Mobile Cloud Computing: Meaning, Features, Benefits & Challenges

Saving data on the cloud and then retrieving it on demand, on a subscription basis, by paying a price, helps save space, reduce cost, and speed up response times!

Mobile computing offers the convenience of accessing websites and applications remotely. This prevents the need to have a dedicated hardware server. However, this shareability of cloud services often leads to data vulnerabilities – data loss, theft, or leakage. Cloud services require a reliable internet connection, so slow or unreliable connections impact productivity. Managing expenses in cloud computing is challenging, even though it is cost-effective. Moving large amounts of data to and from the cloud is expensive. You may need to contact customer care for technical problems, but they may not be available 24/7.

Ditch the negativity, why is it still in use?

Cloud computing in mobile app development uses cloud technology to create, store, and access mobile apps. Developers use cloud services to build and update apps, which are then hosted and managed by a cloud service provider.

There are four common types of cloud deployment: (1) private, (2) public, (3) hybrid, and (4) community. Cloud mobile apps are broken down into three distinct categories: (1) Software as a Service, (2) Platform as a Service, and (3) Infrastructure as a Service.

Cloud Computing for Mobile Devices

Mobile cloud computing enables cloud applications to be executed on mobile devices. This method is scalable and redundant, follows the pay-as-you-go model, is highly performant, and provides APIs and tools to connect with existing applications, simplifying development and deployment.

What impact does it create?

Popular mobile computing projects are data sharing, efficient internet access, traffic traveling, e-mail, emergency data transmission service, earthquake monitoring, flood and forest fire, gaming and entertainment service, and locating systems using GPS. 

Cloud computing impacts mobile app deployment by (1) allowing instant updates and bug fixes, (2) minimizes downtime, (3) providing effortless scalability, (4) streamlining A/B testing processes, (5) ultimately leading to faster development cycles, and improved user experiences across different operating systems.

Cloud-based apps are platform-independent and cross-platform. They are accessible from multiple devices and operating systems. Cloud systems provide easy scaling of an application’s resources up or down in response to user demand, enabling developers to manage traffic surges without sacrificing performance. It makes it easier to create and test different app versions for A/B testing, which enables developers to collect information on user behavior and improve functionality.

Building a mobile app where you want users to log in, store data, and receive notifications – instead of setting up all the backend systems yourself, a Backend as a Service from a cloud provider like AWS or Firebase can handle those tasks, letting you focus on designing the app’s front-end while they manage user logins, data storage, and push notifications in the background; meanwhile, a Content Delivery Network ensures the app loads quickly for users all over the world by distributing content across different server locations, and serverless computing lets you run code without worrying about managing servers, streamlining development and reducing costs.

Taking Up Three Real Life Cloud Service Examples

A cloud server has minimal chances of failing. It is generally up and working and scales up easily at times of need. The configuration is updated automatically based on user demand. Festivals, sales, discounts, international events, and games, affect the performance and response time of the app.

1. During the peak shopping season, online retail sites often break. This is handled by increasing virtual machines to handle excess load. When the festival season passes, the configuration is re-checked and downsized.
2. Similar things happen in sporting or betting game apps. The systems are upgraded and new virtual machines or virtual players are added. New features are added during peak gaming hours. They are then downsized when it is no longer required.
3. Repetitive customer tasks are automated like ticket routing and knowledge base by making use of cloud-based tools.
4. Email campaigns can be automated, and social media posting and lead nurturing can be started based on customer behavior.
5. All the invoices can be processed and reconciled by making use of cloud-based accounting software.

Cloud computing is not a new concept anymore, as it has become the necessity of the hour. Apps like Gmail, Google Photos, and Google Drive are all accessed on demand and scaled up with user needs.

Conclusive

In 2025, cloud computing is anticipated to play a significant role in both business expansion and digital transformation. Hybrid and multi-cloud environments, Processing power, Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing, Collaboration, Confidential computing,  blockchain, containerization (Docker and Kubernetes), serverless computing, and low-code/no-code development platforms.

Cloud computing companies adopt a serverless computing architecture on a cloud platform to streamline development, optimize costs, and enable rapid deployment of features with automatic scaling based on real-time usage, effectively allowing developers to focus on writing code without managing server infrastructure.

It is highly preferable owing to its scalable behavior, pre-built services, serverless computing, backup and recovery approach, and the ability to automate and protect critical data. Routine tasks like patch management and system updates are its part.

Cloud computing enables automation advantages in digital transformation due to scalability, pay-as-you-go model, pre-built services and APIs, Infrastructure as code, and serverless computing. Its robust data backup and recovery capabilities automate the process of protecting critical data and minimizing downtimes in case of emergencies. By automating routine tasks like patch management and system updates, IT teams focus on more strategic initiatives.