MicroStrategy Offers Business Intelligence Software For BlackBerrysMicroStrategy Offers Business Intelligence Software For BlackBerrys

Business intelligence provider MicroStrategy on Tuesday began offering new software that delivers BI information to BlackBerry smartphones.

MicroStrategy Mobile allows business professionals to receive desktop-based analytics reports on their BlackBerrys without reformatting or retrofitting the reports. Users are offered personal report preferences, such as how they want to view a report on their smartphone.

Reports also can be accessed on a BlackBerry offline, which is a good option to have when the smartphone is not connected to the Internet. The software chooses the most efficient way to use the available network bandwidth, based on the quality of the signal and how much bandwidth is used by other mobile apps.

When developing its mobile software, MicroStrategy focused on making the user interface intuitive so that no training would be required. "We also paid close attention to underlying issues of efficient memory management, data compression, security, and network bandwidth optimization to ensure that MicroStrategy Mobile would work well for mission-critical applications at high scale," MicroStrategy COO Sanju Bansal said in a statement.

MicroStrategy Mobile is generally available starting this week.

MicroStrategy isn't the first to target mobile professionals, such as executives who use BI tools to monitor financial metrics or salespeople who need to review market share reports on the go. Other BI providers have launched similar mobile software for smartphone users.

Information Builders in July rolled out its mobile analytics software for Apple iPhone users. The company's WebFocus Active Reports software lets businesses interact with data on a smartphone similar to the way they would on a desktop. It can be accessed through a Web browser on any smartphone.

Cognos in May began offering its Go Mobile software, which delivers reports and up-to-date information from the Cognos 8 platform to BlackBerry smartphones. Similar to MicroStrategy's offering, Cognos' software takes care of formatting issues so that reports show up the same on a desktop and smartphone. Additionally, Go Mobile uses the native navigational features in BlackBerrys to make it easier to use the software.

Also in May, Business Objects made available its mobile BI software, which lets users view and interact with a full range of reports and metrics, including the ability to change data directly from a smartphone and the ability to trigger remote processes. The software is compatible with BlackBerry and Windows Mobile-based smartphones, among others.