by Angela Guess
Will Kelly of TechRepublic reports, “Mobile BI apps can help democratize business intelligence and put instant access about sales, logistics, product, and customer data into the hands of mobile workers, like sales people and field engineers. In addition, you don’t need to be a report writer to pull data out of a mobile BI app, which makes it an ideal tool for an executive team who might lack the technology skills but still need access to corporate data. Mobile BI is typically sold as an add-on module to an existing BI platform. This can be a costly add-on that often takes an outside professional services engagement to get online and running for your company.”
He continues, “While the promise of instantaneous access to corporate data is opening many corporate eyes to mobile BI, it is not without its limitations, including: (1) Many mobile BI apps allow users to only view data, not manipulate it. (2) Mobile BI apps are tools of consumption, not analytics. (3) Lack of interactivity in mobile BI apps in general restricts users from drilling down into data, such as sales figures by product or region. (4) Companies often have more than one BI platform in house, requiring mobile users to have multiple apps — and mobile access is sometimes a fee-based add-on to an existing BI platform.”
