Dow Jones has added an Apple iPad app to the Dow Jones Investment Banker (DJIB) suite and says it will create apps for more tablet devices as they emerge. The app is free to download from the iPad app store, but users must be registered for DJIB.
Dow Jones introduced the web-based information service dedicated to investment bankers two years ago with an email option that has since been upgraded to allow users to be more selective in the information they receive. Investment bankers with Blackberry mobile devices can also access DJIB. While Blackberry users are perceived by Dow Jones to form a larger community than iPhone users, it says it is relatively easy to repurpose the mobile phone app and that it will follow the trend if take up of iPhones or mobile devices using the Android operating environment increases.
Ian Rosen, global director if investment banking at Dow Jones, explains: “Investment bankers are not desk people, they are very mobile; most mobile in Asia Pacific, then in EMEA, then in the US. The investment banking community has been waiting for a delivery channel like the iPad. Other channels are good, but the experience and the ability to click and download is not so appealing.”
Rosen says the iPad app is visually appealing and presents information in a constantly updated newspaper, rather than web page, style, with easy navigation and good readability. “In terms of functionality, the biggest gain is that when the app is opened it automatically downloads updated material,” he says.
Introduced at the end of April 2011, the iPad app can be used both online and offline, with information updated when a user is in a Wi-Fi area or has an iPad with 3G mobile communication, and information stored for browsing when offline. The initial version of the app allows all DJIB content to be viewed online, but only collections of data content, perhaps regional or industry views, selected by the Dow Jones editorial team to be used offline.
A second version of the app, due to be released next month, will allow users to set up more granular requests on the DJIB website using My Topics or Watchlists. Information relevant to these custom requests will be downloaded as the app is opened and will be able to be used both online and offline.
Noting positive feedback from early users and a lack of similar iPad services dedicated to investment bankers in the market, Rosen concludes: “This is about consumerisation of enterprise products. We need to constantly deliver value in all the new ways investment bankers need it.”
