MicroStrategy Launches iPhone, iPad BI Apps

Apple's long-anticipated, but not-quite-achieved drive to become a major force in Enterprise IT is nonetheless gradually worming its way into IT shops. A launch Tuesday by MicroStrategy to offer its business intelligence apps for the iPad and the iPhone could bring the Apple devices into prominent roles in IT shops.

MicroStrategy unveiled its MicroStrategy Mobile for the Apple devices at the business intelligence firm' user conference at Cannes, France. Significantly, MicroStrategy Mobile had been available since 2007 for the Blackberry, long the dominant handset in mobile enterprise circles.

"Microstrategy Mobile can transform the way our customers conduct their business," said Sanju Bansal, MicroStrategy COO, in a statement. "It will allow insight to be injected into every conversation and decision. It is exciting to see how our customers are already incorporating mobile business intelligence into their business operations."

The popular iPhone, as well as versions of Google's Android phones, have been working their way into enterprise networks, often without the blessing of CIOs, but the movement is so strong and pervasive that CIOs typically have to accommodate the new smartphones.

In announcing MicroStrategy Mobile for the iPad and iPhone, the business intelligence company noted that businesses realize the value of empowering their staffs and business partners with actionable information that is available at all times.

"Powerful app-phones and tablets that integrate sensor technologies, such as GPS, cameras, and multi-touch screens, make it easier to query vast volumes of data quickly and precisely," MicroStrategy said in a release.

Citing the convenience of the Apple devices, MicroStrategy believes enterprise users will be attracted to their mobile applications, because they enable easy access to graphs, grids, enterprise reports and other information on the iPad and iPhone. MicroStrategy said also that its mobile services can be implemented quickly.

Citing an example of the ease of use of MicroStrategy Mobile, the firm used the case of the manager in a retail store, who realizes an iPad, for instance, already knows your GPS location and a nearby barcode ID in a quick click. Before that, the manager had to enter his or her location and the product code - a relatively cumbersome exercise.

The MicroStrategy Mobile app is available on the Apple App store.