Business intelligence software is the darling of upper management — when they know how to access and use it. But for older, senior execs who aren’t comfy in the digital world, both these things can be a stumbling block. What to do?

At a recent Web Focus user conference, one CIO noted that when the next crop of upper management comes along — folks who’ve grown up and are comfortable with technology — this won’t be an issue.

Until then, it may be tough to integrate the working executive and BI applications. One suggestion: Try having them use an iPad for BI analysis.

The user friendly, portable nature of the tablet makes it ideal for the job, says CIO Gary Gallant of Coty Inc.

“I do think the iPad has the ability to change things,” Gallant said. Part of what prevents CEOs and other C-suite execs from really living with BI, he believes, is the physical barrier: having to dig into the computer bag, lug out the laptop and wait for it to boot up.

“The time it takes you to get to productivity — they just don’t do it,” he said. The BlackBerry and the iPhone are too small to see the results. But the iPad is a different story.  “It gives you landscape to look and drill down. Plus, anything connected with Steve Jobs has sex appeal,” he said.

And sex appeal, we all know, is what makes working in the C-suite so much sweeter.