The Canadian BI firm announced yesterday that its Cognos 8 Go software can also be used on Windows Mobile Smartphones and Nokia devices running Symbian S60. In the latter case, these include Nokia Eseries devices and Nseries multimedia computers based on S60 3rd Edition on Symbian OS.
Previously Cognos 8 Go only worked with RIM’s Blackberry device.
Cognos, which is headquartered in Ottawa, said that expanded support for each of the platforms has been purpose-built’, which perhaps explains why the company has taken its time to extend the range of devices supported.
Cognos 8 Go renders BI information that’s pulled from a Cognos 8 BI server into a compressed format that makes it suitable to be accessed and manipulated on mobile devices or the Web. The software includes an authoring environment, remote administration and security tools.
The application is targeted mainly at jet-setting executives and on-the-road sales staff who need quick and easy access to up-to-the-minute information on corporate performance or daily customer, sales and shipment information, wherever they might be located.
Rather than a one-size-fits-all approach, Cognos has built custom, purpose-built rich client interfaces between Go and the three mobile devices it now supports. That means the client automatically formats Cognos 8 BI data for viewing on the device and there’s no need to specifically re-author the reports for different wireless devices. Nor are users provided with static renditions of BI data; all the reports are live and users can apply native device commands (like scrolling and clicking) to navigate through reports and menus.
Windows Mobile works with other Microsoft applications like Office, in particular Outlook, search engines, and other business applications like BI.
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It’s a flexible platform that allows companies to adopt productivity tools and applications they need to maximize mobile productivity, said Eddie Amos, general manager of global ISV partners at Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft.
The newly supported Cognos 8 Go devices are currently being beta-tested by several of Cognos’ reseller and OEM partners who are looking to sell it to enterprise and mid-market customers that want to extend their Cognos BI investments into Windows Mobile environments.
Cognos 8 Go is part of Cognos’ strategy to make BI more pervasive throughout the organization, allowing corporate users to view and consume BU content using familiar applications like Google search or Office, mobile devices like Blackberries, or Web browsers.
Cognos 8 Go is optionally offered as a role-based, separately-priced add-on for Cognos 8 BI customers.
