This presentation by DreamFactory co-founder Eric Rubin examines the impact of mobile on the cloud from a technology and business model perspective.

1. MOBILE DISRUPTS THE
CLOUD
Cloud Computing Primer
Eric Rubin
Founder, DreamFactory Software
www.dreamfactory.com

2. ABSTRACT: THE IMPACT OF SMART
DEVICES ON THE CLOUD
If mobile devices were merely used to browse web pages, then they would
not be very disruptive. But mobile is all about apps, and mobile apps have
veered away from legacy browser technology. As a result a paradigm shift
is emerging in the host platforms that support mobile.
This presentation looks at the impact of mobile on the cloud, from a
technology and business model perspective.

3. Paradigm Shift
TECHNOLOGY

4. CLIENTS PROPEL PLATFORM SHIFTS
Smart Devices
Browsers
Web APIs
PC’s
Web Servers
Mainframe
Client-Server
(e.g. Oracle/SUN)
(e.g IBM,BEA)
(e.g Amazon)

5. SMART DEVICES DRIVE CHANGE IN WEB
ARCHITECTURE
 Macro computing trends…
 rapid move of s/w applications to the cloud
 proliferation of devices (phones, tablets, sensors, wearables) connecting to
the web
 apps usurping browsing as the primary web activity
 …drive
requirements for a smart client architecture
 legacy web technology is inadequate

6. LEGACY WEB TECHNOLOGY
first generation of the web was primarily dumb clients (underutilized PC’s)
connected to the web by browsers
 The
 Browsers communicate with servers via page generation, where the server
does all computation and then ships an HTML page to be rendered on the PC’s
browser. When your input something new in the browser, a new page is
generated on the server and shipped back.
 In the modern web a client is increasingly a smart device- tablet, phone, meter,
wrist band, glasses…. These devices have unique local “sensory” services (e.g.
GPS location, Capture,Voice) that modern apps leverage
 Legacy HTML Page generation approaches are unaware of client capabilities,
each is treated as one uniform dumb browser client
 New service based approaches emerge to fully exploit client capabilities

7. PARADIGM SHIFT: CLOUD API’S
 Smart devices are causing a similar disruption to the cloud as PC’s did
to mainframe computing
 Mobile is to browsers as PC’s were to VT100’s, driving a paradigm shift
 Client-Server computing evolves to Client-Service
 The new paradigm is n-tier and web service based
 Applications blend services from servers and clients
 A new category of cloud middleware emerges to support mobile
 Backend As A Service or (mobile) mBaaS
 REST APIs enable client-service architecture for smart device applications
 Supporting rich client app delivery: HTML5, native IOS (Apple), native Android
(Google) and Windows 8 (Microsoft)

8. THE MODERN CLOUD: CBE
 Cloud Back-ends (BaaS, mBaaS) are the newest generation of cloud
middleware. CBE is purpose built for the modern web where smart
devices need to connect to the cloud
 CBE offers a set of APIs that enable rich clients to have cloud back ends
for storage, collaboration, app administration, tracking stats, and a host
of other capabilities
 CBE developers use a service based programming model, based on
REST APIs, versus page generation approach.
 Examples of CBE vendors include DreamFactory, Kinvey, and FaceBook
Parse

9. SMART DEVICES DRIVE SHIFT TO SERVICES
Smart Devices
(m)BaaS, CBE
PaaS
PC’s
IaaS
SaaS
Sites
HTML
Page
Generation
7/10/13
REST Web
Services
9

10. PARADIGM SHIFTS FOSTER DISRUPTIVE
INNOVATION
 Legacy vendors architected for browsers have to re-architect for this
new paradigm
 At the same time they have to preserve their investment in page
generation architecture, often creating conflicting incentives
 White space opportunities unfold for a new generation of disruptive
innovators
 Setting the stage for disruptive innovators to blindside competitors in
core adjacent markets in the future
 E.g. Google dominates search and then core adjacent markets like email

11. The power of App Stores
BUSINESS MODEL DISRUPTION

12. PARADIGM SHIFTS & BUSINESS MODELS
Web services
Mobile apps
Web apps
Client Server
Sell H/W &
S/W
Oracle/Sun
Sell
Subscriptions
or Ads
Google,
Salesforce.com
Micropurchases
App Stores
Apple, Google
Sell services
& Usage
Amazon

13. APP STORES
 App stores are a disruptive business model
 They dramatically lower customer acquisition costs while dramatically
increasing exposure
 Populating the market with far more competition than would otherwise be possible
 Apple’s App Store has over 1M apps.
 Combined with BYOD (bring your own device) App Stores are changing
the way business adopt applications
 Grass roots, direct access to the pro-sumer (professional/consumer)
 Roll up to enterprise deals
 Versus mandated top down purchases through IT

14. APP STORES + BAAS= ENTERPRISE
 Most applications are local to the device
 BaaS cloud-enables mobile apps
 BaaS enables powerful features critical to the enterprise
 Group collaboration
 Shared database
 Adminstration & tracking
 Provisioning (and de-provisioning)
 Fosters a land and expand strategy
 Individual contributors expand to departmental teams expand to enterprise roll-outs

15. SELLING API’S VS SOFTWARE
 There is also a shift on server side business models
 In the last paradigm shift Software and H/W systems started moving
from capital expenditures to operational expense
 From outright purchases to subscriptions
 The newest generation of cloud products are being sold on usage
 e.g. Amazon Web Services are pay as you go
 This has a dramatic impact on bookings and is a major disruptor
 Subscriptions amortize revenue over 12-24 months, so at best they are worth 1/12
of a purchased booking. How would it look to your shareholders if you were to
recommend cutting your bookings by a magnitude?
 Usage is even worse, as there is no committed booking

16. RISK FACTORS TO LEGACY WEB
 Web ISVs don’t fully exploit mobile
 e.g. local services, in-app purchases, actionable data, land and expand
 Enabling new mobile apps to grab beach-heads
 Web ISVs lose touch with the end customer
 Who are spending more of their cycles on mobile devices
 Initial risk is the “long tail”, SMB customers
 Web ISVs miss the boat on enterprise app stores and BYOD
 App stores empower individual consumers, and expand to groups though ad hoc collaboration.
DropBox and Evernote are great examples of individual productivity tools that have gone viral by
making sharing simple
 Monolithic and policy driven clouds (most enterprise s/w) can’t exploit app stores as a new
business channel as the don’t offer the one-two punch of individual productivity that easily
expands to group productivity
 Strangely, the compounding effect of BYOD and App Stores provide a channel advantage to
start-ups

17. ENTERPRISE DISRUPTION: WHAT KEEPS CIO’S
AWAKE AT NIGHT?
 Fueled by mobile, BYOD requirements are elevated to C level.
 CEO’s like BYOD’s employee satisfaction and immersion qualities
 CIOs must contend with:
 Architectural issues. e.g How do we redesign all of our browser based apps?
 Security issues of non-issue devices. e.g. How do we protect the company jewels?
 Management issues of non-issue devices. e.g How do we disable devices for terminated
employees?
 These issues must be dealt with in primary application areas:
 Business to employee systems (B2E)
 Business to consumers systems (B2C)
 Business to business systems (B2B)
 This creates an enormous white space for partners to help “mobilize” their
infrastructure