Oracle's recent
announcement that it would
provide mobile business intelligence to users via the Apple
iPhone may prove to be another false dawn in mobile BI, says
analyst Ovum .
Ovum analyst Madan Sheina said, "When Oracle announced its plans
to bring the world of BI to the iPhone, it may have sounded like a
case of déjà vu for those old enough to remember the hype
surrounding WAP (wireless application protocol) and promises to
recreate the desktop in the palm of your hand."
Oracle's move isn't the first time that BI vendors have tried to
untie BI from corporate desktops. SAP/Business Objects, IBM/Cognos,
MicroStrategy and Information Builders have all developed BI links
to RIM's BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and Symbian devices.
But, Sheina said, "Suffice to say the idea is great, with
executives no longer tethered to their desk to get BI information
and metrics. In reality though, compelling use cases for real-world
business applications were extremely limited, mainly to senior
executives and field sales and support staff."
Oracle's first mobile BI effort for the iPhone is Business
Indicators, which is available as a free download from Apple's
newly launched iTunes-like App Store. But it's not free to use
because customers must have licensed Oracle BI Enterprise Edition
Plus and BI Applications Fusion Edition software, which generates
the BI content, including reports, analyses and alerts, on the
iPhone touch-screen interface.
Business Indicators only works as a thin-client solution using
the built-in Safari web browser to deliver select and targeted
metrics and report content from Oracle's BI Suite.
"It's by no means an interactive dashboard experience. For a
truer bi-directional experience Oracle customers will have to wait
until Oracle broadens the range of applications that can be
accessed by iPhone, including modules from its ERP and CRM suite,
something it has hinted at," said Sheina.
Ovum said Oracle was banking on a high uptake of the iPhone in
business to take a sizeable slice of the mobile BI market. But,
Sheina said, "We believe that the iPhone will struggle to break
into the business mainstream. One barrier is that all management of
the device is done through an iTunes-like store and it's hard to
see corporate IT departments rushing to support that on corporate
laptops."
Sheina said, "Mobile BI has had many false dawns, caused not so
much by technology barriers but more from the lack of a killer
application.
"'Coolness' can only take it so far and it will take a lot more
for the iPhone to appeal to the world of business computing, let
alone BI, and drive adoption to levels reached by that of RIM or
Windows Mobile in the enterprise segment. BI is still a long way
away from becoming part of the morning commute."
Blackberry users offered easier way to read analytical reports
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