Hold on to your hand held devices – industry analyst firm Gartner predicts one-third of all BI functionality will accessed mainly through devices like mobiles and tablets in one to two years.
Another study conducted by research company Vanson Bourne revealed that only 30% of the companies surveyed allow their business data to be accessed by smartphone users and only 19% by tablet users.
Despite mobile business intelligence being predicted as a future trend, few companies are investing in accessible business intelligence, according to the report.
As the mobile and tablet industry are growing steadily with no signs of slowing down, businesses should start thinking ahead in how their customers are going to interact with their business in the future.
Peter Walker, UK and Ireland manager for BI firm Information Builders, agrees that that making data easy to access in a world where people are always moving is important:
"By the end of the year, almost half the world’s population will have a mobile phone but there’s a risk that companies are missing out by failing to make data available to staff on the move," says Walker.
Companies need to consider certain factors to ensure a successful mobile BI strategy can be put into place.
"Those organisations that don’t keep place will lose out to the competition as they’ll be unable to make decisions quickly in an age where business agility is all," he adds.
Evaluating if your company needs to have web-based applications, third party support and content, and open access so any device or operating system can access the company’s BI systems are important to understand and can be a big stepping stone in staying ahead of the mobile movement.
