Nowadays, smart phones and tablets are popular. Mobile devices enable us to do tasks traditionally only achievable by using a computer, such as checking e-mails and browsing web pages anywhere, anytime. The advantage of mobile devices is that they are more accessible; you may have access to your iPhone 24/7, but you are probably not able to access your office computer all day long. When you are away from the office traveling to another city, or doing your work in the field, and you need to access MicroStrategy, you can do so through your iPhone. Mobile Analytics enables users to harness the power of MicroStrategy from their mobile devices on the go.
In this chapter, we will discuss how to install and configure Mobile Server, how to create mobile applications that enable users to view information and provide inputs, and how to administrate mobile services. Specifically, we will cover the following topics:
- Introduction to MicroStrategy Enterprise mobile architecture
- Enterprise Mobile Server installation and configuration
- Developing mobile applications
- Mobile service deployment
In order to make mobile services work, we will need two things: Mobile Server, and Mobile Client. In addition, several tools and interfaces are used to build and deploy apps. Developer is needed for building metrics, attributes, and filters, which are the objects inside the apps.
Web is needed for developing visual layout and organizing apps, including inserting datasets and inserting documents (apps). Of course, you can also build documents in Developer, but Web provides a more intuitive look and feel for mobile apps. Admin tools are needed for deployment and administration.
Mobile Server sits on top of Intelligence Server, and provides infrastructure for Mobile Client. This is called four-tier architecture. For a production environment, four-tier architecture is preferred because it is more secure, since application servers (web server and Mobile Server) are separated from Intelligence Server, and there is a firewall in between:
You can access the MicroStrategy web interface with your cell phone, but you do not have a mouse on a cell phone, the screen is often too small, and you can't use touchscreen features; these shortcomings make it awkward to use MicroStrategy with your cell phone. Mobile application is designed to address these issues.
Dedicated mobile clients are available for iPad, iPhone and Android. Mobile clients can be delivered via an app store, enterprise deployment, or SDK. There are some out of the box functionalities that include some customization for mobile clients, but if you want rebranding app icons, app names, splash screens, notifications and action icons, copyright info, or push notification, you will need SDK.
Mobile client is the interface that enables access and interacts with the data from a mobile device. Users need to install mobile client from the corresponding app store, for example, for iPhone, users need to find and install the MicroStrategy Mobile for iPhone app:
