InetSoft Webinar: The Mobile BI Demo

This is the continuation of the transcript of a Webinar hosted by InetSoft on the topic of "Mobile BI: iPads & Tablets." The speaker is Mark Flaherty, CMO at InetSoft.

What tablet did you use in the mobile BI demo and what tablets does Style Intelligence support and which one would you recommend for enterprise?

So let me start just by saying that the tablet that you saw in the demo is an HP Slate running Windows 12. Regarding what will take off in the future that’s a big question. There are advantages and disadvantages to any type of platform and I really wouldn't speculate which ones would be more successful than the others.

I definitely see an advantage, an inherent advantage to the Microsoft environment simply because of business continuity from the desktop. On the other hand, there is an advantage to the Apple environment simply because more people have iPads and iPhones, and more people are using it these days. I don’t know what will be the winner year from now. I think we will have all of them, each one with its own advantages in the marketplace.

What about clients who have data behind the firewall on the server in-house, what if they are against the cloud, is using a VPN possible?

Yes, using a VPN is definitely possible. And of course any mobile BI application has to support that environment. Mobile BI works the same way that road warriors work with laptops once they are at home or at the remote office. There needs to be a mechanism which exists of course to connect a mobile device which if off premise to data that’s on site that’s behind the firewall. VPN is of course is the way to do it. There are other ways to get around that, but essentially it's not a major security problem, simply because there are solutions that already deal with that.

Would you recommend to go with a special app for a tablet or a Web-based BI solution that simply supports tablet?

So there are different ideologies regarding that. I can tell you what my opinion, and my experience has been specifically with tablet. There is a significant preference that the application is the same or similar to what users are already using on their desktops. The more these are of the same type of applications, the more the end user acceptance of it and would improve and of course, it will reduce significantly, the need for training, the need for specific adjustments, the overall cost of ownership is reduced that way.

“Flexible product with great training and support. The product has been very useful for quickly creating dashboards and data views. Support and training has always been available to us and quick to respond. - George R, Information Technology Specialist at Sonepar USA

Do you think BI on the tablets can really replace a desktop for certain type of users?

Again it depends who you ask. I am sure there are some tablet enthusiasts who believe that tablets can replace anything. And I am not in a place here to argue with that. But we have seen so far is that for some applications, you do need to have either a stronger hardware or you need to have specific add-ons that don’t exist in tablets yet. Honestly, I don’t think it matters that much. I don’t think people use tablets only for specific applications. I think it's more part of a general strategy for how users should be part of the organization while they are off premise or while they are away from their desks. And mobile BI is part of that concept.

How quickly do you think tablets will be adopted in the enterprises?

I think they will be adopted more quickly than most people imagine. I think although tablets are still being seen by some people, I think a majority of people think of them as somewhat of a gimmick. I think that will vanish very, very quickly. I think a year from today, we are going to look at it in entirely different light, simply because we are already seeing the business benefits that such tools bring to organizations. So although today it's more of a consumer product I think a year from today everybody is going to see very clearly the business benefits that it brings and hence the adoption by an organizations to use it as part of their infrastructure.