Oracle Secure Enterprise Search 11g
July 2, 2010
I put off writing about Oracle Secure Enterprise Search 11g. From my point of view, the product has not leapfrogged other search systems. That includes commercial solutions or open source solutions. I wrote about the “problem” of hooking search to security. My opinion was that “secure” was possible when other Oracle servers were lashed into the search system. I may be wrong about “security” but until I get some first hand evidence that SES 11g does not require a bean counter crushing requirement for other Oracle goodies, I will keep my enthusiasm in check.
What’s New in SES 11g?
According to the what’s new page for SES 11g, licensees enjoy:
- Improved performance. Here’s the actual lingo and I think you can see why I have been reluctant to slap a “four goose” label on Oracle search systems in the past: “A quantum leap in performance and scalability for crawled and near real time search. SES 11g searches 10x more data with a single SES instance, at the same license cost, without impacting search query performance. It also offers fast ingest by defragmenting the search engine index mostly automatically; this allows for updating the search engine index fast enough to keep up with high churn applications like mail or news feeds”. I am not sure what a “quantum leap” is. I also like the idea that a single SES instance can handle “10x more data.” No baseline metrics are given and my tests of SES 10g are several years old. Lots of processor changes under the bridge. Am I to use Oracle Sun hardware? Again I don’t know what this means. I do know that pushing real time content through a system is a tough problem to solve without a lorry full of euros.
- Customization. As Oracle says, “A UI mechanism based on the popular Freemarker templating language that greatly simplifies customizations to the SES search application”. What’s a Freemarker? Think open source. Ah, that’s going to be interesting. Open source.
This is a fully customized interface. The screenshot comes from AT Kearney’s “knowledge portal.” Kearney is a blue chip consultant dogpaddling to remain in the top tier with McKinsey, Booz, Bain, and BCG.
- Connectors. Here’s what Oracle says, “New connectivity options to Oracle Applications (EBusiness Suite, Siebel), Web Center, and Fusion Middleware.” Yep, an option. How much are these connectors? Some folks provide them at reasonable prices or give them away as part of the base package. My hunch is that the lorry may need another bundle of euros. If anyone has Oracle connector pricing, please, post the links to the price list in the Comments section of this Web log.
- Filters. Oracle says, “New document filters, especially for MS Office 2007 and SUN Star Office.” I am not sure how I would differentiate a filter from a connector. Oracle owns an outfit that makes a bunch of these gizmos via its acquisition of Stellent which bought technology from the former Outside In years ago.
- More connectors but these now work. Oracle says, “Connector updates for Documentum, SharePoint, and NTFS.” Okay, seems repetitive to me and being able to handle the however many millions of SharePoint instances out in the wild seems like a pretty basic function in my opinion.
- Administrative interface. Oracle says, “A new Admin API with command line abilities.” Okay, command line. Even Google offers one. Back to the good old days of IBM. Good news for people like me who can remember command strings but not people.
- Authentication. Oracle says, “Windows Native Authentication, replacing the previous applet-based approach.” Huh? Most search systems, including the Google Search Appliance, pretty much use what the licensee has up and running. What about the “secure” part? What about the Oracle security server and supporting goodies? What about those government agencies and their hybrid systems which require much Cirque du Soleil acrobatics?
Autonomy Tasers Its Competition
July 2, 2010
I can hear the yelps now, “Don’t tase me, man. No, not again.” Bzzzap. “Yow.”
Now I hear a gasping, “Autonomy cannot be Number One. We are Number One.”
Who is doing the complaining? Probably about 300 vendors of search and content processing systems that is who. Why the howls on this fine summer day?
Navigate to Chron.com and read “Autonomy Is #1 in Search and Discovery Market, According to Leading Market Research Firm.” There is a write up about IDC’s study “Worldwide Search and Discovery 2009 Vendor Shares: An Update on Market Trends.” So, the 300 yelpers have to do more than howl, issue one shot news releases, or drop the ball on marketing, sales, and customer satisfaction. Autonomy — acording to a big gun analyst outfit — is the top dog, the king of the hill, and the cat’s pajamas in search and content processing. This is not my opinion, gentle reader, I am pointing you to a rock solid source, IDC.
What’s the write up say? Here’s a snippet:
Autonomy continues to be the largest enterprise supplier, using its search-based IDOL infrastructure to act as a foundation for content-centric and search-driven business applications including eDiscovery and compliance, Web content management, enterprise content management and rich media, search marketing, intelligence, call center and customer support, and traditional knowledge management applications.” “Businesses from every industry continue to turn to Autonomy to help them achieve what other technology companies fail to deliver on – identifying the meaning within all forms of information, in real-time, in order to protect and promote their organization,” said Mike Lynch, CEO of Autonomy. “Autonomy’s unique meaning-based approach to information computing is what continues to fuel our rapid growth and clear market leadership, as validated by the recent IDC report on Search and Discovery market shares.”
And no big disagreement from the addled goose. I quite like some of the Autonomy technology. I like most of what IDC produces. If the data compiled for the report are accurate, Autonomy has a big footprint and happy customers. Among the thousands of Autonomy licensees are AOL, BAE Systems, BBC, Bloomberg, Boeing, Citigroup, Coca Cola, Daimler AG, Deutsche Bank, DLA Piper, Ericsson, FedEx, Ford, GlaxoSmithKline, Lloyds TSB, NASA, Nestle, the New York Stock Exchange, Reuters, Shell, Tesco, T-Mobile, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
You may be using Autonomy technology and not even know it. More than 400 companies glue Autonomy to their own systems in order to provide search and content processing functions. Recognize any of these names? Symantec, Citrix, HP, Novell, Oracle, Sybase and TIBCO.
When the competition is able to stop yammering, perhaps some of these 300 vendors will start selling, marketing, and making Autonomy perspire. Google? Microsoft? Are you paying attention. Autonomy has more than 20,000 customers for its search and content processing systems, applications, and services. Oh, keep in mind that IDC offers data to back up its conclusion that Autonomy is Number One.
Competitors who make Kin phones and then kill their Kin the next day may want to reexamine their strategy. Other vendors may want to stop trying to tell governments how to run their railroads and business licensing policies.
Autonomy seems to have more – ah, how shall I say it? – yes, focus.
By the way, how does that taser feel? Want another zap? Bzzzap.
Stephen E Arnold, July 2, 2010
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How Google Works… Mostly
July 1, 2010
If you want to know how Google works, you will want to snag a copy of the graphic produced by PPC Blog. I think “ppc” means pay for click. The title of the graphic is “Learn How Google Works: in Gory Detail.” For the search engine optimization crowd, the graphic will shine a light into the dimly lit areas of knowledge. I don’t have much to add to the graphic. I would, however, point out that this passage might warrant some consideration: “Google bots won’t crawl your site if you tell them not to with a robots.txt.” Perhaps there are some exceptions? Nah, the PPC crowd has its facts straight.
Stephen E Arnold, July 1, 2010
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Quote to Note: Ant Tribes
July 1, 2010
Every once in a while an interesting phrase hits the addled goose on the beak. “China’s Young College Grads Toil in ‘Ant Tribes’” contains the golden phrase “ant tribes.” I love the connotation and the image the phrase evokes.According to the write up:
The term “ant tribe” was coined by Lian Si, a professor who wrote a book with that title about the post-1980 generation.
Here’s another passage I liked:
“I didn’t want to be stuck in a small town forever, you know, like the frog in the well,” says Liu, who comes from a coal city in the often frozen far north. “I dreamed of achieving success on my own terms in the big city.”
Remind you of New York City in the 1850s? Did me. Will US college graduates join the ant tribe? Some may. Others will move back home. A lucky few will snag jobs at azure chip consulting firms and build rich flows of cash for the betterment of mankind. Here in Harrod’s Creek I have spotted what look like credit cards but are really digital food buying plastic. On the way home today, I saw a fellow with a sign that said, “Veteran. Need work. Please, help.” Pretty scary economics at work.
Stephen E Arnold, July 1, 2010
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Merger Strengthens Law Enforcement Searches
July 1, 2010
Crime solvers now have an improved way to track down clues, thanks to a single merger, a recent V3 article reports. One of the premier analytics firms, SAS in the US, recently purchased the UK based Memex in a step to bolster SAS’ law enforcement services. Memex currently supplies enterprise search solutions to law enforcement agencies from Brittan to Los Angeles. By bringing its research abilities to SAS’s global reach, the company aims to help law enforcement and justice and defense agencies share data by making it more widely available and much more searchable. This is an interesting example of a structured data specialist acquiring specialized technology to service a specific niche. We expect to see similar partnerships sprout up.
Patrick Roland, July 1, 2010
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Why Is Google Reminding Us of Its Dominance in Online Video
July 1, 2010
Fresh from its 800 score on the DMCA test, Google seems to be eager to point out how much video it pumps. Navigate to “YouTube Streams 14.6B Videos, 100 Videos Viewed per User.” The numbers are interesting, but frankly I am not sure how the Google flow compares to an outfit like Insight or Time Warner on their systems. Maybe it is apples and oranges because Insight and Time Warner use different technology and make money from their video services. According the write up YouTube accounted for 43.1 percent of all videos viewed online, comScore said June 23.” The write up include some comparative information:
When people weren’t watching videos on YouTube, they were watching them on Hulu (1.2 billion videos), Microsoft Sites (642 million videos) or Vevo (430 million videos) and YouTube court buddy Viacom Digital (347 million videos).
Perhaps the key metric for me is the amount of money Google is making from YouTube. The data in the article are similar to Amazon’s method of explaining how successful its cloud services are. Where are the revenue and cost data?
Stephen E Arnold, July 1 2010
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Legal Love: Google and Viacom Are Sort of Pals
July 1, 2010
I admire the brand of capitalism that makes America the nation state it is. Cornelius Vanderbilt left a rich legacy. He made pals with a few folks and the outsiders had an opportunity to find a new future. Perhaps history will repeat itself. Instead of Vanderbilt & Drew, today’s version will be Google & Viacom.
Navigate to “Viacom Fights YouTube in Court but that Won’t Stop It from Selling YouTube Ads.” For me, the most important comment was:
Google and Viacom are still fighting in court. But in the real world, they’re about to be partners, in a way: The cable network’s MTV unit is going to start selling ads on Google’s YouTube, via a new deal that makes it the sales rep for Warner Music Group’s (WMG) videos.
In the tough love world of billionaires, what’s a friendly dust up in court? Maybe it is a way to get to know one another, sort of a Match.com date between two testosterone charged outfits? My hunch is that it makes economic sense for the companies to be pals. The rumor that the lawsuit was triggered because Viacom’s top dog was not treated with respect by a laptop punching Googler and a roller blade equipped wizard. No hard evidence about that myth, no matter how enticing the visuals.
The reality is that money is to be had. Like Corny, the money is more important than the people with whom one fraternizes to get that money. Remember Nicaragua in the 1850s? Yikes.
Stephen E Arnold, July 1, 2010
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