Mobile devices, the iPad in particular, offer a next-generation dashboard
for busy executives and other mobile workers who need to tap into Big Data
repositories. GoodData, a cloud business
intelligence startup, is offering customers two methods for tapping into
corporate data that they store in the GoodData platform.

Using the HTML 5 app

Hubert Palan, GoodData’s VP of Product Management, explained in an email that their overall mobile strategy focuses
on an HTML 5 app, a browser native application they have right now with an
optimized user interface for touch devices. The full GoodData functionality is
available across mobile platforms. The company is investing development
time and resources into additional touch screen optimized UI components, with
offline access coming available in the first half of 2014. Figure A shows the
GoodData HTML 5 app running through Chrome on an Android tablet.

Figure A

HTML 5 app access via Chrome on an Android tablet.

Figure B is an example of using the HTML 5 app on an iPad:

Figure B

HTML 5 app access on an iPad.

Using the GoodData app on your iPad

The GoodData app is free from the App Store, and it’s optimized for viewing dashboards. However, users will need to have a user account in their organization’s GoodData cloud
platform.

Going the iPad app route for a Big Data dashboard is a great
method for democratizing mobile access across an organization, because it’s such a consumer-like experience. This is an ideal tool for
executives, mobile sales people, and knowledge workers that an organization is cultivating for
an internal Big Data team.

GoodData enables you to access your dashboards from anywhere you
have connectivity. It packs some powerful features for mobile access to Big
Data reporting, including:

  • Dashboards and reports
  • Tracking of metrics and key performance
    indicators (KPIs)
  • Ad hoc analysis
  • Collaboration and sharing

I tested the GoodData app on my iPad using a GoodData trial
account. When you login to your GoodData account, you’ll see the Projects screen (Figure C).

Figure C

The Projects screen.

From the Projects screen, I tapped on the Good Marketing
demo. The screen that opens is testimony as to why the iPad is a better
dashboard (Figure D):

Figure D

Lead to Revenue dashboard.

This is a well-executed report that doesn’t require having
to task a programmer every time an executive wants a report run. With the GoodData app, you have pinch and zoom control over what you’re viewing. You can’t edit data, but this iPad dashboard beats any internally-developed
dashboard for presentation and productivity power over the old ways of doing
things. Figure E shows an example of a Pipeline Analysis report.

Figure E

Pipeline Analysis report.

Figure F shows an example of a Sales Management breakdown report.

Figure F

Sales Management breakdown report.

When you tap on the Total Lost tab, you can drill down into a
Total Lost report (Figure G).

Figure G

Total Lost report.

There are no configuration controls available in the
GoodData app, so you don’t have to concern yourself with an executive
or other end user getting themselves into trouble with configuration or
security settings.

Overall, I liked the GoodData app. However, it frequently crash on my iPad running iOS 7. I’m sure that GoodData will deliver an iOS 7 update to their app, but at the time of this writing, that hasn’t happened. Regardless, this app is a definite candidate for some of the new iOS 7 features, including per app VPN, SSO, and the remote configuration of managed apps.

Put the GoodData mobile strategy to work for your enterprise

The GoodData mobile strategy is basic yet flexible, and it can
enable an enterprise standardized on GoodData for Big Data and Business
Intelligence (BI) to open mobile access to authorized users across their
organization. Benefits include:

  • Android tablet users can access their GoodData
    account through the Android browser
  • Less technical users can be directed to use the
    GoodData app on an iPad to access their GoodData account
  • Less IT department time spent on producing
    reports for executive management and others
  • Secure access to data reporting and dashboards
    in the cloud through the users’ GoodData account
  • Big Data teams can setup reports for knowledge
    workers and deploy them out to the iPad app for consumption

They cover all the bases in their mobile strategy, which is important because many organizations are still trying to implement a mobile BI or
Big Data strategy, and staying with one vendor is a saner option when it comes
to support and integration costs.

Conclusion

GoodData’s mobile strategy — and their iPad app, in particular — show that the convergence of Big Data and mobility is upon us. It’s up to the enterprise to use this convergence to equip their executives, sales teams, and
knowledge workers for a competitive advantage through anytime/anywhere data
access.