Report: Mobile cloud computing gaining in popularity, revenues

The combined lure of enterprise mobility and cloud computing is too much for companies to ignore any longer. According to the latest research from Visiongain, many are taking advantage of the benefits of the mobile cloud to push out content and oversee the use of smartphones and tablets among their user base.

Visiongain's "Mobile Cloud Computing Industry Outlook Report: 2011-2016" analyzed the impact the two technologies are having on each other, as well as the enterprise IT sector as a whole. Researchers concluded that revenues from the mobile cloud market will reach $45 billion by 2016, thanks to a dramatic compound annual growth rate of 55.2 percent between now and then.

"The mobile cloud computing market is just beginning to evolve in 2011; by 2016, the market will enter into a rapid growth stage," the report stated. "Interested market players need to formulate emergent strategies now to enjoy the early movers' advantage."

Mobility and the cloud have followed similar maturation paths during the past several years. That includes the same challenges and roadblocks to adoption. However, now it appears as though companies are using the latter as a mobile device management tool to control the former.

According to Visiongain, organizations should jump into the mobile cloud market to ensure they build relationships with vendors and suppliers.

"Robust partner agreements are win-win for all entities in the cloud ecosystem," the report said. "Visiongain believes that given the early days of mobile cloud computing, there are opportunities for significant partnerships in this arena."

Among the areas of the mobile cloud market that will experience the most significant growth, according to the report, will be the application space. Driven by the penetration of smartphones, as well as 3G and 4G LTE networks, more companies will look to leverage hosted mobile apps.

There are a number of factors behind the appeal of cloud-based mobile apps, and a TechTarget report published in September highlighted several.

Many companies are driven to the cloud by consumerization, the news provider said. That's because, when apps and data are hosted online, they can be accessed by many different devices without running into problems of interoperability. What's more, migrating apps and data to the cloud means they won't be stored on employees' devices, and thus will also be better protected against malware and the effects of lost or stolen smartphones and tablets.