BI Apps for the iPhone

Oracle and Pentaho have announced the support for bringing business intelligence (BI) applications to the iPhone. I see this as a more important game changer that could potentially unseat RIM as the perferred business communication device that also brings location technology into the mix. While Pentaho, an open source BI application, have already created a way to integate Google Maps with their software, Oracle has been pushing Oracle Maps more than a Google Maps mashup.

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Pitney Bowes MapInfo Integrates Software with Cognos 8 Platform

Location intelligence vendor adds another BI suite integration to take geospatial analysis mainstream.

Just as some advocates think it's time to take analytics mainstream, Pitney Bowes MapInfo hopes it can do the same for location intelligence. After years of selling desktop software to geospatial analysis gurus, the vendor has been attempting to push its server-based software out to a wider base of users. The latest step in that effort came yesterday as the vendor introduced a Location Intelligence Component (LIC) for the IBM Cognos 8 BI platform.

Pitney Bowes MapInfo and Cognos previously supported API-level integration between MapInfo and Cognos software, but the LIC is an out-of-the-box product that lets Cognos 8 users more easily exploit the geographic dimensions within their data. "For years we've been able to show maps in the middle of BI but this brings location intelligence right into the BI workflow," says Don Campbell, CTO at Cognos. "It's an integrated link that passes parameters back and forth between tools rather than just launching separate tools on your desktop."

The LIC makes geospatial analysis much more accessible, says Jon Winslow, director of business development at Pitney Bowes MapInfo: "Customers were telling us 'these maps are fantastic, but what do I do for reports and charts and dashboards.' The next thing they would say is 'I've already invested in this business intelligence platform and I have lots of people using it. Is there anything I can do so we don't have to maintain two separate applications?'"

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ASTEROP Changes Cumbersome Census Information Into Business Intelligence Gold

ASTEROP Inc., a leader in business intelligence and predictive analytics, today announced the release of its newest business intelligence dataset, including analysis of consumer spending trends. ASTEROP’s new data, based on an innovative modeling approach, shows how consumer-facing U.S. businesses of all sizes have viable expansion opportunities despite a slow economy.

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Podcast: Oracle Business Intelligence with Spatial/MapViewer Integration

In this podcast, Oracle's Spatial technology game plan will be discussed. In this podcast we are told how Aon Re Global, an Oracle customer and the largest insurance intermediary in the world, uses Oracle Spatial, Oracle Fusion Middleware MapViewer, and Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition to perform more accurate risk analysis. Aon’s Dan Schuffert will provide a specific example of how they determine the risk for customers whose policies are within or out of wind pool boundaries, such as Florida or the Carolinas.

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Advanced Data Warehouse Design - From Conventional to Spatial and Temporal Applications

Check out the new Springer book on advanced datawarehousing modeling. A part of the book is dedicated to the integration of spatial data into a data warehouse, in order to build spatial analytics application. I have just started reading it and will try to post a review when I am done.

Developing Location

Location, location, location. Mapping has become an important part of software development, especially for business analytics and intelligence applications. Jon Winslow, director of business development for Pitney Bowes Software's MapInfo division, explains how it works, in this IT Link podcast....

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