Mobile Business Intelligence with Microsoft SSRS & SharePoint

DesignMind San Francisco

2012

Angel Abundez

Business Intelligence Consultant, DesignMind Microsoft Business Intelligence

ASP.NET

Tableau

Worked with SQL Server since 2007

SSWUG BI Author

Co-Lead, Bay Area Microsoft BI User Group

DesignMind

Business Intelligence Data Warehouse Architecture & Implementation

Mobile BI Smartphones, iPads, Tablets

Microsoft Certified

Gold Partner SQL Server, SharePoint, .NET

Databases Data Marts, Data Warehouses, Master Data Management,

Reporting, Analytics, Dashboards, Mobile, ETL

San Francisco Silicon Valley, Seattle

Custom Software

Agenda

Options for Mobile BI. What are some challenges?

Web Browser

Native Apps

Security

What makes good Mobile BI?

Why is Mobile BI important?

33% of BI will be consumed on Mobile Devices by the end of

2013 (Source: Gartner)

Tablet and Smartphone Sales grow over 100% each year (Source: ABI Research)

119M Projected Tablet sales in 2012 (Source: Gartner)

Why is Mobile BI important?

Microsoft Options for Mobile BI

SharePoint 2010

• Performance Point Services

• Excel Services • SSRS 2012 in Integrated

Mode

SSRS 2012 SP1 (***CTP 3)

3rd Party Dev Tools

• Mobile Entreé

• DevExpress

• Strategy Companion

MOBILE WEB BROWSER

Mobi Reports Pro

3rd Party Apps

• Tableau

• RoamBI

• PushBI

• MicroStrategy

Build your own!

NATIVE APP

Microsoft Options for Mobile BI

Pros

• Easier Cross-Platform Development and Testing

• Lower Cost. Fast Implementation

• Got SQL Server? Quick mobile turn-around

Cons

• Limited Navigation and Screen Real-Estate

• Browser CSS rendering differences

• Caching data unless you use HTML5

MOBILE WEB BROWSER

Pros

• Multi-gesture Controls

• Pop-Up Menus, Navigation Tricks, Screen Real-Estate utilization

• Communicate with other apps

Cons

• High Cost

• Cross-Platform

• Platform OS changes

NATIVE APP

Microsoft Options for Mobile BI

Pros

• Pixel Perfect Layout/Customization

• Advanced Visualizations (Bullet Graphs, Maps, Sparklines, Data Bars)

Cons

• Postbacks refresh the entire report

• Browser CSS rendering differences

SQL Server Reporting Services 2012

Pros

• Consistent Look and Feel

• Pre-built Functionality

• Ad Hoc Visualizations

• Callbacks refresh dashboards

Cons

• Requires an OLAP cube to take advantage of prebuilt functions

• Customization requires coding of master pages/CSS

Performance Point Services …

Challenges in Mobile BI

Performance Real Estate Design Security Cross Platform

Challenges in Mobile BI

VPN

SSL

Mobile Device Management (MDM)

Remote Control over apps & app settings on enterprise mobile devices

Security

Challenges in Mobile BI - Performance

• Report Caching and Snapshots

• Data Warehousing (Data Model) – Columnstore

• SSAS UDM

• SQL Server 2012 BI Semantic Model – PowerPivot

– SSAS Tabular Mode

– SSAS Multidimensional UDM

Software

• SSD

• Cloud-based servers

• ***SQL Azure

Hardware

Mobile BI Options Demo

Performance Point on Safari Multiple Pages Minimal Master Page

SSRS on Mobi Reports Pro Mobile Pro App Parameters

What Makes Good Mobile Reporting? “Multi-touch gestures are often forgotten…”

“Fingers are remarkable things. We can test the weather, test the direction of the wind, plug a leak, but not precision tapping on a mobile device.”

“Keep to a rhythm of 44 pixel tap targets.”

“Keep the interface (technology) essentially invisible.”

“Nobody wants to spend brain power figuring out how you’re app works”

Navigation for Mobile

Source: Tapworthy, Designing Great iPhone Apps

Design in Mobile BI

Easy touch screen actions Highlighting

Filtering

Drill-Down/Drill-Through

Share your Findings Email

Export

Screenshot

Connecting on the go SQL Azure Reporting Services

VPN

Windows Authentication

Report Item Actions PerformancePoint Filters Scorecard Data Connections

Navigation for Mobile BI

Drill-Down vs. Drill-Through

Drill-Down - get to a Category to see smaller subset of the

data

SSRS Charts > Category Groups

SSRS Tablix > Row Groups or Column Groups.

PPS Filters and Data Connections

Drill-Through opens up a whole new report showing

transactional detail.

Advanced Visualizations

Bullet Graph Comparative

Bar Chart

Sparkline

Trellis

Chart

Mobi Reports Pro & Mobi SSRS

View SQL Reporting Services Reports

Supports SSRS 2005, 2008, 2008 R2,

2012, Azure SSRS in Native and

SharePoint modes

Parameters support

Drill-Down and Drill-Through reports

Navigate between multiple reports

quickly with Bookmarks and History

Print and Email Reports

SQL Reporting Services for iPad and iPhone

Interactivity Demo

Performance Point Filters Scorecards

(Data Connections)

SQL Server Reporting Services 1-Click Highlight Filter Breadcrumbs

Learn more

Jen Stirrup, SQL Server MVP UK

Jenstirrup.com

Jen Underwood, Technical Evangelist, Microsoft

JenUnderwood.com

Stacia Misner’s SQL Azure Reporting Services webinar

http://www.syncfusion.com/resources/webinar/sql-

azure

Mobiweave.com

5 Best Mobile BI Tips by Tableau

Sources:

Conclusion

Microsoft has options for Mobile BI.

Cost vs. Functionality vs. User

Experience will tell you platform

Practice good Security principles.

Fundamental BI and Mobile App

design. (KISS)

Making it easy for users is hard, but the rewards for adoption are great.

Contact us

Angel Abundez Business Intelligence Consultant

Email angel@designmind.com

Twitter @angelstreamline

Blog www.angelsbiblog.com

Find me on

DesignMind Custom Software, Database, and

Business Intelligence Solutions

San Francisco

www.designmind.com

Thank you