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The Decision Factor offers insightful comments and observations on analytics—from views on new technology approaches and market dynamics to the latest industry trends driving demand for faster, smarter information analysis. This blog contains personal views, thoughts, and opinions from SAP employees, mentors, and friends working in the area of analytics. It’s not endorsed by SAP nor does it constitute an official communication of SAP.

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Ten Mobile BI Strategy Questions: Technology Infrastructure

Ten Mobile BI Strategy Questions: Technology InfrastructureWhen an organization is considering implementing a mobile BI strategy, it needs to ask/consider if its current information technology (IT) and business intelligence (BI) infrastructure can support mobile BI. It must determine if there are any gaps that need to be addressed prior to going live. 

When we think of an end-to-end mobile BI solution, there are several areas that can impact the user experience. I refer to them as choke points. Some of the risks associated with these choke …
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Ten Mobile BI Strategy Questions: Enterprise Mobility

 Ten Mobile BI Strategy Questions: Enterprise MobilityIs your mobile business intelligence (BI) strategy aligned with your organization’s enterprise mobility strategy? If you’re not sure what this means, you’re in big trouble. In its simplest form, enterprise mobility can be considered a framework to maximize the use of mobile devices, wireless networks, and all other related services in order to drive growth and profitability. However, it goes beyond just the mobile devices or the software that runs on them to include people and processes.

It goes without saying that enterprise …
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Ten Mobile BI Strategy Questions: Security

Ten Mobile BI Strategy Questions: SecurityDo you have all three layers of mobile BI security covered: device, app, and data? All of the convenience and benefits of mobile devices provide a particular security risk, complicating matters for the technology managers. When we think about the three layers of security in mobile BI, each layer plays an equally important role. Moreover, each layer represents a specific component of a user’s access profile. Therefore, it’s vital not only to understand how each layer completes the security picture, but also to make sure they work …
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Ten Mobile BI Strategy Questions: Executive Sponsorship

Ten Mobile BI Strategy Questions: Executive SponsorshipOf the ten mobile business intelligence (BI) questions I outlined in my last post, “Do we have an executive sponsor?” is the most important one because the success of a mobile BI journey depends on it more than any other. While the role of an executive sponsor is critical in all tech projects, several aspects of mobile BI technology make it easy for executive management to be involved closely and play a unique role. Moreover, although the CIO or the CTO plays …
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Ten Questions To Develop Your Mobile Business Intelligence Strategy

Ten Questions To Develop Your Mobile Business Intelligence StrategyIn my post “Mobile BI” Doesn’t Mean “Mobile-Enabled Reports” I articulated the importance of developing a mobile business intelligence (BI) strategy. If designed, implemented, and executed effectively, mobile BI will not only complement the existing business intelligence framework, but it will enable organizations to drive growth and profitability. 

For the next ten weeks, I want to chart a course that will highlight the key questions you need to ask before embarking on a mobile BI journey. This is …
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Three Strategies To Get Started With Mobile Business Intelligence (BI)

Three_Strategies_to_Get_Started_with_mobile_BIIn my post “Mobile BI” Doesn’t Mean “Mobile-Enabled Reports” I highlighted two main areas that affect how organizations can go about realizing the benefits of mobile BI: enterprise mobility and BI maturity. Today I want to focus on the latter and outline high-level strategies that require different avenues of focus, time, and resources.

Before an organization can execute these high-level strategies, it must have the following:

An existing BI framework that can be leveraged Current technology (hardware and software) used for …
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“Mobile BI” Doesn’t Mean “Mobile-Enabled Reports”

Mobile BI Doesn’t Mean Mobile-Enabled ReportsIn my post “What Is Mobile BI?”, I discussed the definition of mobile business intelligence (BI) as well as its importance and relevance in today’s business climate. However, if mobile BI is going to enable organizations to drive growth and profitability, it requires, as with any other technology initiative, an integrated strategy. Moreover, organizations must deliver the power of mobile BI through innovation and without disruption.

Just as we know that mobile isn’t just about one or two sexy apps, the step to …
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What Is Mobile Business Intelligence?

What Is Mobile Business Intelligence?You might have heard this statistic by now: more people own a cell phone than a toothbrush. In a Forbes post, Maribel Lopez lists a number of recent statistics about mobility. “While we could debate the numbers, the trend is clear,” she writes. ”The pace of mobile adoption across devices and applications is accelerating.”

Mobility is no longer a nice-to-have option. Instead, it’s become a must for many businesses. Many surveys support this view. According to the Accenture CIO Mobility Survey 2013, …
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Can Small and Midsize Companies Afford Mobile Analytics?

Can Small and Midsize Companies Afford Mobile Analytics?It’s hard to avoid the topic of mobility these days, with the plethora of new devices available from Samsung, Nokia, Apple, and Microsoft, etc. What’s more, as bring-your-own-device (BYOD) gains traction, small and midsize companies (SMEs) are also looking at the business value of supporting mobile applications, including mobile analytics. 

How should your SME evaluate mobile analytics to decide if you can afford to go down that route? Or afford not to? Here are some simple points to consider: 

Do …
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The Convergence of Business Analytics and Mobile Devices

With the advent of the smartphone and multi-touch tablet, business people everywhere recognized the potential benefits of empowering workers with the right data, instantly accessible, wherever they are. That understanding is driving the first generation of mobile analytic adoption by industry leaders and helping us understand that we’re barley harnessing the power of this new form factor.

Bring Business Analytics Closer to the Action

A major criticism of business intelligence and advanced analytic technologies has long been that their use is generally restricted to a small number of people …
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