HOW DO YOU USE THE CLOUD WITHOUT AN

INTERNET CONNECTION?
How Do You Use the Cloud Without an Internet
Connection?
INTRODUCTION
Considering how dependent we are on the Internet these days, its hard to believe how often we arent able to
access the web or have a connection that is so slow it is essentially unusable. With the prevalence of 4G & LTE, from
a consumer standpoint, it seems like you can always access the Internet without a problem. However, if you are in a
crowded stadium or a busy conference, the network is typically so congested that even if you miraculously are able
to use the Internet, it is so slow that you cant really do anything.
This is a problem that eld personnel and traveling executives are all too familiar with. Yes, they can use WiFi on a
plane, but not all planes have this option and the connection isnt that great. Yes, most hotels have free WiFi or at
least the option to purchase it, however as Om Malik of GigaOm notes: it is virtually
impossible to use the Wi-Fi for even getting the work done (Malik, Lost in (hotel) Wi-Fi:
My love & hate relationship with hotel Wi-Fi http://gigaom.com/2013/06/17/lost-in-hotel-
wi--my-love-hate-relationship-with-hotel-wi-/). Field service personnel are in
particularly bad shape as 30% of eld service tickets are performed in areas with poor or
non-existent Internet connections (Dutta and Pinder, Field Service 2011: Mobility and the
Extension of the Service Enterprise), and without Internet to access their SharePoint
sites they cant get to the service materials they need to x equipment.
So in an environment that is so heavily dependent on the Internet, how can we combat these challenges to make
sure that our eld travelers are able to get their jobs done? Today, with the rising prevalence of mobile and remote
workers, the network is arguably more important than the physical o!ce. Networks
are the glue that holds businesses together, particularly when operations expand
beyond the boundaries of any one physical space. (Enterpriseworkingplanet.com;
The WOC: WAN Optimization in a Box; Aaron Weiss; Mar 30, 2012). It is therefore
essential to make sure that eld travelers are able to access the network to do their
jobs. The answer is surprisingly simple: caching. Caching has existed for ages and has
been used to speed up access to web applications in remote o!ces and locations
situated far away from the origin server. The same concept can be used to solve issues of o"ine access and slow
page loads on a poor Internet connection, with one new innovative twist: it must be done on the endpoint.
O!ine Access
One of the most important benets of endpoint
caching is o"ine access. Since the data is stored
directly on a users
hard drive, it can be
displayed and edited in
the browser even when
there is no Internet
connection available.
This allows eld service
engineers to access
support manuals on SharePoint while o"ine,
provides bank auditors with the ability to access their
SharePoint site and upload auditing materials when
they are stuck in a basement without MiFi access,
and traveling executives to view reports and
documents on SharePoint no matter where they are.
Since endpoint caching can be done for any HTTP or
HTTPS delivered content, the benets expand
beyond SharePoint to SalesForce, Information Week,
Amazon.com any website or application, even
home grown ones. Instead of having to cobble
together several di#erent o"ine solutions that only
work for a single web application, endpoint caching
can be used to handle all of an organizations o"ine
requirements.
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HOW DO YOU USE THE CLOUD WITHOUT AN
INTERNET CONNECTION?
Additionally, endpoint caching allows for both o"ine
reading and editing of SharePoint content in the
browser. Many eld personnel need to make changes
to existing documents or upload case notes while
they are working, so it is important to have more than
just read-only access to these applications. Being
able to interact with the SharePoint site in the
browser while o"ine allows eld travelers to use the
SharePoint site in exactly the same manner that they
are already accustomed to, eliminating the need for
retraining.
Faster Page Loads
SharePoint is known for being slow. Combine an
already sluggish web application with a low quality
Internet connection, and you have a recipe for an
unproductive day. However, with endpoint caching,
the page loads
are signicantly
faster. With data
resting directly
on the endpoint,
there is no need
for content to be
served from the edge cache or origin server if its
already been delivered. Since 88% of a web page is
composed of static content, such as CSS and
JavaScript, there is a great deal of content that does
not need to be re-downloaded.
Edge caches are commonly deployed to address
slow page loads, but in the case of SharePoint, they
are ine#ective. Since the edge cache cant decrypt
SSL tra!c (SSL is used by SharePoint and many
other business web applications), they are unable to
assist with SharePoint page load times. Devices can
also be deployed on the server side to reduce page
load times, but those using a cloud-hosted
SharePoint site cant utilize that either. Those with on-
premises SharePoint sites will see a decrease in page
load times if they deploy a server side solution, but
endpoint caching will enhance this benet and make
the SharePoint site even faster.
When the Internet connection is so slow that it is
unusable, employees waste a lot of time and will
search for work-arounds to complete their jobs
(breaking procedural workows). For a eld service
representative, this can mean a return trip to a client
site or calling a colleague to see if they are available
to look up materials on the SharePoint site for them.
For a bank auditor, this can mean returning to the
client on another day if they cant access their
required SharePoint materials. And for a traveling
executive, this can mean that there is no access to
important management reports on a long trip to a
bandwidth challenged country, this can be a serious
problem.
Regardless of how exactly the problem manifests
itself, there are several common repercussions to an
organization. Employees are much less productive,
clients are not satised with the time it takes to x
issues, protability is hurt and people are unable to
e#ectively work when they are out of the o!ce. In a
mobile world, managing content on the go is not an
option it is a necessity.
Mobolize CacheFront
Endpoint caching is the best way to resolve the
challenges caused by unreliable Internet access.
When eld personnel and traveling executives cannot
access their SharePoint sites, productivity is
diminished and service tickets take much longer to
close. Mobolize CacheFront provides an innovate
caching method that stores data directly on the
endpoint, allowing for o"ine read/write access to
web applications in the browser, as well as faster
page and le downloads. To learn more about
CacheFront visit www.mobolize.com.
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About Mobolize
Mobolize CacheFront is Endpoint Web Optimization software that provides network optimization where traditional
approaches fail: mobile users, cloud computing and encrypted web tra!c. Our Global 2000 customers use
CacheFront to remove 80% of web tra!c from their networks, accelerate websites by 10x and allow access to web
content when o"ine. To learn more about Mobolize CacheFront, please visit www.mobolize.com/solution
Corporate Headquarters
2800 28th
Street
Suite 160
Santa Monica,
CA 90405
United States
Tel: +1-310-693-8340
Fax: +1-310-943-2155
www.mobolize.com
sales@mobolize.com
Copyright 2013 Mobolize, Inc. All rights reserved. Mobolize, the Mobolize logo and CacheFront are registered
trademarks of Mobophiles, Inc. All other trademarks listed in this document are the property of their respective
owners. Last revised 2013-July-15.
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