According to ABI Research practice director Dan Shey: “The immediate opportunity lies in leveraging cloud platforms to develop mobile applications, particularly mobile applications that leverage enterprise data. Directly and indirectly, Microsoft and Google are major players both influencing and enabling these developments. Mobile operators have the most to gain through offers of cloud services to the enterprise leveraging their networks, application enablement, and data centres.”
In the longer term, the expansion of cellular connected devices beyond smartphones and laptops to MIDs, netbooks and smartbooks will further expand use of cloud services.
Said Shey: “The longer term opportunity is in mobile devices accessing IT services from the cloud and paying for access on a per use basis. With the economics of cloud services expanding IT services access to the SMB market, and more cellular connected devices in the market for business customers, enterprise mobile cloud computing services will experience tremendous growth….and become more than just 'water vapour'.”
ABI Research’s study provides an indepth review of cloud services used by businesses, and their application to the mobile supply chain. By establishing a concise and thorough definition of cloud services and mobile cloud computing, the report exhaustively examines the drivers and inhibitors for cloud services across both the enterprise IT and mobile supply chains.
Particular emphasis is given to major enterprise software and telecommunications suppliers influencing the marketplace for cloud services. Regional subscriber and revenue forecasts are offered for traditional mobile cloud computing applications, new mobile cloud computing applications in the categories of productivity, utility and search, and hosted enterprise systems access.