Mashup tool provider JackBe is working with Microsoft to create dashboard apps using Azure DataMarket. In our coverage of the DataMarket, we noted that it’s a marketplace, not an app environment. That’s where JackBe comes in. JackBe can run in Azure to help end users create their own mashups using data sources from the marketplace.
JackBe shares an example app in a company blog post. The example is a logistics app designed to plan routes to keep perishable food fresh and incorporates the following data from the following sources:
- Bing maps: with Navteq dynamic routing information and Microsoft’s Dynamics CRM on Demand customer data;
- Microsoft Dynamics CRM on Demand: customer order data, and real-time Weather Central information visualized in Microsoft Silverlight, this App also supports write-back capability to the Dynamics CRM;
- Microsoft SharePoint: aggregating information on delivery trucks and their locations;
- And from Azure Data Market services: dynamic fuel prices and geographically correlated fuel station locations.
There’s a video on the blog post that explains how it works.
The advent of cloud computing and big data makes huge amounts of data available to organizations, but it’s not always clear how to make practical use of it. Tools like JackBe can help turn all this data into something end users can work with minimal support from IT.
We’ve previously covered JackBe’s enterprise app store here and the potential for point-and-click app development here.
