What is Mobile BI & Why is it Important?

Mobile is changing the way that we work and consume information. We are hardly “Offline” anymore, meaning that users need access to their analytics to make decisions faster based on insights on the fly. In other words, dashboards need to be consumed by your mobile device and be able to provide end-users with data information that they can easily absorb. This becomes tricky due to the amount of real estate you have on a phone vs on your desktop. 

What is mobile Business Intelligence (BI)? 

You’re probably familiar with the term business intelligence (BI), but if not, business intelligence refers to the technology-driven process of analyzing data and providing actionable insight resources that can be used to make intelligent business decisions. Or is otherwise known that BI is about having the right data at the right time to make the right decision. 

Consequently, Mobile Business Intelligence (BI) refers to the ability to access and perform BI-related data analysis on mobile devices and tablets. It makes it easier to display KPIs, business metrics, and dashboards. Mobile BI empowers users to use and receive the same features and capabilities as those in the desktop / app-based BI software. 

Why is mobile BI important? 

Nowadays, businesses possess an abundance of data. In this fast-paced environment, everyone needs real-time data access to make data-driven decisions anytime and anywhere. 

The number of organizations using mobile apps like SaaS for critical business processes is increasing daily. Whether you are a CEO, salesperson, digital marketer, department manager, or employee, mobile BI can help you increase productivity, improve the decision-making process, and boost your business. 

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Advantages of mobile BI  

Accessibility  

Having company insights at your fingertips is the most valuable advantage of mobile BI. You are not limited to one computer in one location, but instead, you can access important data information on your mobile device at any time and from any location. Having real-time data insights always available helps improve the overall productivity of your daily operations.  

Improved decision–making 

Mobile BI apps speed up the decision-making process. When decisions or actions must be made on the spot and at the moment, mobile BI provides up-to-the-minute insights based on data to help users when they need it the most. 

Stay ahead of your competitors  

Access to real-time data helps identify business opportunities sooner, react to market conditions in a timely manner, and increase the opportunity to upsell and cross-sell. Deploying a mobile BI solution makes you more flexible and adaptable to business shifts. 

Mobile BI solutions  

Every mobile device can be used to display and work with data. But of course, there are some significant differences – the size of the screen is obviously different #1. For example, some data visualizations require more screen space, while others can easily fit in the width of a smartphone or tablet. 

There are a couple of ways to implement content on mobile devices, with those being the most common:

Web page – Every mobile device includes a web browser that can access almost any web page. Depending on some factors, the quality of the accessed page could be terrible, acceptable, or great. In this scenario, BI developers need to check how their content renders on mobile devices when creating reports and other data visualizations. This means that they should design the application specifically for mobile use.  

HTML5 site – Same as the web page, but with some improvements. HTML5 enables RIA (Rich Internet Application) content to be displayed across all types of mobile devices without relying on proprietary standards. The advantages of HTML5 are functions such as zooming, double-tapping, and pinching, as well as that the user doesn’t have to install the app on its device to be able to use it.  

Native app – These are web applications that can be downloaded and installed on mobile devices. The application’s software is tailored to the OS of the mobile devices. It is the most difficult and most expensive solution for manufacturers to support mobile BI, but it enables interactive and enhanced use of analytics content. 

Why is a Native Mobile BI Solution So Important?  

When you are creating a dashboard, you shouldn’t have to worry if this dashboard will look good from your computer to your phone to your tablet. It should just work and look beautiful on all platforms! That is the beauty of working with a native solution. As the creator, you don’t have to think about designing your dashboards for mobile – it just happens with the same look and feel across any device. 

Mobile markets are forever changing their devices, operating systems, and screen sizes, so why should you have to think about designing for so many types and constantly updating them? 

These are the top 3 advantages of mobile native apps:  

Best Performance 

With native mobile app development, the app is created and optimized for a specific platform. The result is that the app has a higher level of performance. Native apps are very fast and responsive because they are built for that specific platform and compiled using its core programming language and APIs. This also creates greater efficiency. The device stores the app, allowing the software to leverage the device’s processing speed. So when users navigate through a native mobile app, load times are faster because the content and visual elements are already stored on their phones. 

In contrast, a web app operates as a series of calls to and from remote web pages, and its speed is constrained by all those Internet connections. 

More Secure and Reliable 

Web apps rely on a variety of browsers and underlying technologies such as JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS. Because of their non-standard nature, you may find more security and performance holes using web apps. Native apps, on the other hand, benefit from the more proactive security and performance upgrades of the platform itself. Native mobile apps also allow companies to take advantage of mobile device management solutions, even providing remote management controls of apps on individual devices. Developing a native mobile app is a great way to guarantee your users reliable data protection. 

More Interactive and Intuitive 

The most advantageous benefit of native mobile apps is the superior user experience. Native apps are created specifically for an operating system. They adhere to the guidelines that ultimately enhance and align the user experience with the specific operating system. As a result, the flow of the app is more natural as they have specific UI standards for each platform. This allows the user to quickly learn the app, such as deleting an element. Adhering to specific guidelines eliminates the learning curve and allows users to interact with apps using actions and gestures they’re familiar with already. 

For example, take a look at this dashboard running natively on iOS versus a dashboard running as a web app: 

Another benefit of a native app is that it can fully utilize the software and the operating systems’ features because it is developed for a particular platform. The app can directly access the hardware of the device, such as the GPS, camera, microphone, etc., so they are faster in execution, which ultimately results in a better user experience. 

Access All Native Platforms with 1 Reveal Subscription

With Reveal, you only need to purchase one subscription, and it unlocks access to every native platform, including iOS, Android, desktop, and web.

As embedded analytics grows in popularity, it will be embedded in all applications, from IoT devices to healthcare apps, business teams, and truly data-driven companies. Make sure it looks great on many devices, especially mobile since most of your users will be viewing it through their iOS or Android phones, tablets, and other devices.

Interested to see how it works? Request a demo and find out how it can benefit your business.