Mobile Platform Virtualization 255
tal rights management, authentication, billing, etc., is becoming of increas-
ing concern. VMware MVP allows vendors to isolate these important
trusted services from the open operating system and run them in isolated
and tamper-proof virtual machines so that even if the open environment is
compromised, the trusted services are not affected.
With VMware solutions, desktop and IT security administrators get
the control and visibility they need to protect mobile data and prevent mali-
cious code intrusion, while end users get the freedom and flexibility of “any-
time, anywhere” access to their own familiar desktop environment. For
virtual teams and telecommuters with a steady Internet connection,
VMware View (formerly VMware Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, VDI) can
be used to deliver remote access to server-based virtual desktop PCs through
a secure network connection. Using VMware View, an organization can
keep desktop images and sensitive information stored on servers behind the
corporate firewall, eliminating the risk of a security breach as a result of lap-
top theft, allow remote access through a Web browser for maximum flexibil-
ity, or keep access limited to PCs with VMware View client software
installed for maximum control, and can prevent data leakage and network
intrusions with strong encryption, multifactor authentication, and access
control policies for client-side USB devices.
10
Mobile users with intermittent access to the Internet can use VMware
ACE to deploy “assured computing environments” (ACEs) that workers can
use on corporate-owned laptops, employee-owned PCs, or even iPods and
USB memory sticks without putting sensitive corporate information at risk.
VMware ACE clients are encapsulated inside a single file or “package,” and
ACE packages can be secured with strong encryption to protect the entire
virtual desktop environment, not just specific files and folders. Administra-
tors can set and enforce granular policies governing the lifespan of each
ACE client package, the networks it can access, and the peripheral devices
that can interface with it, with Active Directory integration for unified user
authentication. The result is a scalable solution that helps enhances the
mobility of users while protecting access to valuable corporate information
assets.
11
10. http://www.vmware.com/solutions/desktop/mobile.html.
11. http://www.vmware.com/solutions/desktop/mobile.html.
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256 Cloud Computing
9.5 Collaboration Applications for Mobile Platforms
The growing popularity and power of mobile devices and the demand for
business solutions and collaboration tools on mobile devices, along with
Web 2.0 as a new platform for developing interactive applications across
devices, has ushered in a new era for collaboration technologies—as can be
seen in the advent of devices such as the Apple iPhone, the BlackBerry
Storm touchphone, and the Google phone. The adoption of mobile collab-
oration services is not just a matter of design but also depends on factors
such as mobile network coverage and pricing structures, all of which have
been leveraged by these three phones, and others are on the way.
Mobile phones have evolved rapidly in the past few years, from special-
ized devices for voice communication to a general-purpose computing
devices that are able to run a rich variety of data applications. The latest
mobile phones also provide a variety of networking options such as cellular,
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and WiMAX, which serve a range of coverage and band-
width requirements. Mobile phones have now become the device of choice
for people to keep in touch with family members, friends, and business
partners. Current mobile phones allow people not only to make telephone
calls but also to access email and short messages, play games, share informa-
tion, run video conferences, and coordinate business actions. Mobile
phones are now equipped with faster processors, larger memory, and longer-
life batteries. Many mobile phones today come with integrated position-
tracking and camera features. Many of the software tools previously avail-
able in personal digital assistants (PDAs), tablets, laptops, and desktop PCs
have been ported to mobile phones, such as office and multimedia applica-
tions. Today, many collaboration technologies are widely used, such as
email, instant messaging, data conferencing, workflow, wiki, and social net-
working systems.
Collaboration technologies based on mobile phones have unique
advantages over laptops and desktop systems because they are lightweight
and can fit into pockets or purses. They are truly mobile and can be con-
nected all the time, which means you can take your desktop with you: Col-
laboration software on mobile hand-held devices provides the ability to be
productive wherever you are. In this new era of mobile computing, the
next generation of collaboration technologies on mobile phones is being
developed to enable consumers to collaborate anytime, anywhere, using
just their mobile phones. Although mobile collaboration technologies are
still in their infancy and there is still significant room for progress, there
Chap9.fm Page 256 Friday, May 22, 2009 11:28 AM
Future Trends 257
have been several significant recent developments, such as the Cisco
WebEx collaboration software, which currently has over 60% of the web
collaboration conferencing software market,
12
being ported over to the
iPhone
13
; the IBM Lotus Notes Traveler being extended to support a range
of S60-based Nokia mobile phones built on the S60 third edition of the
Symbian operating system and providing a major alternative to Windows
Mobile device support
14
; and Unison Technologies recently announcing its
free unified communications software offering in a direct challenge to
industry giants Microsoft and Google.
15
9.6 Future Trends
The real value of cloud computing is that it makes software and data avail-
able transparently and everywhere—include the mobile environment. Con-
sumers of cloud computing services purchase computing capacity on
demand and need not be concerned with the underlying technologies used
to achieve server capabilities. Computing resources are being accessed which
are typically owned and operated by a third-party provider on a consoli-
dated basis in data center locations. This stateless model facilitates much
greater scalability than conventional computing and can be used in con-
junction with virtualization to achieve maximum data center and comput-
ing resource utilization. One of the key elements of a stateless computing
environment is a networked storage system that enables ubiquitous avail-
ability of software, making the cloud the ideal environment to enable
mobile smartphone users to access its powerful computing power remotely.
Each day, more and more users connect to the Internet using their
mobile devices. The mobile operating system as an extension to the cloud is
emerging as a value-added alternative to sophisticated and complex operat-
ing systems such as Windows. New players such as Apple and Google are
developing their mobile operating systems to challenge Symbian and Win-
dows Mobile. Mobile device hardware is currently too weak to run fully
capable hardcore software such as Adobe Photoshop or Microsoft Office
natively on a smartphone, which is why cloud computing will likely be the
future model for of mobile computing. Cloud computing may prove to be
12. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1418533,00.asp.
13. http://www.webex.com/iphone.
14. http://www.itwire.com/content/view/21856/1154.
15. http://www.channelinsider.com/c/a/Messaging-and-Collaboration/Unisons-Free-Unified-
Communications-Software-Challenges-Microsoft-and-Google.
Chap9.fm Page 257 Friday, May 22, 2009 11:28 AM
258 Cloud Computing
an ideal strategy for reaping the full benefit of mobile devices, by allowing
companies to essentially push their IT environment out to employees,
rather than employees having to get access to the IT environment. In the
future, cloud computing will also reduce the need for unnecessary full appli-
cation overhead by using the mobile smartphone as a “dumb terminal” to
leverage the powerful computing power of the cloud.
9.7 Chapter Summary
Cloud computing for mobile devices is taking off with the expansion of
high-speed wireless networks around the world. Mobile devices take data
out of homes and offices and put them in our pockets, increasing the attrac-
tiveness of cloud computing as a model to connect end users with more
than just the Internet and email while they roam. This means that much of
your vital data will be available not just at home, at the office, or in your
wallet, but can easily be accessed by hooking up to the huge memory of the
Internet cloud with a mobile device. Consumers are beginning to demand
not only access to hotel and restaurant directions, airline reservations,
weather reports, social networking sites, personal email and instant messag-
ing, but also full and secure access to their business applications at work or a
business partner’s site as well.
The cloud is becoming increasingly pervasive and mobile browsers are
getting better every day, providing the ability to access the cloud and its
applications Organizations are deploying more and more SaaS-based appli-
cations and, assuming they have enough bandwidth, there is no reason that
mobile workers cannot access those applications on their devices with a
browser that can actually fully handle web and cloud standards. In this
chapter we described the mobile smartphones platforms, their operating
systems, virtualization of these platforms, mobile collaboration applications,
and future trends.
9.8 Closing Comments
Cloud computing is in a period of strong growth, but cloud technology is
still somewhat immature and will take another few years to mature. Devel-
opment will probably be dominated by a select group of vendors, mostly
technologically aggressive application development organizations. There
will likely be proliferation of new vendors and then subsequent consolida-
tion as cloud computing becomes appealing to more mainstream develop-
Chap9.fm Page 258 Friday, May 22, 2009 11:28 AM
Closing Comments 259
ment organizations. As with any other technology going through a period of
rapid growth, the stronger small players will survive and the weaker players
will be driven out of the market. In the meantime, demand for interopera-
bility and integration will likely drive a widely supported fabric of ”intrac-
loud” application programming interfaces that will be developed to link
cloud-based systems across vendor platforms. This consolidation and inte-
gration, along with improved security, privacy, and governance enhance-
ments, will broaden the appeal of cloud computing while building the trust
of consumers, who will increasingly offload large portions of their IT infra-
structure to third parties such as the SaaS providers described throughout
this book. The cloud is going to be the hot topic in the next few years and
probably beyond, and it is not just IT personnel who will need to under-
stand the benefits of cloud computing, but personnel across the entire busi-
ness continuum. Many consumers and companies are missing out on the
benefits of cloud computing because they do not fully grasp the concept of
cloud computing; we hope this book has improved your grasp.
Chap9.fm Page 259 Friday, May 22, 2009 11:28 AM
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