posted on 9/22/2011 3:10:02 PM
The BI software provider rolls out PivotLink 5, which delivers business intelligence reports and dashboards to the iPad, Android devices, and the BlackBerry PlayBook.
Manufacturers and other businesses eager to deliver business intelligence to their remote sales teams and other workers via mobile devices now have another option, in what is fast becoming a crowded field of mobile BI applications.
Business intelligence software provider PivotLink announced on Wednesday the release of its latest BI suite, PivotLink 5, which features native applications for the Apple iPad, Android-based mobile devices, and BlackBerry’s PlayBook tablet computer. Through the native apps, PivotLink users can access and interact with PivotLink’s dashboards and reports on the device of their choosing, the company said in a statement.
Device-based business intelligence has grabbed headlines recently, and PivotLink clearly hopes to capitalize on a trend that figures prominently in manufacturers’ spending plans. But the company also worked other features into the latest offering.
For those who want to use PivotLink 5 expand on the BI software’s core capabilities, there’s an updated Administration Suite that allows users to more efficiently incorporate outside data sources and design custom queries, reports, and dashboards, according to the company. A drag-and-drop interface facilitates such activities.
Key to any business intelligence application is its success at displaying data visually, something PivotLink’s developers focused on in the ramp-up to version 5. According to the company, users can “identify regional patterns with Geospatial Mapping, filter collections of reports with Global Dashboard Filters, and define complex Conditional Formatting rules to find data outliers in reports and dashboards.”
PivotLink announced the availability of version 5 at its user conference this week in San Francisco. The company maintains a cross-industry customer base, and its manufacturing users include Bauer, Cleveland Golf, and ski equipment maker Rossignol.
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