MicroStrategy honours BI

MicroStrategy, a leading worldwide provider of business intelligence (BI) software, today honoured two companies for demonstrating best practices in their business intelligence deployments, reports CNN Money.com.

The MicroStrategy Honours Award recognises organisations for outstanding corporate performance improvements as a result of their MicroStrategy-based BI applications.

The MicroStrategy UK Honours Award winners for 2007 are Biffa Waste Services and Quadriga.

Burger King announced the appointment of Mike Kappitt as senior VP of global business intelligence and strategy. Kappitt will report to Russ Klein, president of global marketing, strategy and innovation, says QSR Magazine.com.

Kappitt has been with Burger King since September 2002. Most recently, Kappitt served as VP of consumer insights and performance analysis, where he supported development of new products, promotions, advertising, and strategic platforms for the Burger King core consumer.

In his new role, Kappitt will oversee consumer insights and performance analytics globally, as well as the trade area analytics that inform development decisions. He will also retain his responsibilities for global sales forecasting, and for pricing decisions for new and existing products.

Oracle launched the 11g version of its database for its core Unix server market, adding nearly 500 technology features in a major new release, says Information Week.

The database includes an advanced feature, Real Application Testing, which captures a workload snapshot of an Oracle 10g production system and runs it on a new installation of 11g. The feature is expected to help customers migrate applications to the new database with less pain than previous migrations.

"We think there is no real competition out there. We're sort of seeding the market," for aiding customers with their regression testing, said Andy Mendelsohn, senior VP, in an interview.

MicroStrategy announced plans to launch MicroStrategy Mobile, a new product that delivers timely BI information directly to BlackBerry smartphones from Research in Motion (RIM), reports CNN Money.com.

With MicroStrategy Mobile, business users will receive the same reports on their BlackBerry smartphone as they receive on their desktop, without the need for reformatting or retrofitting existing reports. The report manipulation features available in MicroStrategy Mobile allow users to view even the largest reports within the compact screen size of the BlackBerry smartphone.

MicroStrategy Mobile is designed to work co-operatively with other BlackBerry applications, including phone, e-mail, and text messages. The product dynamically optimises the use of network bandwidth, based on the quality of the signal and usage by other mobile applications.