TECHNOLOGY FOR CHANGE

Make Your Own Smarter BI Apps--for Free!

R. Colin Johnson | Date: 07-07-10 | Comments

Point-and-click creation of touch-sensitive business intelligence (BI) apps is the aim of MicroStrategy Mobile. The new iPad/iPhone-based BI app generator reads out corporate databases into touch-screen-energized dashboards, where tapping, swiping, dragging, pinching and flicking are used to find and visualize information.

At a gala unveiling during the annual MicroStrategy World user meeting (July 5-8, 2010, in Cannes, France), MicroStrategy started hawking its new iPad and iPhone capabilities for MicroStrategy Mobile. Its old customers on the BlackBerry, Web and Windows can now redeploy existing reporting capabilities into iPad and iPhone dashboards. But the best part is that the BI apps can be stocked in the enterprise's own app store�a "company app store" that Apple only recently starting permitting.

"Mobile devices like the iPad are dramatically expanding the BI market because they are connected and always on,� says Sanju K. Bansal, executive vice president and chief operating officer for MicroStrategy. �Data has just become a lot more valuable, because there is a lot more opportunity for consumption. People are coming to expect to have instantaneous access to their data all the time, and it�s acceptable to use mobile devices to reference information that injects insight into conversations."

MicroStrategy Mobile allows enterprises to create their own apps to display proprietary BI (source: MicroStrategy).

The app developer's package includes templates for executive dashboards, financial reporting, sales reporting and key performance indicators. Smart, localized content can be made available over the mobile Internet using on-board sensors including GPS, accelerometer, gyroscope and touch screen. When installed on an enterprise computer, MicroStrategy�s metadata-based software can also be accessed for presentation on other platforms, including the BlackBerry, Web browsers, Microsoft Office and Windows.

The app-level interface for the iPad and iPhone employs the touch screen to browse information displays using multitouch gestures for data exploration, such as tapping to drill down, swiping to scroll, pinching to zoom and shaking to refresh. In addition, an information flow model guides users to relevant reports and presentations. Screen-to-screen flows can directly transfer visualizations to other iPads, while automatic feed-forwards transfer contextual information, such as filters applied in one view that automatically feed-forward to subsequent views.

Apps created with MicroStrategy Mobile have a common feel that comes from using company-branded templates to reflect the corporate culture of the enterprise users. Open design palettes then allow designers to create new layouts and information flows that can be shared with other app creators within the enterprise. The apps also integrate with the other iPad and iPhone functions like e-mail, Web browsing and texting, as well as Apple's apps such as Maps, Calendar and Safari. Resources in other apps can also be called upon by passing context and control to the receiving app.

To make your own free starter app that can be distributed to 25 other users, check out MicroStrategy�s site.