IBM's Cognos intros new BI features for multiple mobile devices

Apple's iPhone isn't the only device to get new support from an IBM division this week. Enterprise users of Windows Mobile, RIM, and Symbian devices can now get more businss intelligence capabilities from IBM's Cognos division.

Two days after IBM's Lotus division rolled out new software for accessing Notes mail from Apple iPhones, IBM's Cognos division has introduced more functionality for using its business intelligence (BI) software on other devices, including Windows Mobile, RIM Blackberry, and Symbian handhelds.

Announced Thursday, IBM's Cognos 8 v4 release adds new Flash-based, self-service dashboard capabilities and interfaces designed for accessing and interacting with enterprise search engines and desktop productivity apps from either desktops or mobile devices.

Cognos also unveiled new functionality for Cognos 8 Go! Mobile aimed at using GPS to deliver BI capabilities to mobile devices based on the user's location.
Enterprises can now automatically adjust database reports, for example, depending on where the mobile user is situated.

Since acquiring Cognos almost a year ago, IBM has been working on an "Information on Demand" (IoD) architecture in which Cognos BI tools on the front end work in conjunction with a bottom layer that can consist of any of a wide number of back end databases and content management systems.

Depending on the specific database or content managment system, the information might include relational database tables, POS data, or "flat file" information such as e-mails and Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, for instance.

In the middle of this architecture is a software layer that is essentially used for extracting information from the various databases and content management systems and "transforming" or converting it to formats that can be easily presented to end users through various GUIs, said Marc Andrews, Marc Andrews, IBM's manager director for IoD and Cognos Marketing, in an earlier interview with BetaNews.

IBM is no stranger to presenting information on mobile GUIs, anyway. Lotus has been particularly active in producing software for accessing and interacting with enterprise information on BlackBerries. And on Tuesday, Lotus announced the iPhone edition of its Domino Web Access. Called iNotes ultralite, it's designed to let mobile corporate employees use Apple's Safari browser for accessing their Notes e-mail, contact info, and calendars on their iPhones.