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Mashups and Pervasive BI
by Tom Leoni,
LogiXML BIz Comm Editorial Staff
November 7, 2007
Page 2
Overlay Mashups
Overlay mashups are the combination of two or more data sources for use in a single Web-based feature or application.
A common example of the overlay mashup is the placement of charts, graphs and other business-relevant data onto a Web-based map. Google, for example, publishes an open API that allows software vendors and developers to mash up geographically-relevant information with Google Maps. So, depending on how your report developer sets it up, your BI application may show pins on a Web-based map to represent customer locations. It may color those pins to reflect customer segments. When you mouse over a pin, interactive charts or graphs may pop up, dynamically showing recent sales activity and customer service information for that location.
One of the benefits of this mapping feature, known as GIS maps, is that it’s not substantially different from the Web-based maps end users employ in their daily life when looking up an address or the location of a business on the Internet. Only, instead of showing the pop-up ratings of a restaurant or the phone number of a store, they show (for instance) the revenue of a retail location or the performance of a sales rep. Therefore, we can look at map mashups as the first, and perhaps most intuitive example of overlay mashups.
There are two basic ingredients for overlay mashups to work. The first is an abundance of open APIs, such as the one published for Google Maps. In addition to the open APIs, the BI tools themselves need to be modular in design and Web-based. XML and HTML are the natural vehicles to make this level of integration happen.
But the true test of an overlay mashup is the kind of ease of use and navigation that will make the feature feel like a part of the user’s Web browser.
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