Information technology industry has experienced great development in the past few years. Among the major current developments is cloud computing a concept used in most of the information technology sectors. According to Sahu et al (2012), cloud figuring refers to an exemplary development to enable appropriate, on-demand system availability to a shared center of configurable computing resources. The main aspect in cloud computing is the provision of shared pool of configurable resources. The resources are easily accessible with minimum management effort or assistance of service providers. Some of the shared centers of configurable properties include networks, servers, storage, applications and services (Basha et al., 2014). The paper focuses on mobile cloud computing which brings out the aspect of cloud computing in the mobile industry. This will involve an analysis of the strengths and weakness, limitations and challenges of mobile cloud computing and how the limitations or weakness can be solved.
Applications of Cloud Computing in Real Life
Cloud computing has been integrated in the mobile industry and has had a great impact on the sector. Mobile cloud computing is an integration of cloud computing and mobile computing to provide technologically advanced mobile devices able to offer computing services. (Basha et al, 2014). Mobile cloud computing refers to advanced mobile circulated computing with three integrated components that include mobile computing, cloud computing and wireless network. Some of the cloud platforms include Amazon Elastic Cloud Computing (EC2) [10], Google App Engine (GAE) [11], Microsoft Azure [13] among others (Sahu et al., 2012). Some of the applications include Microsoft Office 365 and Google drive. Microsoft office 365 is an application that offers almost all features of a normal office but in a mobile device or computer (Kiryakova et al., 2015). Google drive is another cloud computing application offered by Google. It offers data storage as well as provision of real time interaction opportunities (Kiryakova et al., 2015).
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"Cloud Computing in Mobile Computing".
Strengths
Inclusion of cloud computing in the mobile industry has contributed immensely in development of other sectors within the economy and creation of great opportunities. Mobile cloud computing has contributed greatly to the business sector through different applications that help customers carry out their daily business activities. For example, Microsoft office 365 has enabled easy management of activities within organizations, fast and efficient supply of information and sharing among other benefits (Kiryakova et al., 2015). On-demand self-service is another strength of mobile cloud computing, users are able to access data and information as demanded on their mobile devices (Sahu et al., 2012). This saves on transactional time as well as the cost of carrying out business.
Weaknesses
As much as cloud computing has presented great opportunities and advantages in the society there are notable weakness in the mobile cloud computing. Cloud computing involves data loading and processing; through use of cloud computing organizational information can be easily exposed if there were no security measures in place. To safeguard information when using mobile cloud computing it calls for additional measures to be put in place. In addition, when a mobile device is stolen or lost there is a huge risk of losing data or confidential data being exposed (Basha et al, 2014).
Challenges
There are several challenges associated with use of cloud computing in the mobile devices. The number one contributor to the challenges is the number several entities involved in the process which include, the mobile devices to be used. In addition, the system through which the mobile devices are able to access cloud, mobile applications to be used and finally the security to the user (Basha et al, 2014). Some of the challenges posed by these different entities include limited energy source of mobile devices. Mobile devices use power batteries whose capacity is limited. Different applications need different power batteries, display and sophisticated applications utilize a lot of power hence they need larger battery packs. On the other hand, non-display applications have little display usages hence minimal usage of power. Another challenge is the lack of enough resources for mobile devices. For instance, most of the mobile devices have less processing power as compared to devices like computers. Memory and storage capability is also low in most mobile devices (Kiryakova et al, 2015).
Limitations
One of the limitations is related to network, cloud computing utilizes wireless network. This poses a limitation to provision of mobile cloud computing since there are areas that are not covered by wireless network. In addition, there are instances when the wireless network providers experience challenges in network provision affecting cloud computing. Another limitation is access to network. In order, to provide cloud computing to mobile devices access to network is required. The fact that there are different access technologies available in the market such as GPRS, WLAN, WiMAX makes it complicated since each has its policies and restrictions (Basha et al, 2014).
Case Study of the Applications
Microsoft Office 365 offers tools that enable teamwork and sharing of information in real in time. The documents are stored in the cloud where each team member can access the information. The application also offers an option of tracking any changes that might have been done on a document. There are also options for online meetings and sharing of corporate videos. Google drive is another cloud computing application offered by Google. It offers data storage as well as provision of real time interaction opportunities. It also enables both internal and external data sharing (Kiryakova et al, 2015). Both applications are commonly used in organizations and by individuals to access data.
Conclusion
Mobile Cloud computing is a major advancement in the mobile sector with numerous benefits to both organizations and individuals. It is an important part of business and it empowers businesses to achieve great economic benefits, as well as efficiency (Sahu et al., 2012). Mobile users have the opportunity to access data and information on and as they need it.
- Basha, A. Umar, I. & Abbas, M. (2014). Mobile Applications as Cloud Computing: Implementation and Challenge. International Journal of Information and Electronics Engineering, 4(1)
- Kiryakova, G. Angelova, N. & Yordanova, L. (2015). Application of Cloud Computing Services in Business. Trakia Journal of Sciences, 13(1); 392-396
- Sahu, D. Sharma, S. Dubey, V. Tripathi, A. (2012). Cloud Computing in Mobile Applications. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 2(8)
