Business Intelligence Gets a Sexy Makeover with Hot Tablet Apps
by: Evolving Media Network • January 23rd, 2012
These are exciting times for enterprise application designers. One in five Americans now own a tablet device, featuring tactile user interfaces and high-resolution displays. What has emerged is a bumper crop of new business apps and services that make the most of these high-resolution interactive interfaces. As a result, some companies have seriously sexified the beige-stained legacy of clunky corporate software and services.
For pure sexiness we’ll focus on the iPad, the world’s favorite tablet device by far. Adam Bookman over at iPad development agency Propelics recently published three reasons why the iPad is the perfect platform for business intelligence software. He cherry-picks his favorites from ReadWrite Enterprise‘s list of their top 10 business intelligence tools for the iPad while cautioning that the iPad isn’t meant to be a virtual desktop. All of these posts lead back to this prediction from Garner Research (now, that’s a lot of blog recursion!): Gartner claims that by 2013, 33 percent of business intelligence functionality will be consumed via handheld devices, and with apps this smokin’, who are we to question their wisdom?
We took a look at the landscape, and while we’re not giving up the sheer robust power of long-established analytics/BI suites like Google Analytics or Omniture, we have to admit their interfaces look a touch bloated compared to the svelte supermodel facade of this new crop of iPad apps.
Roambi
You can’t beat Roambi for sheer sexiness, with its sleek black UI punctuated by bold, fashionable colors. Though the name sounds like some strange mashup of Rambo and Bambi, there’s nothing either campy or cute about this strictly professional suite. Roambi provides a secure and simple solution focused on comfort and speed. What it lacks in robust functionality options it more than makes up for in intuitive design.
What can we learn from their interface? The thing you immediately notice about Roambi is that almost everything you touch reveals a new layer of functionality. When you touch a pie chart, you can spin it to get details on one of its slices. You can pinch to define date ranges, with results instantaneously presented in a floating box. Some of the app’s “Squares” views are reminiscent of Windows 7, but with even better tactile response. All the little, “wow, cool” moments like these make this app irresistibly sexy. We’d like to tell you about all the amazing UI ideas packed into this app, but you really have to download it and give it a try (both on iPad and iPhone). It’s free and pre-loaded with data so you can see the magic before you’ve got your own info loaded up.
Cyfe
New BI suite Cyfe has a blazin’ hot look and feel, with what’s becoming the industry standard of app attractiveness — an overall dark theme punctuated by hot colors. Whether you’re on desktop, tablet or mobile, the user experience is seamlessly sexy. Drag-and-drop widgets form a dashboard of analytics, pulled from dozens of APIs from all the leading sites and services. The GUI couldn’t be simpler, and in seconds you’ll be linked up to all the important data you need at a glance. What it lacks in robust analytics functionality it makes up for in ease of use. I cannot imagine a quicker progression from setup to sailing unless the software read my mind. The widgets refresh every 10 seconds, so Cyfe is perfect for the kind of real-time analytics wide-screen displays we’ve seen trending in startup offices across the country.
Like Roambi, Cyfe is freemium. It’s free to sign in and setup, but to get more than 5 widgets your subscription fee will start at $9/month. For sheer cost-effective sexiness, you can’t go wrong with the Basic 20-widget plan. True addicts can pay up to $49/mo. for 100 widgets, though I imagine at that point you’d be ready to trade up to a “real” analytics platform. Then again, why not rock a 4-screen wall of analytics if it makes you feel like a C class god.
Yellowfin
Yellowfin introduced its own robust BI tablet app, late last year. The first thing you’ll notice is that Yellowfin is jam-packed with powerful and versatile features. Its dashboards may lack the UI allure of Roambi and Cyfe, but the gap is bridged with much, much more functionality. The custom reporting features alone blow similar apps out of the water — it’s entirely possible that an exec could put together a great sales presentation while standing on line at the coffee shop. With a great, free development kit and easy integration into almost any app technology, Yellowfin demands serious consideration.
The Others
There are literally dozens of these BI tools filling up the app stores right now, so it’s both an exciting and confusing time for those in the market for tablet analytics. Roambi, Cyfe and Yellowfin stand out for their aesthetics, utility and accessibility. They are by no means the only options. If you’re an Oracle fan — there’s an app for that. Into Salesforce.com? Your CRM BI is covered on the tablet too. Is Google Analytics more your speed? There are several apps for that… none of them are particularly stunning but they do exist — at least as long as Google takes to introduce its killer BI tablet app.
In all, it’s a great time to be an executive, or any kind of real-time data watcher. The tools to make sense — and even beauty — out of this cascade of data are arriving in the nick of time.