Mobile devices have not only changed the way we communicate on a personal level, but increasingly our business interactions as well, says Premie Naicker, MD, Yellowfin South Africa. When calling a business, your enquiry may no longer be directed to a call centre, but rather to an individual with specific responsibility for your area of interest. This has created a requirement for a fundamental shift in how businesses manage access to the information that resides within the four walls of their organisations.
Today, companies must have data management plans in place to ensure that information is properly stored to enable users to derive the business benefits of mobile data interaction and analysis. Enter mobile BI. Mobile business intelligence (BI) can have a profound effect on an organisation's bottom line by increasing the mobile workforce's competitive edge, and in turn, customer satisfaction, but only if properly implemented.
Mobile BI can be defined as an organisation's capability to deliver relevant, timely data to anyone within the organisation, regardless of their device or location. Today's modern definition of mobile BI includes all device types - be it laptop, smartphone or tablet.
As business becomes more agile, users are no longer just at the office, but out on the road or at customer sites, and are switching between different, interlinked mobile devices. This type of multi-device interaction - otherwise known as 'device independence' - should be considered a non-negotiable must when implementing a mobile BI strategy. Ultimately, users need to able to access and analyse their BI content in a consistent manner - whether at the office or in the field.
Key beneficiaries
So who stands to benefit from mobile BI?
Senior executives are able to access key performance indicators (KPIs) and other mission critical data between meetings and strategy sessions, and absorb the information while on the move. Additionally, key decision-makers, who rarely spend time at their desk, must have business-critical information at their fingertips - in the boardroom, the airport, or on the road - to make informed decisions in a fast-paced business environment.
Sales managers, who are at the customer coalface, and mostly at or between meetings, can have access to real-time sales data, and act on opportunities as they arise in real-time.
Field service technicians also stand to benefit from mobile BI as they are able to receive timely alerts on new tasks, and access historical customer data, to better identify and address a clients' unique needs. With this knowledge, a technician can confidently service the customer, knowing the pain points they have experienced before.
Security is paramount
One of the greatest concerns of senior executives is security. After all, an organisation's information is its lifeblood and, if compromised, could have serious operational and legal consequences. All too often we hear stories of organisations that have been hacked, or executives laptops that have been stolen, with dire consequences as sensitive information becomes exposed.
From my perspective, I believe the most effective security strategy rests on the connection, authentication and access of encrypted data from a BI server via the Web, meaning that no actual data is stored on the mobile device itself. A user's session should also time-out or lock if there is a period of inactivity, to safeguard data when devices are lost or stolen. Reconnection should require a user name and password.
As far as user authentication is concerned, all passwords should be managed centrally through a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directory. In this way, if a device is lost or stolen, it can be disabled and confidentiality of business information is then guaranteed. To satisfy internal data security protocols, all users must also have personalised access to mobile reporting and analytics, based on their skills, needs, roles and responsibilities within the organisation.
Where to now?
At Yellowfin, we believe that implementing mobile BI within an organisation offers enormous potential benefits. These include increased productivity, sales and enhanced reputation via improved customer satisfaction. The underpinning factor that will ensure the success of any mobile BI project is your implementation partner. Selecting the right partner to support and maintain the solution as the needs of your business grow and evolve, is vital.
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