How is the cloud enabling mobile app development? by Rick Blaisdell

Mobile apps have been gaining popularity worldwide, contributing to the increase in data usage. There has been an exponential increase in the consumption and diversity of mobile apps, with hundreds of thousands of mobile apps already available, and many more being released every day.

This is why it has become imperative for mobile app developers to differentiate their apps and to constantly innovate mobile devices and mobile platforms. Adding to this, as the app market intensifies, developers need to ensure that they go to market faster and create increasingly rich user experiences, while keeping their costs of experimentation low.

Cloud computing plays an important role in enabling mobile app developers to do this. The cloud offers mobile app developers a flexible, highly scalable, rapidly deployable, and low-cost way to build and deliver their applications. After all, cloud affiliation or cloud app development is not a new concept – Gmail, Google Maps and other known  apps have been cloud-based for years.

Cloud accelerates mobile app development

The evolving cloud technology is expected to play a vital role in the app development revolution, making app developers more focused towards the ability of integrating and synchronizing apps developed for multiple devices. The cloud approach is helping developers to build functionality that can easily be used on different mobile devices with similar data and features.

Moreover, there are multiple companies working on cloud-based app development platforms. Developers are provided with complete tool chains for building an app, continuous integration, testing and submitting their apps to the app stores. This leads to a faster development process without having in-depth technical knowledge for those important activities.

Additionally, to support the growing demand for rich applications, developers can leverage the cloud for the following:

• Add social functionality to their apps – By using the cloud, developers can easily introduce a social media log-in in their mobile apps and effectively integrate it with social networking websites.
• Implement geo-location – With the cloud, developers can create a more contextual experience for users by adding location awareness to their mobile apps. Additionally, this allows developers to understand their user activities and locations, thus being able to adapt the app experience accordingly.
• Offer a smooth experience across mobile devices and platforms – By simply running their app in the cloud, developers no longer have to worry about which hardware devices their customers use. Within the cloud, mobile app developers can stream their compute-intensive applications, use the readily available APIs to reduce complexities while building the apps for device platforms.
• Go global within minutes – The cloud enables companies to easily deploy their applications in multiple regions around the world with just a few clicks. This means that they can provide a lower latency and much better user experience for their customers simply and at a minimal cost.

The cloud has already become a game changer for app developers and customers globally.  Mobile technology is growing faster and faster every day and apps have become an integral part of the digital ecosystem. This is why staying up-to-date with the latest trends of mobile app development has become more a necessity than an option for all businesses out there, wouldn’t you say?

Share your thoughts in the comments.

Photo source: http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/

About the author:

Experienced CTO, creating technical strategies which reduce IT operational costs and improve efficiency

20 years of product, business development, and high-tech experience with Fortune 500 companies, developing innovative technology strategies, with particular expertise in:

• Cloud computing integration – Converted all physical production environments of ConnectEDU to Cisco UCS Cloud platform, which resulted in 35% savings with ongoing maintenance and hosting costs.
• Delivering cost effective IT services – Cloned an entire platform with a click of a button, something that would cost $300.000 up front and six weeks to accomplish the old way.
• Strategic planning and development for Information Systems – Transferred Software technologies from MySQL, PHP, Ruby, Java, Oracle, ASP, MSSQL Server, and Cold Fusion to new platforms that are all .Net/MSSQL server with large emphasis on Web Services architecture.
• Creating innovative businesses – Designed a system that supported over ten million end users for the banking/financial industry for SilverClout Technologies. The company became one of the fastest-growing knowledge management companies in the financial industry.

My Specialties: cloud computing, Software as a Service, virtualization, software development, cloud architecture, product development, strategic planning, business strategy, project management, business process improvement, technical leadership, large scale web architecture, enterprise architecture.

Webpage: Ricks Cloud

Twitter: @RickBlaisdell

LinkedIn: Rick Blaisdell

Google+: Ricks Cloud

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