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Vendor Product Website
Actuate BIRT Mobilewww.actuate.com/products/birt-
user-experience/mobile-options
IBM Cognos Mobilewww-01.ibm.com/software
/analytics/cognos/mobile
MeLLmo Roambi www.roambi.com
MicroStrategyMicroStrategy
Mobilewww.microstrategy.com/mobile
QlikTech QlikView
www.qlikview.com/us/explore
/products/qv-for-mobile
SAPBusinessObjects
Mobile
www.sap.com/solutions
/sapbusinessobjects/large/business-
intelligence/mobile
Tableau
SoftwareTableau Server www.tableausoftware.com
TIBCO Spotfire spotfire.tibco.com/iPad.aspx
Mobile BI Vendors
Surveying the Mobile BI
LandscapeWhats the best platform for enabling mobile BI in your
enterprise?
According to a recent study published by Gartner, the demand for
tablet computers, such as Apples iPad, will
more than quadruple in the near future, from 15 million
worldwide in 2010 to 70 million in 2011. This, alongwith the
growing number of business users with access to tablets and
smartphones, means that the need to
provide mobile business intelligence (BI) solutions to this user
base is expected to continue to be a critical
component of any BI vendor strategy.
In the March 2011 column on mobile BI (Ready for Mobile BI?), we
touched on the opportunities and early
demand being generated by the proliferation and adoption of
mobile BI platforms in the business world. In particular, with
the
growth in the tablet market after the huge success seen by iPad
and Android-based devices, the need for extending business
intelligence to the mobile user has been growing.
As with any other market-driven technology need, when there is a
demand for a technology solution, a number of companies
launch products and roadmaps to fulfill that need. Mobile BI is
no different. Most of the major BI vendors have either released
products already or indicated their interest in being providers
of mobile BI solutions for businesses. Generally, these players
fall into one of two categories: traditional BI vendors and
niche mobile BI vendors.
The traditional vendors in this space include QlikTech
(QlikView), MicroStrategy, and SAP (BusinessObjects). Most of
them
consider mobile just another device they need to service and
have adopted an approach where the mobile BI client is an
extension of their core business intelligence stack. With most
mobile users looking for ease of use compared to overall
functionality (according to Gartners 2011 Business Intelligence
Magic Quadrant report), the traditional BI vendors initially
launched simple native applications for the iPhone and iPad
market. This is not surprising, of course; these devices have
been
game changers and category creators in this space, with the iPad
controlling the majority of the tablet market.
However, because the traditional players look at
mobile as just another device to which they can
extend their solutions, they typically require you to
centralize your BI solution on a single vendorplatform in order
to enable mobile access. In
contrast, the niche mobile BI players offer
solutions for users who have multiple business
intelligence platforms and/or data sources within
their enterprises, but need a single mobile BI
platform. One prominent player in this space is
Roambi (from MeLLmo).
When trying to decide on the best platform to
enable mobile BI for your organization, you need
to consider a number of areas: ease of integrating
to existing data sources; existing investments in
business intelligence platforms; security needs;
ease of use; and type of mobile devices to be
supported. As a starting point, we will look at a
few of the key vendors to monitor in this market
(see Table 1).
SAP BusinessObjects
As the largest player in the business intelligence
market, SAP BusinessObjects will ensure that its
mobile offering gains good market share. The
challenge for SAP will be in its ability to prove to the market
that it can become a leader in its mobile offeringsomething
that
is yet to be proven. Despite this, for organizations that have
already adopted BusinessObjects, the vendors solution will be a
viable consideration. However, with solutions such as QlikView
and Roambi that can happily coexist in the environment, SAP
will need to show that the company can bring together disparate
platforms into a single unified stack solution that includes
mobile BI.
veying the Mobile BI Landscape - Software Magazine
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QlikTech QlikView
QlikView from QlikTech is a leader for an end-user-driven
approach to business intelligence. The vendors self-contained
BI
platform, along with its commitment to mobile BI, positions it
as a strong contender for organizations looking to enable
mobile
BI. In most deployments, QlikView is used as a single BI
platform or a complement to existing data warehouse or business
intelligence solutions. The focus on mobile BI and a growing
portfolio of larger enterprise deployments will enable QlikView
to continue to be a leader in this space.
MeLLmo Roambi
MeLLmos Roambi has quickly become a prominent name in the mobile
BI market, with its focus on iPhone and iPad devices.
The platform easily integrates with a number of business
intelligence systems and data sources, including SAP
BusinessObjects, IBM Cognos, Oracle Hyperion, Microsoft, and
Salesforce.com. This approach, along with a strong
visualization offering, makes Roambi an ideal solution for
companies that want to leverage their existing investments in
these
platforms while enabling mobile BI. The challenge for Roambi
will be its ability to continue to grow its market share as
traditional players enable and strengthen their mobile business
intelligence offerings.
MicroStrategy Mobile
MicroStrategy was one of the original entrants in this sector,
with a number of early success stories and a large deployment
in
the mobile BI space. The company initially focused on BlackBerry
and now has a strong offering in the iPhone and iPad user
base. The biggest hurdle for customers looking at MicroStrategy
is the necessary commitment to its business intelligence
platform and the steep initial learning curve. Furthermore, the
overall cost and complexity of its full enterprise business
intelligence solution is another hurdle that companies may need
to overcome.Microsoft
Even though Microsoft has been growing its business intelligence
offering since 2000, the company has yet to deliver a strong
offering for mobile BI. Currently, Microsofts positioning is to
use custom-developed applications to support mobile BI. With
the growth in mobile usage and the rapid adoption of tablet
devices in business, its just a matter of time before the
company
creates a presence for itself in this space. If Microsoft takes
too long to make that happen, anticipate potential acquisitions
or
other aggressive strategies as the company plays catch-up.
IBM Cognos Mobile
Despite its leadership role in business intelligence, Cognos has
had limited success in the mobile BI space. The Cognos
Mobile platform allows organizations using Cognos as their BI
platform to extend those capabilities to multiple mobile
devices, including BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, iOS, and Symbian
operating systems. Although the company has started to
offer mobile BI support, its still lagging in capabilities and
the rich user interface required by todays consumerized mobile
BI
solutions.
Going Forward
The mobile BI landscape is still in the early stages of
development, with MicroStrategy, QlikView, and Roambi taking the
early
lead in offering and focus. With the anticipated growth in
tablet and smartphone usage in enterprises, along with
consumerization and ease-of-use drivers for mobile BI solutions,
the leaders will need to continue driving innovation, as well
as enabling collaboration and just-in-time access to business
data, to stay ahead of the pack. It is another exciting day in BI,
and
mobile BI will continue to gain momentum and adoption in line
with the growth of mobility solutions in the enterprise.
Umesh Jain is the founder and president of Merging Elements, an
advisory firm focused on customer management and IT
strategy services. He can be reached
[email protected].
Printed
From:http://www.softwaremag.com/focus-areas/business-intelligence/commentary/surveying-the-mobile-bi-landscape
veying the Mobile BI Landscape - Software Magazine
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