A Mobile Perspective on Cloud Computing

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If you’re reading this, you’re Cloud Computing!

Psst….did you know you were cloud computing?  What?  You didn’t mean to?  Don’t worry…you’ll be ok.  In fact, you’ve probably been doing a lot of cloud computing and didn’t even realize it.

Do you use Gmail, Yahoo email or another web-based email service?  What about Picasa, Flickr or another online photo-sharing service?  Netflix?  How about salesforce.com or Zoho CRM at work? Is your company using Google Apps or Windows 365 online for email, document processing, and collaboration or Microsoft SkyDrive for online document sharing?  If you answered yes to any of these, you were already cloud computing before you read this article.

I recently put a training course together on cloud computing for enterprise account reps at a large US Telco.  While developing the course, I was surprised how many services / applications / companies now promote themselves as cloud-based.  Companies that used to be ‘hosting providers’ or ‘managed services providers’ were now ‘cloud computing companies’.  As I dug into it further, it quickly became apparent that there were almost as many definitions of cloud computing as there were people defining it.

At its simplest, think of cloud computing as internet-based software, servers, or storage that you use on a subscription basis (or for free) rather than owning and managing these computing resources directly in your home or enterprise.  You can generally access these services from wherever you are - using the web-browser or an installed client on any computer, smartphone, tablet or other internet-capable device.  Individuals and businesses benefit by sharing the cost of equipment and management of the IT resources with other users.

Consumers like you and me get access to lots of great services and software programs without having to actually buy, install and maintain them.  There are no software upgrades to worry about, no running out of disk space, no worrying about porting applications from one computer to another; in fact, you don’t even need your own computer for many services.  Sure, there are some drawbacks – like needing an internet connection to use the services and in certain cases concerns over security and privacy.  For most people, these concerns are outweighed by ease of use, lack of required maintenance or computer skills, and access to online forums to share in the collective intelligence of the user community.  

Taking advantage of cloud-based storage, where your data is regularly backed up and in a protected data center is rapidly gaining popularity.  I know many people (and businesses) that use Carbonite or Mozy for automatic remote backup of their computers so they don’t have to do it themselves on local backup drives.  Others now use services like MobileMe as their desktop or primary hard drive in the cloud.

Cloud computing services have been enthusiastically embraced by the non-profit sector.  Schools, faith-based organizations, community groups and charitable organizations can cost-effectively manage budgets, documentation, internal communications, develop and maintain organization web-sites, foster community outreach, and coordinate donor and volunteer efforts all through various cloud-based services such as Google Apps for Non-Profits, Microsoft SkyDrive, QuickBooks, DonorPerfect, SurveyMonkey, SchoolReach and MySignUp.

Enterprises of all sizes are also adopting cloud computing - to reduce their day-to-day IT costs, to improve employee productivity, and to gain access to computing resources they may otherwise not be able to afford or manage themselves.  Enterprise cloud computing services such as Microsoft 365, salesforce.com and Amazon EC2 (Elastic Cloud Compute) allow enterprises to remotely configure and manage services for their employees and to quickly develop and launch services for their consumers that can rapidly scale as usage grows.  They do so with subscription fees that are deterministic and with availability and performance governed by Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

Small businesses in particular can benefit by quickly establishing a professional IT infrastructure at a low entry cost and with predictable ongoing fees.

What’s the Mobile Perspective on Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing is a great enabler of mobility – no longer are individuals tied to physical locations or specific computing platforms.  Individuals, enterprises and organizations can leverage Cloud Computing services to cost-effectively improve productivity, communication, and accessibility.

At the same time, a new challenge for cloud computing providers arises from the plethora of internet-connected mobile devices. The increased processing power, growing screen sizes and graphics capabilities available on the latest iOS and Android-powered smartphones and tablets  - combined with the growing ubiquity of Wi-Fi networks and faster mobile operator data networks raises user expectations. 

Ideally, users should be as productive and effective from mobile devices as from desktop or laptop computers but with a user experience tailored to their mobile context.  Mobile device screens aren’t as big, user inputs range from full physical or touch screen keyboards to stylus, trackball, and older numeric keypads.  Data speeds and network coverage can vary significantly as users move around.  Being ‘mobile’, users also need to be able to accomplish tasks quickly and if necessary in an interrupt-driven manner as they walk, change locations, navigate airports, or ride on public transportation.

For cloud computing service providers, this means that simply taking the full web-browser experience and piping it down to a mobile browser is not sufficient. They need to focus on mobile-enabling those services and tasks that can be reasonably accessed or accomplished from mobile devices and with a user experience that is optimized to the capabilities of each individual’s mobile device.

Services should be simple and intuitive to use, with a minimum amount of scrolling, zooming, pinching, and data entry and without being cluttered by features or information likely to be irrelevant to mobile users.   Phone features such as geo-location, contacts, caching, and click-to-call should be leveraged where they enhance or simplify the user experience.  At the same time, the mobile version of services should strive to attain a familiarity with the web version and place-shifting (starting a task on one environment and continuing or completing it on another) should be supported whenever possible.

There are many mobile solution providers out there with technologies to optimize mobile user experience such as New Media Innovation and MobileAware.  Organizations may need to look beyond the cloud to ensure an appropriate mobile strategy for access to their services and information.

So are you cloud computing now, and is it mobile optimized? 

Yes, you are. Mobile Perspectives blog is hosted on Blogger. I post articles from my web browser, by sending emails from my Gmail account, or by sending text messages from my iPhone.  You may have accessed the blog from my website (which is hosted on Google Sites), by clicking a link in a Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn post or as a result of a Google search.  If you are reading this from a mobile device, I hope you are reading it on Mobile Perspectives’ mobile website (which is hosted on Amazon EC2 servers) where it was pulled in via RSS feed from Blogger and optimized for mobile device viewing using technology from our partner New Media Innovation.  Unfortunately, Blogger itself has not been mobile-optimized!  Not yet anyway.

As you can see, my head is clearly in the cloud; lucky for me, you’re right there with me!

Comments below, email me at todd@mobile-perspectives.com or visit Mobile Perspectives on the web at http://www.mobile-perspectives.com/

Contrasting iPhone ads by AT&T and Apple today

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Interesting contrast in Ads for the iPhone today.

In the Chicago Tribune, AT&T took out a full-page ad for the iPhone simply stating in very large font 'talk and surf at the same time'.

During the Bears/Packers game, Apple ran a commercial with two iPhones side-by-side accessing a series of applications at the same time. The commercial ends with both AT&T and Verizon logos and the tagline 'two is better than one'.  Notably, they don't show both iPhones making a call while using an application or surfing the web since only AT&T's iPhone can do that.

Unfortunately, most consumers won't understand that while Verizon is heavily promoting their '4G LTE network', the iPhone they are initially bringing to market only runs on their older CDMA network. Unlike AT&T's 3G network, which is based on GSM technology, Verizon's CDMA network doesn't support simultaneous voice and data.  This means users can either use data or place phone calls, but can't do both at the same time.

No doubt, Verizon will sell millions of iPhones. I can't help but wonder how many of them will be returned when people figure out that they can't make phone calls and browse the web or use applications like Google Maps while on a call like all their friends with AT&T iPhones can.

I'm surprised Verizon didn't wait until they could bring an LTE-based iPhone to market (availability date currently unknown). Then the focus would be on Verizon's claims of having a better voice and data network than AT&T, thus bringing iPhone users a better user experience. Instead, Verizon finds themselves having to defend putting an inferior user experience into the hands of their customers.

For months I've heard disgruntled AT&T iPhone users talk of rushing to Verizon when AT&T's exclusivity expired. I certainly hope they don't spend money breaking contracts without understanding what they are in for.  First, they'll have to buy a new Verizon iPhone as their current AT&T iPhone won't work with Verizon's network.  Then, they'll realize they can't do simultaneous voice and data with their new Verizon iPhone for the foreseeable future. Finally, they'll have to buy yet another iPhone when Apple and Verizon eventually bring out the LTE iPhone.

Given Apple's singular focus on user experience, I'm a little surprised they are complicit in bringing a CDMA iPhone to Verizon.  Of course, 'two is better than one' if you are counting iPhone unit sales.

Comments below, email me at todd@mobile-perspectives.com, or visit Mobile Perspectives on the web: http://www.mobile-perspectives.com/

Using Starbucks Mobile Card application for my first "in-store" mobile payment...could've been better!

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Like many of you, I’ve used various mobile web and on-device applications on my iPhone to find stores, look up product information, do price comparisons, and even to make a couple of purchases.  What I hadn’t yet done, at least until today, was use my iPhone to make a mobile payment at the register in a retail store.

Yesterday, I saw an article on CNN that Starbucks was rolling out support for mobile payments via an iPhone application to all Starbucks locations.  In the article, Starbucks said they had decided not to wait for widespread NFC support to launch mobile payments as customers had expressed interest in mobile payments now.  They also claimed that in comparison testing, using the Starbucks ‘Mobile Card’ application was the fastest way for their customers to pay.  Naturally, I decided that my next coffee was going to be purchased using the Starbucks iPhone application. 

Only, it wasn’t quite so easy.  First, instead of the mobile payment feature being added to the ‘Starbucks’ application already on my iPhone, I had to go and download a new Starbucks ‘Mobile Card’ application.  Admittedly, I had only used the original Starbucks application once after finding it incredibly sluggish and having no real interest in knowing how many calories are in a non-fat latte.  Anyway, installing the ‘Mobile Card’ application was quick and easy. 

It got less easy after that.  I’ll leave out the details from the 15 minutes it took to get the Starbucks card that had been languishing in my wallet with $.93 registered with the application. After adding $15 to it (online), I was ready for my first purchase.

This morning, as I walked to the Starbucks near my office on ice-covered sidewalks in 18F weather, I was looking forward to using the new Starbucks ‘Mobile Card’ application to pay for my Venti Bold Coffee.

There was only one person in front of me, so I quickly pulled up the application so I would be ready to pay. Only my iPhone wanted me to register on the ATT WIFI hotspot. When I hit cancel to stay on AT&T’s 3G network, the Mobile Card application died. After repeating this process 4 times and asking Dan behind the counter to go ahead and help the person behind me, the application finally decided to stay up and I was ready to go.  I ordered my coffee and while Dan filled my cup, I pressed the ‘touch to pay’ button and the application displayed a barcode with my Starbuck’s card number on it. NOW, I was ready to pay. (Note to Starbucks: why not have the barcode display when I open the application so I don’t have to press ‘touch to pay’ and then ‘touch when done’ to go back?).

Anyway, Dan held my iPhone to his scanner and announced it had worked.  I hit the ‘touch when done’ button, the application reverted to the main screen and automatically updated my balance. I had completed my first mobile payment!

Unfortunately, the 10 people now waiting in line behind me weren’t nearly as excited as I was.  I can’t help but think that NFC will make the experience faster and simpler.

As an aside, as I sipped coffee on the way back to my office, I launched the application again to double check the balance. I was presented with an ad saying that if I use a Visa card to add $25 to my Mobile Card, I’ll get an extra $5 credit ‘while supplies last. See terms of use’.  I clicked on the ad to see the terms of use and nothing happened.  

So, while it wasn’t the best user experience and the application could certainly use some improvements, I’m sure I’ll be standing in Starbucks ready to pay with my Mobile Card again tomorrow…you might want to get there before me!

Mobile Commerce – More Than Mobilized Online Retail

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I recently had the pleasure of meeting Kelly Stickel, Director of Bricks + Mobile 2011 - a Retail Mobile Commerce event coming to Chicago on March 30th.

Bricks + Mobile is planned as a day of education for Retailers to come together and discuss various topics around Retail Mobile Commerce (i.e. the focus is on Mobile Commerce for Bricks & Mortar Retailers, not online shopping sites like Amazon, eBay).  The agenda can be found here : Bricks + Mobile 2011 Agenda

I also contributed an article for the Bricks + Mobile Distillery blog. Rather than reposting it here, you can read the article on the Bricks + Mobile 2011 website at: Mobile Commerce - More Than Mobilized Online Retail.