3fifteen transforms Business Intelligence into a truly mobile tool

Local Microsoft development powerhouse and Britehouse subsidiary, 3fifteen has announced that it has secured the local distributorship for Performance Canvas - the first solution to cost effectively transform customers' existing Business Intelligence (BI) investment into a tool that can be accessed from any smart phone in the world.

Rian Durandt, Business Unit Manager for BI solutions of 3fifteen says Performance Canvas is unique in the level of functionality it extends to mobile BI workers.

"Where traditionally, mobile BI meant the ability for a user to receive alerts about one or another metric in their solution being outside of a 'normal' range, Performance Canvas gives users the ability to look at the context of an alert, drill deeper into the BI tool for additional information and analyse contributing factors," Durandt explains.

"What companies really need is pull technology, as opposed to the push-based solutions that are abundant in the market today," he says.

BI users need context in order to make decisions, Durandt says, and as such, they must be able to customise queries so that they are able to see information that's relevant.

"They furthermore require the same level of customisability from their mobile solutions as they are able to get when they're seated at their computer," he says.

As a starting point, Performance Canvas provides customers with an analytical dashboard environment that's completely interactive and customisable to their exact informational needs in the traditional notebook of desktop environment.

"The real value comes in," he says, "when this is tailored to a mobile view, which supports both the screen size and the bandwidth constraints often associated with mobile smart phones."

"This is a game-changing ability, since no additional software is required on the smart phone end of the equation.

"It's also a cost effective solution, since the organisation only requires a single server license of Performance Canvas and it bolts directly onto the organisation's existing investment in Microsoft's BI tools," he says.

The best part however, Durandt says, is that the solution can be implemented in the space of days with a single developer.

"Once the initial implementation is done, no ongoing development is required.

"Users are free to customise the solution in real time, drawing on the exact information they need without complex queries or a confusing interface," Durandt says.

"There's even a speedy solution for users that don't have an existing investment in Microsoft's BI tools," he says.

"Customers are able to easily leverage the solution's functionality by putting an intermediary system, such as Microsoft Analysis Services between their non-Microsoft BI solution and the Performance Canvas engine.

"In fact even if this route is pursued, the overall solution ends up being far more cost effective than authoring a bespoke mobile dissemination channel from scratch," he says.

Durandt says Performance Canvas is something that 3fifteen and its clients are extremely excited by, since it turns every smart phone user into a knowledge worker.

"It enables executives to, for the first time, keep their finger on the pulse of all aspects of their business, anywhere, anytime. And that's a virtually priceless capability," he concludes