Yellowfin launches new iPad app, ?redefines? Mobile BI

Global Business Intelligence (BI) vendor, Yellowfin, has launched a new native application for the iPad that will change the way people use and think about Mobile BI.

The application, available for free download from Apple’s App Store, integrates Yellowfin’s renowned ease-of-use and collaborative capabilities to deliver a consumer-oriented mobile application for business analytics.

“Yellowfin’s new iPad application offers a compelling mobile reporting and analytics experience,” said Yellowfin CEO, Glen Rabie. “Yellowfin’s approach to Mobile BI is based on the firm belief that using a Mobile BI application should be as fun and easy as browsing an online magazine, or sharing ideas with friends across social networks.”

This latest development reaffirms Yellowfin’s position as a preeminent provider of Mobile BI, rounding out an impressive year. Dresner Advisory Services (DAS) identified Yellowfin as a leading solution in two separate studies analysing and comparing the world’s foremost Mobile BI providers during 2011. Yellowfin was also recognized in Gartner’s annual Who’s Who in Mobile BI report.

Yellowfin for the iPad delivers on the promise of consumer-oriented BI

Rabie said that Yellowfin was responding to the consumerization of BI and the need for greater Return On Investment (ROI) for BI projects. The consumerization of BI – the introduction of user-friendly functionality and capabilities to support widespread BI adoption – has been noted by many analysts as the answer to improved BI ROI.

“Widespread user adoption – empowering as many relevant decision-makers as possible with reporting and analytics – is the best method for turning the insight generated by BI into action,” said Rabie. “That’s exactly what Yellowfin’s new iPad app delivers.”

Feature and functionality

Yellowfin’s new iPad application includes all the ease-of-use and interactivity now synonymous with the vendor’s mobile offerings.

Users can subscribe to and save ‘favorite’ reports, filter results, drill down and through data and set alerts. The new application also embraces Yellowfin’s author once, consumer anywhere approach – any reports created via the browser are immediately ready for mobile distribution. Customers gain the benefits of Mobile BI immediately.

A completely restyled User Interface (UI) offers enhanced navigability and takes advantage of the iPad’s native functionality, multi-touch interface and large screen. Users can view all their dashboard tabs and favourites with a single swipe, and a drop-down inbox allows users to control all information delivery, access and dissemination from one central location. The new UI also makes knowledge sharing easier, allowing users to comment on and email reports with a few simple touches.

The introduction of offline mode further embraces the notion of anywhere, anytime reporting, allowing data to be stored on individual mobile devices. Offline mode can be enabled or disabled depending on the security protocols of individual client organizations.

Enriched analytical capabilities include the introduction of series selection and section reports.

Yellowfin offers customers the ability to receive mobile analytics out-of-the-box, on any device or platform, via native applications for the iPhone, iPad and Android platform and new HTML 5 integration.

Yellowfin for the iPad receives positive feedback

Yellowfin Director, Justin Hewitt, said that the initial response from analysts and Yellowfin customers was encouraging.

“All the feedback we’ve received from analyst groups, industry experts, veterans and clients has been very positive,” said Hewitt. “By putting the user first, we’ve been able to create an experience that people have been craving and experts have been advocating.”

Independent analyst Jos van Dongen described the new app as “brilliant”, while Kyocera Corporation – a Yellowfin business partner – labelled the new app “the best in the BI industry.”

IDC’s Vanessa Thompson said the application’s depth of report interactivity and collaborative functionality was particularly pertinent, given current business environments, and recent IDC research into enterprise social software.

“For the mature markets… [the] previous recessionary period cut budgets and staff and flattened business hierarchies, resulting in organisations remaining relatively lean,” said Thompson. “As these organisations prepare for the second round of economic uncertainty, collaborative decision making will play a key role as more and more users are involved in decision making.”

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What is Business Intelligence software?

Business Intelligence (BI) refers to a broad range of computer software applications and tools used to report, analyze and present data in a range of formats, to help businesses identify trends and opportunities, and support fundamental decision-making.

About Yellowfin

Yellowfin is a global Business Intelligence (BI) software vendor headquartered and developed in Melbourne, Australia. Yellowfin is a highly intuitive 100 percent Web-based reporting and analytics solution.

For further media information, interviews, images or product demonstration, please contact:

Lachlan James, Communications Manager on +61 03 9090 0454, 0431 835 658 or lachlan.james@yellowfin.bi

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