Microsoft beefs up on-premise and hybrid mobile BI story with Datazen acquisition

Today Microsoft announced the acquisition of Datazen, a mobile business intelligence and data visualization tool provider for Windows, iOS, and Android devices.

"This acquisition accelerates our Power BI strategy to help organizations create a data culture with easy-to-use, accessible tools to extract maximum value from data - from anywhere, on any device," wrote Kamal Hathi, Partner Director, Cloud and Enterprise at Microsoft.

Datazen is optimized for SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS), a key piece of many serious Microsoft-centric BI solution architectures, including those often used by Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM customers. Microsoft also announced that as of today, SQL Server Enterprise Edition customers with version 2008 or later and Software Assurance are entitled to download the Datazen Server software at no additional cost.

Datazen technology will also "round out" Microsoft's mobile BI capabilities, especially for on-premise needs, Hathi wrote.  "Over time, we plan to integrate Datazen technology with Power BI to give our customers another hybrid bridge for their on-premises investment to the cloud."

Datazens CEO Miljan Braticevic wrote in a separate blog post that the Datazen product stack "will complement Power BI... Our team will continue to develop and evolve the product."

"For sure this adds to the Power BI mobile reach," says Microsoft Dynamics AX MVP Brandon George. 

"I think at a general BI level, Microsoft is really gathering tremendous ...