Clearwell Systems: Making Pain Go Away in eDiscovery
August 27, 2008
I have had some experience as an expert witness. One thing I learned: real life law isn’t like TV law. The mind numbing tediousness of document review, discussing information germane to a legal matter, and talking about data have to be experienced to be understood.
When I saw a demo of Clearwell Systems last year, I was impressed with the company’s understanding of this brain killing work in eDiscovery; that is, the process of figuring out what info is buried in information generated in a legal matter.
Clearwell Systems has introduced a new version of its content analysis system, and it adds some additional and useful features to a good product. You can read about the new version here. In a nutshell, the most important features for me are:
- Improved search reports. This feature makes it possible to show where information came from. Clearwell talks about “black box” searching; that is, you enter terms and documents come out. The “transparent” approach produces an audit trail. Very useful.
- Tweaks to make the appliance go faster.
- Training wheels for formulating a query. Legal eagles are smart, but Clearwell adds training wheels to reduce the chance for a lousy query.
 For more information, navigate to Clearwell Systems at http://www.clearwellsystems.com.
Stephen Arnold, August 27, 2008
SharePoint Test
August 26, 2008
ChiefTech posted an interesting self-test here. I don’t want to spoil your fun so I will quote just one of the tongue-in-cheek questions. You know your SharePoint project is in trouble when…
You are focused on turning off features.
I enjoyed this post because it underscores some of my perceptions of SharePoint. I think it is an example of a content management system infected with Microsoft Word type bloat. For me, SharePoint is a system that looks like a great deal and it sure seems easy to set up, manage, and customize. But as one adds “sites” or becomes mired in the idiosyncrasies of performing minor graphic tweaks, SharePoint can be a termagant.
One happy quack to ChiefTech, a person who knows how to identify the SharePoint gotchas in a clever way.
Stephen Arnold, August 27, 2008
MapReduce: Google’s Database Probe Launched
August 26, 2008
Update 2, August 29, 2008, 1 50 pm Eastern
There’s an interesting and possibly relevant story on CNet here. Matt Asay wrote “Google’s Weird Ways with Open Source Licenses,” which became available on August 29, 2008. The core of the story is in the title. Open source licenses appear to be handled in a Googley way; that is, Google’s way. I sure don’t want to dispute the assertions that MapReduce as used by Aster Data and Greenplum is in any way affected by these “weird ways”. I do want to point you to this article and quote one sentence that was of interest to me:
As for the MPL, while DiBona doesn’t state it outright, I suspect that Google’s decision to re-up its commitment to Mozilla for three more years probably involved some strained discussions about Google’s weird decision to dump the MPL, one of the industry’s most popular open-source licenses.Regardless, all is well that ends well. Google came to the right decision, however odd the logic.
You can the Steve Shankland article, which touches upon the great MapReduce technology here. For something as simple as making code available as open source, there’s a lot of huffing and puffing. I’m watching for signs of smoke now. Wizards, pundits, and Googley types are welcome to add links, correct either of these authors, or opine with limited data via the comments on this addled goose’s Web log. What’s next for open source? The programmable search engine technology. That would be useful here in the hills of Kentucky.
Update 1, August 29, 2008, around 11 am Eastern
My comment about MapReduce triggered some keyboarding by various wizards. Thanks for the inputs. The point of the flurry is that MapReduce doesn’t have anything to do with Google. MapReduce is “in the wild” and anyone can make use of it. Nevertheless, I remain keenly interested in this technology for several reasons:
- MapReduce was the subject of a lecture given at the University of Washington several years ago by Jeffrey Dean and then written up as a paper. You can snag a copy here.
- Google has been careful about the scope of its enterprise ambitions with regard to data management, data base, and data analysis. The company has been sufficiently circumspect as to make the key players in the database and data management market confident that Google’s enterprise ambitions are focused on search, maps, and light weight cloud applications. Forget the dashboard I wrote about. It’s light weight too.
- Aster Data is a company that came on my radar because of its “Googley nature”. I have picked up some suggestive comments about the robustness of the Aster Data technology and I learned from Aster Data that it is not interested in search. I believe that statement but I watch this space for interesting developments.
From my point of view, MapReduce–open source or any other variety–intrigues me. Based on my observation of things Google from my remote hide away in Harrod’s Creek, Kentucky, my hunch is that Google has a tiny bit of interest in how Aster Data and Greenplum use MapReduce, how their customers respond, and what interest the technology generates. In my lingo, Google learns from its environment. That’s why I sub titled my Google Version 2.0 study “the calculating predator”. Watching, learning, waiting–could this be part of the Map Reduce or broader Google goodness? I will let you know what I snag in my crawler.
Original Post Below
I wrote about Aster Data several weeks ago. If you are not familiar with the company, you may want to look at my article or navigate to the Aster Data Web site and get up to speed. It is an important company and is in the process of becoming more important.
InfoWorld’s “Database Vendors Add Google’s MapReduce” here reports that Google has cut a deal with Aster Data and Greenplum for Google’s nifty method of combining two separate functions into one instruction, reducing the “time” and computational cycles required to perform a task essential to chopping results from a larger data set. MapReduce is useful for certain operations with peta scale data.
Has Google entered the enterprise data management market? Not yet. Like Google’s interaction with Salesforce.com, Google is in “learn” mode. MapReduce by itself is not a complete data solution, but it provides some horsepower to Aster Data and Greenplum.
Will Google challenge IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle among others in the DBMS market? Google will watch and learn. Google has some serious data management capabilities in development. MapReduce is a golden oldie at Google.
When Google figures out what it wants to do to cash in on the pain many companies experience when using traditional database management systems, the Google will leap frog what’s available. For now, Google is no threat to DBMS vendors. In the future, who knows, probably not even Google until it gets enough hard data to justify a decision one way or the other.
Stephen Arnold, August 26, 2008
Nexidia: Speech Technology
August 26, 2008
Nexidia, a developer of audio search and speech analytics solutions, received a “market leader” award from Speech Technology magazine.
Nexidia also released a new version of the company’s Enterprise Speech Intelligence (ESI) 7.0. The company also released a library of speech analytics search routines. These software components will, according to the company, speed deployment of the Nexidia system.
The new release includes enhanced reporting and analysis tools. Version 7.0 also features improved performance and scaling. ESI can be integrated directly with all major call recording platforms, these solutions are available to every contact center or similar business applications no matter which call recording in use.
You can get more information about Nexidia here. . Information about the code libraries is here. Information about ESI 7.0 is here.
Stephen Arnold, August 26, 2008
Computerworld: Google’s Not Hot
August 26, 2008
The Computerworld story surprised me. Preston Gralla, a really big name in tech journalism, wrote an opinion piece called “Why Google Has Lost Its Mojo — And Why You Should Care”. You can read the full text of this important essay here. The most important point in Mr. Gralla’s write up is the title. It says it clear: Google has no spice, zing, magic, and voodoo. In Gulla, Google’s medicine men have lost “it”.
Consider this statement:
So why do I think it’s lost its mojo? Let’s start with the way it treats its employees. Google’s largesse has been legendary — free food, liberal maternity and parental leave, on-site massages, fitness classes and even oil changes. But according to a recent New York Times article, those days may be gone.
Once employees sense a downshift, human resources professionals have to scramble.
I posted an innocuous story about the Amtrak passenger service selecting Autonomy. The outfit fighting for this project was Google. Google lost this high profile account. Google has other challenges as well, including legal hassles. Some big and some small. But these take time to address. Google’s technology is showing some flaws. Ads still works, but other functions are buggy. Google has started an investment branch; its foundation is pushing “green” technology. Former employees are not surfing on Google. Some like Cuil.com are competing. The fact that those Xooglers rolled out a tasty confection before it was complete does little to polish the reputation of Google and its Xooglers. For me, the fact that Computerworld is souring on Google is news. Amazing turn of events for Googzilla.
Stephen Arnold, August 26, 2008
nGenera Bakes in Autonomy Search
August 26, 2008
Just when Microsoft makes search “free”, along comes Autonomy and proves that licensing deals are alive and well. According to CRM Buyer, nGenera inked an original equipment manufacturing deal with Autonomy. What’s interesting is that it’s not “search”. The deal is for Web 2.0 technology for search. The application is not finding. The application is knowledge management. I have to be up front and admit that I don’t know what knowledge is. Absent that understanding, I’m baffled at how to manage what I don’t grasp. Nevertheless, the deal is done.
Let’s sort out who is who in this deal. Talisma, according to CRM Buyer, “OEM’ed the Autonomy search engine.” An Autonomy reseller told me that Autonomy’s search engine no longer needs training, and it now shares many features with “appliance like” search systems from Google and Thunderstone, among others. You can get more information about Talisma here. The Talisma catchphrase is “Software that enables an exceptional online customer experience.”
nGenera bought Talisma in May 2008. nGenera’s Steve Papermaster is reported as having said at the time of the deal:
The future of innovation is customer co-creation: talking directly to customers, listening to them, learning from them. We’re taking content and processes from customer interaction software and mashing that with Web 2.0 collaboration tools to help companies discover brilliant new product ideas inspired by their own customers. Source: Paul Greenberg.
nGenera now has its own customer support product line to complement its other management consulting type software offerings. nGenera is a cloud computing – Web 2.0 services firm. The company has a remarkable “manifesto” here that sets forth its vision for organizational operations. One idea in the manifest is that organizations must move from knowledge management” to what the company calls “content collaboration and collective intelligence”. Since I don’t know what “knowledge management” means, I am in the dark about information operations that reach beyond. The manifesto also advocates moving from “traditional information technology” to “a next generation enterprise platform.” Again my experience is not much help to me in figuring out what nGenera’s services will deliver. The company has its fingers in many different pies. Each pie is stuffed with Web 2.0 goodness and goodies like “leveraging institutional memory,” “mass collaboration”, “business analytics”, and “transformational change”. These notions are too sophisticated for this addled goose.
The Talisma Knowledgebase which may now incorporate Autonomy technology.
The purchase of Talisma adds what nGenera describes here as:
The leading Customer Interaction Management (CIM) software solution provider enabling organizations globally to deliver an exceptional online customer experience while dramatically increasing their efficiency and effectiveness. Talisma’s customers include Aetna, AOL, Canon, Citibank, Comcast, Dell, Ford, University of Notre Dame, Microsoft, Pitney Bowes, Siemens, Sony, and Sprint. Talisma is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, and has offices located across Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America.
To sum up, nGenera bought Talisma in May 2008. Talisma inked a deal for Autonomy’s search and content processing technology. Autonomy, therefore, “snaps in” to the broader range of nGenera’s Web 2.0 services. Autonomy joins Atlassian Confluence as a technology provider to nGenera. I must admit these names leave my head spinning.
Google: Times, They Are Changing
August 25, 2008
Valley Wag reports that some perquisites at Google are going the way of the dodo. The story “Google’s Food Perks on the Chopping Block” here will be trimmed. On Sunday, August 25, 2008, the San Jose Mercury News pointed out here that Google has yet to make its new ventures pay off. Add to this the increasing criticism of Google and it’s clear that the high-flying company is undergoing change. Xooglers, once viewed as sure bets, have also stumbled; for example, the Cuil.com search system which débuted to intense interest has flagged. In short, Google’s magic touch seems to be waning. Will Tony Bennett sing again in the Google cafeteria? He may be replaced with a busker from the Montgomery BART entrance. Cheaper for sure. What other changes are afoot? I will try to keep a running list.
Stephen Arnold, August 26, 2008
How Yahoo Will Catch Google in Search
August 25, 2008
Here’s an interview you must read. On August 25, 2008, the Financial Express (India) here published an interview with Yahoo’s super wizard, Prabhakar Raghavan. Dr. Raghavan is the head of research at Yahoo, a Stanford professor, and a highly regarded expert in search, database, and associated technologies. He’s even the editor of computer science and mathematics journals. A fellow like this can leap over Google’s headquarters and poke out Googzilla’s right eye. The interview, conducted by Pragati Verma, provides a remarkable look inside the plans Yahoo has to regain control of Web search.
There were a number of interesting factoids that caught my attention in this interview. Let me highlight a few.
First, Yahoo insists that the cost of launching Web search is $300 million. Dr. Raghavan, who is an expert in things mathematical, said:
Becoming a serious search player requires a massive capital investment of about $300 million. We are trying to remove all barriers to entry for software developers, who have ideas about how to improve search.
The idea is to make it easy for a start up to tap into the Yahoo Web index and create new services. The question nagging at me is, “If Web search is $300 million, why hasn’t Yahoo made more progress?” I use Yahoo once in a while, but I find that its results are not useful to me. When I search Yahoo stores, I have a heck of a time finding what I need. What’s Yahoo been doing since 1998? Answer: losing market share to Google and spending a heck of a lot more than a paltry $300 million losing ground.
Second, Google can lose share to search start ups. Dr. Raghavan said:
According to comScore data, Google had a 62% share of the US search market in May, while we had 21% and MSN 9%. Our prediction models suggest that Google could lose a big chunk of its market share, as BOSS partners and players come in.
My question is, “Since Google is vulnerable, why haven’t other search systems with funding made any headway; for example, Microsoft?” The notion that lots of little mosquitos can hobble Googzilla is not supported by Yahoo’s many search efforts. These range from Mindset to InQuira, from Flickr search to the deal with IBM, etc. Chatter and projections aside, Google’s share is increasing, and I don’t see much zing from the services using Yahoo index so far.
Finally, people don’t want to search. I agree. There is a growing body of evidence that key word search is generally a hassle. Dr. Raghavan said:
Users don’t really want to search. They want to spend time on their work, personal lives and entertainment. They come to search engines only to get their tasks done. We will move search to this new paradigm of getting the task done….
My question is, “How is Yahoo with its diffused search efforts, its jumble of technologies, and its inability to make revenue progress without a deal from Google doing to reverse its trajectory?” I wish Yahoo good luck, but the company has not had much success in the last year or so.
Yahoo lost its way as a directory, as a search system, and as a portal. I will wait to see how Yahoo can turn its “pushcart full of odds and ends” into a Formula One racer.
Stephen Arnold, August 25, 2008
SharePoint and SQLServer: Designer or Visual Studio 2008
August 25, 2008
We can’t escape SharePoint. We also can’t escape SQLServer. The question arose recently about Designer (a light weight, graphical tool for “coding” SharePoint) and Visual Studio 2008. Our solution was to hack away until the beastie SharePoint could suck data from SQLServer.
MSDN’s Dot Net Web log, “. Net Developer”, had a useful post today. We think it’s pretty useful. We tried to locate the information using the MSDN search and experience zero joy. The original Web log post we snagged is here. The key piece of information is this statement:
If you’re working with content, SharePoint Designer is a great tool, but if you’re working with compiled code, then you really need to be looking at Visual Studio and the things that the extensions let you do.
To make Visual Studio work, however, you will need these links to obtain bits and pieces not in the Visual Studio 2008 build:
The information is available on Phil Wheat’s Web log: http://blog.austinwheats.net
Save these links because the search function doesn’t work too well.
Stephen Arnold, August 23, 2008
Autonomy: On Track with Amtrak
August 25, 2008
US search and content processing vendors must be wondering why their sales efforts continue to come up short. Autonomy nailed another juicy, high profile contract. This time Amtrak, the outfit that runs America’s remarkable passenger rail system, has inked a deal with the Cambridge, UK, vendor of search and content processing software. Financial details were not announced. Amtrak’s search system, its voice response system, and its personalization functions are–in a word–ratty. I hope that Autonomy’s software improves Amtrak’s online functions. I don’t think there’s much hope for the rail system itself. The train running from Campinas to Sao Paulo I rode as a kid was light years better than the Amtrak regional service I experienced about 10 days ago. The Amtrak business class car smelled as if a couple of chickens and a pig were on board. In Brasil, the chickens and pigs rode mostly in third class and the first class cars were quite nice as I recall. Amtrak’s business class delivered the stink without the actual beasts. More information about the Autonomy win is here. Information about Autonomy is here. The site was sluggish on August 24, 2008, at 3 30 pm Eastern. Might be a network issue.
Stephen Arnold, August 25, 2008
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