The architectural elements described in this summary are used to instantiate mobile hosting environments with cloud service providers. Mobile applications have time-variable usage patterns that are well supported by the scalability and elasticity characteristics of cloud computing. Mobile applications also tend to make use of server-side data.

The frequency and volume of data access common with mobile apps can sometimes be difficult for traditional enterprise systems. Elastic provisioning and support of application-specific databases is an important and relevant cloud-computing capability. Using application-specific databases can also reduce the need to access enterprise systems and the associated resources.