Apple devices to get BI touch

MicroStrategy will unveil a series of new business intelligence (BI) products for Apple mobile devices, transactional data systems and on-demand deployments at its annual user conference next week in Las Vegas, writes PC World.

The company is rolling out additional ways to visualise data on iPads and iPhones, including 'heat map' and calendar-style presentations.

Another new feature will enable in-memory data stores on mobile devices to receive new information without having to recreate the whole repository.

Companies planning to run BI projects have been advised to consider making use of software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions, says the Experian QAS.

In an article published on the CIO Australia Web site, commentator Elisabeth Horwitt explained that thinking about outsourcing may be worthwhile when it comes to such initiatives, especially as a number of vendors are now offering SaaS products related to BI.

She added that there is a range of benefits associated with using this form of technology. "In addition to cutting capital and IT staff costs, software-as-a-service offerings enable a business to easily extend the reach of its BI system to remote end users and to business partners via the Web," Horwitt said.

Hewlett-Packard (HP) has officially consigned its Neoview to history, less than four years after introducing it to the market as the company's core offering in the BI space, states Computer World.

In a brief statement, HP said it has decided to "stop actively selling" Neoview.

"Our customers are demanding options for addressing an emerging set of requirements around the explosive growth of data, new types of information, new classes of analytics and new delivery models," the statement said.