Info Builders Debuts Mobile App with Write Capability

August 23, 2011 Alex Woodie

Information Builders last week unveiled WebFOCUS Mobile Data Collection, a new offering that allows mobile application users to perform write transactions and update the database, as opposed to just reading reports.

According to Info Builders, customers who accessed its WebFOCUS business intelligence software from a mobile device were restricted to viewing reports. If a user saw something in a report that warranted further action, the user would have to take it up later with a full WebFOCUS client accessed through a larger computer.

That read-only limitation has been removed with the launch of WebFOCUS Mobile Data Collection. The new software allows the company’s mobile apps to read and write the underling WebFOCUS database. This enables operational data to be continuously updated from the field and to impact any workflow processes that are associated with data.

Info Builders calls this its “closed-loop” functionality, because mobile users no longer must abandon their mobile devices for larger computer terminals to make an update to their WebFOCUS apps.

“Today’s information workers are increasingly using their smartphones and tablets as a prime mode of business communication,” says Gerald Cohen, president and CEO of Info Builders. “We’ve been enabling transaction-based processing since we first launched WebFOCUS 15 years ago and, by bringing this capability to mobile, we’re giving our users the tools they need to do their jobs more efficiently on the platform of their choosing.”

The New York City-based company has been focusing effort this year on expanding its Web client capabilities and removing limitations to developing and accessing BI capabilities from multiple devices. Earlier this year, the company debuted InfoMini, which enables developers to turn existing reports into miniature, dedicated applications that can be deployed on the Web as a JavaScript-based gadget.

WebFOCUS, which is the basis for IBM‘s DB2 Web Query product, runs on multiple servers, including the IBM i server. For more information on WebFOCUS Mobile Data Collection, see the company’s website at www.informationbuliders.com.