage system and various ways to seamlessly sync data between and across platforms. The trend towards personal cloud may still have a lot of issues to consider like security and reliability, but, in spite of the questions and concerns it continues to make a strong breakthrough in IT computing solutions whether in personal or business aspects.

Goodbye Personal Computers. Hello Personal Cloud.

By Martin Tantow On April 27, 2012 Leave a Comment

And here is thy corporate future two years from now, personal computer will take a back seat. The personal cloud will be the new sun of the corporate solar system. It will be the everyones most important possession which is strange because its not tangible. That, however, is beside the point. Gartners scientific crystal ball has revealed what the corporate world will look like in 2014 and its cloudy. This needs clarification. Gartner is not saying people will not be needing personal computers anymore. It is only saying that it will not be a center of business operations. People are going to be more flexible, mobile and limitless by 2014 and they will not let a piece of hardware to limit what they can

do. Ultimately, people will be mobilizing every available resources to do what they need. Those devices include smartphones, tablets, and even barrowed devices. The expectation of consumers is to be able to move seamlessly between devices as if all these devices are one. In essence, that is already beginning. Apple is promoting heavily the benefits of owning Apple devices. Updating your calendar, for example, on your iPad will automatically update your calendar on your iPhone and macbook. By 2014, that seamlessness will cut across devices, all brands, and all countries through the cloud. They are labeling it the post-pc era. This may be a little inaccurate because the transition is not about hardware or software. Its about the change in lifestyle and culture.

1. Power to the Consumers

This may be a little predictable but it is important to mention. Consumers being content makers and trend drivers are all the rage but Gartner is saying that is nothing compared to what is coming. Essentially, the trend will continue but they will be more aware of what they have, how powerful they are, and what they can accomplish given all the devices and resources at their disposal. They will still set trends but more importantly, it will be a trend where they are the center. It will be about what they want and need.

2. Intangibility is the Key

Things are going to move to the clouds. To supplement the expectations that consumers have in a couple of years, everything has to be moved to the cloud. This is the only way processing, systems, and applications are going to be product and brand agnostic. Companies will move all they can to the virtual world. This, in the end, will also allow them to buy low power phones, PCs, and tablets and expect everything to run as smoothly. Hardware will be nothing but a bridge that will connect the user to their contents.

3. The Change that Apps Brings

In about two years, apps developer will realize just how much they are changing the market. One important influence is the way they are training people to expect portability. Simple and free applications are now being used for important functions like changing the setting of servers or tap into contents housed in the cloud.

4. Customer Self Service

Google started it when they made available a free email service with a space so big, it blew everyones mind, especially that of Yahoo. Users suddenly realized they can turn their emails into a personal cloud. They have been doing it since. They followed it up with training their users to help themselves find solutions to their own problems, set up their own accounts, develop their own systems, and fix their own bugs. They did this by giving their users the raw materials they can use to build what they need. It is now the norm. Companies are expected to give their consumers the option to access the utilities they need to build their own infrastructure and see their progress as it happens.

5. What I Want, I Get Right Now

Consumers are done waiting. They dont want to hear the Well get back to your line. They know that the internet has no limits. They access it anytime and anywhere. They dont see any reason there should be a delay between them and what they are trying to accomplish. That is only possible if and everything is in the cloud. Their main device is the device they are using at the moment of need. Steve Kleynhans, research vice president at Gartner, said that cloud services will become the glue that connects the web of devices that users choose to access during the different aspects of their daily life the specifics of devices will become less important for the organizati on to worry about. Users will use a collection of devices, with the PC remaining one of many options, but no one device will be the primary hub. Rather, the personal cloud will take on that role. Access to the cloud and the content stored or shared in the cloud will be managed and secured, rather than solely focusing on the device itself. Enough said.

The Success of Enterprise Mobility Goes Through the Cloud

By Guest Author On March 5, 2012 1 Comment

By Jesus Rodriguez, Tellago, Inc and Tellago Studios, Inc Enterprise mobility is, arguably, the most important trend in todays enterprise IT. The ability to enable enterprise business capabilities through mobile devices is an essential element of the modern enterprise. Almost ironically, despite being a technology trend called to

modernize the traditional enterprise, most companies have been approaching enterprise mobility using very archaic models. Let me try to explain. With some isolated technical exceptions, most enterprise mobility platforms in the market can be seen as a slightly more moderns models of Research in Motions (RIM) enterprise platform. To put it in simple terms, using an enterprise mobility platform today is like using Blackberry Enterprise Server for your IPhone.
Why Do We Say This?

The current enterprise mobility platform landscape is filled with technologies that resemble the following model.

An On-Premise Enterprise Mobility Server: A server side infrastructure that sits in your corporate network and is responsible for controlling aspects such as device management, cloud security capabilities, integration to line of business systems among other essential capabilities of an enterprise mobility infrastructure. What this means is that organizations need to invest in on-premise hardware and software infrastructures to enable any basic enterprise mobility experience. A Mobile Device Manager: A traditional and somewhat overrated element of any enterprise mobility infrastructure, the MDM layer is responsible for controlling the management and provisioning of mobile devices. What this essentially means is that organizations focus on managing the devices instead of managing the specific users and mobile applications. A Proprietary Developer Framework: Traditional enterprise mobility platforms typically include proprietary development tools and frameworks to implement applications that can leverage the capabilities of the platform. What this essentially means is that developers cant take advantage of the top mobile development platforms such as IOs, Android and Windows Phone SDKs, PhoneGap, AppAccelerator, Sencha or many others.

As a result of embracing the aforementioned model, enterprise mobility has become an incredibly complex and highly expensive effort that requires the use of proprietary technologies, which comes with the required army of trainers, consultants and major upgrade fees. Even more importantly, given its high cost in infrastructure, resources and time, enterprise mobility has become a privilege of large companies leaving most medium business struggling to find a successful path to enable a cohesive mobile infrastructure. I personally cant avoid finding the whole enterprise mobility technology ecosystem very ironic. If you think about it, mobile computing is supposed to bring fresh waves of innovation to the enterprise software ecosystem and yet we keep using the same old-school archaic mechanisms when it comes to implementing it in the enterprise.
A Cloudy Path to Enterprise Mobility

During the last few years, cloud computing has disrupted some of the fundamental building blocks of enterprise software. Whether we are thinking of infrastructure, software or platform as a service, cloud computing models share the same underlying principle of enabling a selfmanaging, elastically scalable computing model that removes the complexities of the equivalent on-premise models.

It sounds like a perfect solution for enterprise mobility, doesnt it? We believe cloud computing models can offer an innovative solution to the challenges of enterprise mobility solutions. The maximum expression of these solutions is what we call the enterprise mobility cloud.
A Heroku For Your Enterprise Mobile Apps

A few years ago, Heroku disrupted the software application world by providing a complete cloud based model to the software application development lifecycle. The Heroku mantra was based on a very simple model that enables developers to build applications using their favorite technologies without the need to invest in any on-premise infrastructure. Followed by technologies such as Windows Azure, VMWares Cloud Foundry or DotCloud, Heroku pioneered a new cloud computing dimension that we know today as Platform as a Service (PaaS). Lets imagine a world in which you can develop your enterprise mobile applications using your favorite frameworks, IOS, Android, PhoneGap without the need of using any proprietary technology. Lets image that your applications can seamlessly authenticate to the corporate network, exchange data securely and interact with other enterprise services. Imagine you can register and provision your applications using a corporate application store. Finally, image you can accomplish all this without the need of any enterprise infrastructure. Doesnt this sound like a Heroku for your enterprise mobile applications? Well, welcome to the Enterprise Mobility Cloud. The main goal of an enterprise mobility cloud is to enable the necessary infrastructure and platform components to provide enterprise ready capabilities to your mobile applications. The following figure illustrates this model.

At a high level, we can identify the following fundamental components of an enterprise mobility cloud.

Infrastructure Services: These services will enable capabilities such as active directory authentication, authorization, data exchange, messaging among other essential infrastructure of any enterprise mobile applications.

HTML5 hosting: An enterprise mobility cloud should be able to host, manage and scale HTML5 mobile websites. Business Services: These services expose business-centric capabilities such as order tracking, contact management, etc that will be consumed by different mobile applications. Enterprise App Store: An essential component of an enterprise mobility experience, this app store will serve as the main repository to catalog, manage and maintain the different mobile applications used in your enterprise. Mobile SDKs: Providing SDKs for the most popular mobile development platforms will provide developers will a low-level entry point to start embracing the enterprise mobility cloud experience.

Conclusion

For years, we have been approaching enterprise mobility using the same old principles of the RIM enterprise school. In order to change this, we need to apply the same disruptive principles that PaaS technologies like Heroku brought to the software development lifecycle years ago. We believe an enterprise mobility experience powered by cloud computing models will lower the barrier and remove the friction to start embracing mobile applications in the enterprise.

Jesus is a co-founder and CEO of both Tellago Studios and Tellago, two fast growing start-ups with a unique vision around software technology. Jesus spends his days working on the technology and strategic vision of both companies. Under his leadership, Tellago and Tellago Studios have been recognized as an innovator in the areas of enterprise software and solutions achieving important awards like the Stevie Awards American and International Business Awards. A software scientist by background, Jesus is an internationally recognized speaker and author with contributions that include hundreds of articles and sessions at industry conferences. Jesus serves as an advisor to several software companies such as Microsoft and Oracle, and is the only person who currently holds both the Microsoft MVP and Oracle ACE technology awards. Jesus is a prolific blogger on all subjects related to software technology and entrepreneurship. You can gain valuable insight on business and software technology through his blogs at http://jrodthoughts.com and http://weblogs.asp.net/gsusx