Published on the 02/05/2013 | Written by Newsdesk
Research firm Ovum says that Microsoft has taken steps to simplify its business intelligence (BI) software strategy, centred on Excel, but still has a way to go in particular to address the growing market for mobile BI technology…
Ovum estimates that 41 percent of enterprises globally will implement mobile BI within two years, up from 21 percent today, and says that Microsoft could miss out on this growth market. “There appears to be a hole in Microsoft’s mobile BI strategy. In particular, Microsoft is missing a multi-device mobile strategy.”
According to Ovum information management analyst, Fredrik Tunvall, rather than relying on its proprietary Power View software, Microsoft should base its mobile BI offerings on HTML5. “Vendors such as QlikTech, Tableau, and Yellowfin all have a universal approach to utilise HTML5 for mobile and browser-based deployments,” Tunvall said.
“The benefit is that HTML5 allows for quick and low-cost cross-platform development. It can also be easily wrapped into native SDKs to create hybrid applications that can access functionality HTML5 can’t reach, such as offline exploration and GPS integration.”
Tunvall was reporting from the PASS Summit in Chicago, billed as “The world’s largest and most intensive technical training conference for Microsoft SQL Server and BI professionals.” He said that Microsoft had used the event to “clarify and showcase its BI strategy, with SQL Server, SharePoint, and Excel the three pivotal products of its solution.”
According to Tunval, “With the integration of Power View (data visualisation), xVelocity (in-memory engine), and Data Explorer (query and metadata management) into Excel, Microsoft is taking steps toward simplifying its BI offering.
“Excel 2013 has become the centre point for Microsoft’s BI end-user strategy, and it is being increasingly positioned as a single environment for query, analysis, data exploration and data-visualisations needs. Microsoft is trying to push the familiarity of the Excel interface and expand BI capabilities within it, rather than creating new, proprietary end-user tools that come with additional learning curves.”
Tunval said these were all “positive steps” but that Microsoft needed to further consolidate its BI portfolio. “For example, a project codenamed GeoFlow, a 3D mapping analytics tool for Excel, was introduced in preview at the conference… giving users the ability to create renderings of data on top of a 3D globe. However, in its current preview form it is not integrated into Microsoft’s Power View data-visualisation tool and doesn’t offer the ability to share visualisation via SharePoint. Integration with Power View and SharePoint is something Microsoft would do well to offer its users.”
