Three Paradigm Shifts Regarding Mobile Business Intelligence

Instant access to data has changed the way we live. Think about all the information we consume while waiting in line for coffee. It’s easy to check game scores, emails, and hundreds of news sources. But rarely do we just consume; we engage, too. We update our Twitter or Tumblr in seconds. We answer email and texts on the go. It’s a long way from the one-way flow of information from the world of television and printed newspapers. Mobile is a two-way street.

Business intelligence is no exception. People need the speed and convenience of actionable business data wherever they are. But despite the inherent advantages of BI and a mature consumer mobile ecosystem, we’re still in the early stages mobile BI. According to Dresner Advisory Services’ “Wisdom of Crowds: Mobile Computing/Mobile Business Intelligence Market Study,” penetration of mobile business intelligence remains modest: 20 percent of survey respondents report no mobile capabilities whatsoever and more than 60 percent of organizations report 10 percent or fewer users with mobile BI access. This whitepaper demystifies the misconceptions and presents three paradigm shifts to get the maximum benefit from Mobile BI.

In this whitepaper, you’ll learn about:

• Important mobile BI use cases
• How users find and interact with data on the go
• Mobile dashboard design best practices

We've also pulled out the first several pages of the whitepaper for you to read. Download the PDF on the right to read the rest.

The Opportunity

Instant access to data has changed the way we live. Think about all the information we consume while waiting in line for coffee. It’s easy to check game scores, emails, and hundreds of news sources. But rarely do we just consume; we engage, too. News stories get shared on Facebook, where we take a moment crack jokes or offer support to friends. We update our Twitter or Tumblr in seconds. We answer email and texts on the go. It’s a long way from the one-way flow of information from the world of television and printed newspapers. Mobile is a two-way street.

Business intelligence is no exception. People need the speed and convenience of actionable business data wherever they are. But despite the inherent advantages of BI and a mature consumer mobile ecosystem, we’re still in the early stages mobile BI. According to Dresner Advisory Services’ “Wisdom of Crowds: Mobile Computing/Mobile Business Intelligence Market Study,” penetration of mobile business intelligence remains modest: 20 percent of survey respondents report no mobile capabilities whatsoever and more than 60 percent of organizations report 10 percent or fewer users with mobile BI access. While there are innovative companies that have fully embraced mobile BI, many are just starting or have not yet begun.

So why do mobile BI adoption rates vary so dramatically? Some see implementing mobile BI company-wide as an expensive proposition that’s unlikely to succeed. Other companies, particularly those still constrained by older BI methods, are facing multiple analytics challenges and adding mobile is not a top priority.

Fortunately, with proper planning and clear goal setting, the move to mobile can be easy. But before companies can implement a mobile BI strategy, they must embrace a new way of thinking. Here are three paradigm shifts that have helped companies get ahead of the curve on mobile BI.

Paradigm Shift 1: Understanding Context

Our smartphones have taught us to expect speed and convenience. We don’t want to carry around a laptop or tablet if we don’t have to, and we don’t want to be chained to an office. Whether we’re in a coffee shop, a restaurant, a hotel lobby, or on an airplane, we want access to the necessary data, and we want it now. And more and more people are working from home or traveling as a major part of their job. For them, having quick, reliable access to data is a requirement, not a luxury.

The increased capabilities of smartphones and self-service analytics solutions have made all of this possible. For example, at Coke-Cola Bottling Company Consolidated, the sales team is equipped with mobile devices that provides access to data needed to make sales.

Even just a few years ago, the hardware and software would not have allowed a salesperson to instantly access sales data while meeting with a client outside of the office. Now this speed to an answer is becoming the norm.

Executives are another group of common users of mobile analytics. According to Dresner’s “Mobile Business Intelligence Market Study” executives are the #1 targeted user for Mobile BI deployments. Just as salespeople need access to sales data when they’re on the move, executives need to know the state of the company wherever they may be.. But this access to data shouldn’t be limited to the sales team or the C-suite. Anyone who needs flexibility and the big picture is going to want mobile capabilities sooner or later.

With self-service analytics empowering everyone to be a data analyst, an increasing number of people will expect their BI solution to extend to the mobile space using their device of choice. Mobile should be baked into a BI solution so that “it just works” without the need for rollout of a parallel system for mobile BI or employing mobile developers to create a custom workflow.