When Mobile and Cloud Computing Collide: Top 5 Priorities

Close to 80 percent of the world’s population now has access to a mobile phone, and new devices like the iPhone and Android smartphones are bringing a throng of applications and services to the palms of people’s hands. At the same time, cloud has become the new way of delivering—and charging for—IT services and functionality. So what happens when two of the hottest technology trends—“mobility” and “cloud”—collide?

To find the answers, Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) conducted a survey of more than 1,000 U.S. mobile users to understand their current and future needs. The results revealed a host of opportunities to capitalize on this ready-to-explode market.

“Our findings were very clear,” says Scott Puopolo, Global Leader, Cisco IBSG. “Mobile users want to move to the cloud, and they want unique ‘mobile cloud’ services.”

The opportunity for service providers (SPs) is staggering. Indeed:

• More than 50 percent of Cisco IBSG survey participants are currently accessing web-based email, updating their social networks, and shopping from their mobile devices.
• A full 20 percent of participants already utilize advanced cloud services such as web conferencing, content sharing and online storage.
• An impressive 70 percent of all mobile users expect to consume cloud-delivered services in the next one to two years.

So where do service providers fit into the discussion? “The research indicates mobile customers are generally satisfied with their current provider relationships and view mobile operators as a natural and preferred source for mobile cloud services,” Puopolo explains. “Operators also have a strong brand and relationship with customers that they can extend to become customers’ premier mobile cloud provider. For these reasons alone, SPs are well positioned to flourish in this burgeoning market.”

“There is untold value across all industries,” adds Stuart Taylor, Director, Cisco IBSG Service Provider Practice, “when you draw on the unique capabilities of those multifunction devices that are already in most people’s pockets.”

Therein lays the critical success factor for SPs. According to both Puopolo and Taylor, porting traditional, wired applications to mobile devices isn’t enough. The greatest areas of need—and the greatest source of opportunity—are for applications that take advantage of the unique attributes and functionality of today’s and tomorrow’s mobile devices.

Taking advantage of mobile devices

Where voice calling once defined mobile, it is now just another application or function for most smartphone users:

• Voice calling ranked as the fifth-most-used function by business users in Cisco IBSG’s survey.
• Both business users and consumers are much more interested in using their smartphones for texting and taking photos, which ranked first and second, respectively.
• Business users are the largest adopters of more advanced types of hybrid, dual-persona services that allow them to readily combine their personal and professional lives.
• Business users are also the largest users of more work-centric features such as productivity tools, business applications, and conferencing.

“Voice and text were just the tip of the iceberg,” says Puopolo. “Smartphones now offer location awareness, multimedia, translation, bar code scanning, and so much more. From inventory and trouble ticket management to customer care and one-to-one marketing, the possibilities are limitless.”

Puopolo offers five opportunities and recommendations for service providers hoping to take advantage of the mobile cloud market:

1. Develop a portfolio of mobile cloud services now—including mobile extensions of enterprise cloud applications, such as video conferencing and collaboration.
2. Use mobility as a lead value proposition for cloud strategy versus non-SP competitors.
3. Develop an integrated device strategy by utilizing capabilities such as speech recognition and messaging history that lend themselves to the features and functionality of mobile devices.
4. Create cloud services that address both business and personal use, such as gaming and social networking.
5. Deliver the promise of fixed mobile convergence for business users with seamless voice and data experiences that span fixed and mobile networks.

For more on the mobile cloud register now for a webcast on March 29^th

Note: This article appeared in the Winter 2012 edition of Cisco’s Unleashing IT feature and has been edited for publication on this website.

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