Pocket Analytics: 5 Top Intelligence Apps for Tablets

In many ways, tablets have changed the expectations of Web users and business professionals, alike, by providing them all with a simple, user-friendly interface that makes using various apps easy and efficient, either in the office or on the move.

Since tablets can provide professionals with immediate access to a wealth of corporate data and analytics, it puts a competitive, real-time advantage directly in their hands and allows them to become more responsive to both potential and current customers.

So, what are some of the best intelligence apps that have been optimized for your iPad or other tablet device(s)? Check out the list below!

Roambi

Probably the biggest name in this particular niche, Roambi is a tool that helps enterprises access their existing business intelligence reports alongside some really cool data visualizations, so that the information is far easier to digest quickly. Plus, it has partnerships with SAP, Crystal Reports, Excel and Salesforce, so that users can view data from a number of different sources from within the app.

PushBI

This tool is quite similar to Roambi in that it is largely used as a supplement to other business intelligence tools, allowing professionals to monitor the metrics that are most important to them and their businesses and take action based on accurate real-time data. PushBI is available on the iPad, as well as Windows 8 and Android tablets, and professionals can get it right now for as little as $10 a month.

MicroStrategy

Popular business intelligence vendor MicroStrategy has its own tablet-ready application, too, which delivers not just business intelligence reports, but also transaction data and multimedia content, including product information and purchasing options, to multiply a company's return on investment on existing data warehousing, business intelligence, ERP, CRM and various other information systems.

QlikView

Utilize big data from virtually anywhere with the QlikView browser-based tablet solution that keeps professionals just a touch away from accessing a "complete set of live data" that is imperative to their business operations via their iPads or Android tablets. Among the many features that the QlikView offers are: interactive analysis, rich visualizations and associative search. It also provides server-side security and manageability.

Yellowfin

Based on the popular Yellowfin business intelligence platform, this tablet app lets users create custom dashboards and reports that they can then publish and access on any platform or device. But that's not all, as it also comes with built-in collaboration features that let users discuss issues and make associations based on specific charts, reports or data points, and if they don't happen to be near a Wi-Fi connection, Yellowfin provides both online and offline work modes.