Vivsimo Embraces Webinars
September 17, 2011
As financial storms rip through the business environment, many search and content processing vendors are looking for more effective ways to generate sales leads and close deals. dtSearch, for example, uses various shareware distribution channels to makes its demonstration system available to potential buyers. We learned that Vivisimo is embracing Webinars; that is, online programs which allow a presenter to “talk to” a number of attendees.
As the workplace is changing to include more and more at-home employees, the sharing of information between companies is also changing. The webinar is being utilized more frequently as proved in two cases as reported in the article, “TMCnet Customer Experience Management Week in Review”, on TMC Net.
Teletech hosted a Webinar called, Creating a Better Customer Experience with At-Home Associates, that focused on the benefits of at-home employees and how companies can often increase customer relations while keeping costs down – a win-win for every company.
Pittsburgh enterprise search software company, Vivisimo also hosted a webinar called, Gaining Customer Insights from Unstructured Data. As Tracey Mustacchio, vice president of marketing at Vivisimo, explained about the webinar (as quoted in the article),
The growth of unstructured data sources forces companies to implement initiatives that leverage the data and empowers customer-facing professionals to hold intelligent conversations with customers. Organizations that are able to capture and utilize knowledge from all customer touch points across the enterprise win.
While there is no doubt that the Webinar is quickly replacing face-to-face physical seminars, it also is a great marketing tool for companies such as Vivisimo. Much like the message Teletech was preaching, any time a company can increase customer relations and keep costs down, everyone wins.
As Fly Conferencing, a leader in Webinar services, points out to companies interested in webinars as a marketing tool, “Webinars that provide free information of interest to your market segment are the most effective way to creating a solid bond of trust between you and your email list. This trust will make it easier to market your products to those individuals later.”
We will report on other cost effective alternatives to attending conferences, printing flashy brochures, and traditional advertising programs.
Catherine Lamsfuss, September 17, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com, publishers of The New Landscape of Enterprise Search
Google Two-Step Authentication Spreads Across the Globe
September 16, 2011
At last, “Google Rolls Out Safer Two-Step Authentication in 150 Countries,” reports Softpedia. Google debuted the more rigorous verification earlier this year, but only in its English language incarnation. Now, another 40 languages and 150 localized Web sites are on board.
Writer Lucian Parfeni explains the revised method:
With two-step verification, or authentication, users have to provide a unique code along with their account credentials. This code is only available via their phones, ensuring that unauthorized persons, with no access to the phone, can’t get in even if their credentials have been compromised, or at least making it significantly harder.
This is good news. The new process is slightly more annoying, but the increased security is worth the small hassle. Well, to me, anyway. Then again, I’m not one to use “password” as my password, either.
Some might say, “Good move, Google.”
Cynthia Murrell, September 16, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com, publishers of The New Landscape of Enterprise Search
Oracle Text Information Seems Thin
September 16, 2011
Here at ArnoldIT, we were looking for information about Oracle Text Search, an aspect of Oracle Text, which offers a complete text search solution. Oracle Text is included with
both the Oracle11g Standard and Enterprise Editions. After much floundering and a bad link from the Google, we navigated to, and found, a 2007 gem, which seems a bit dated.
In the Oracle technical white paper we found one reference to text search which stated:
[Through Oracle Text’s integrated text search capability] Oracle 11g provides an extensibility framework that enables developers to extend the data types understood by the database kernel. Oracle Text uses this framework to fully integrate the text indexes with the standard Oracle query engine.
We had hoped to find more up-to date information at The Oracle forum. Unfortunately, it did not have a direct entry for Oracle Text Search. If a reader has links to more current information, please, post them in the comments section to this blog. In the meantime, Oracle, please, make information about your search and content processing systems findable.
Jasmine Ashton, September 16, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Free Image Search Tool
September 16, 2011
One of our clients asked us about a service called Free Image Search Tool. FIST is Magnus Manske‘s solution to the multiple queries one has to run to locate an images on a number of publicly accessible repositories. The system makes it easy to search for what are called “free images.” (We licensed the image we use for Augmentext.com and in Beyond Search we make an effort to point to a source of an image in our free Creative Commons news stream.) Images are a tough problem, often getting less attention from those concerned with copyrights for motion pictures and music.
If you want to give the service a try, click this link or the image of the search query page below:
More information about the service is available from Wikimedia, Meta Wiki.
Stephen E Arnold, September 16, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com, publishers of The New Landscape of Enterprise Search
Sinequa Dials In Siemens
September 16, 2011
With so much information available to companies, it is no surprise that they are dealing with search overloads resulting in too much, poorly organized, information. As a result a new industry has emerged offering their clients solutions to better manage information. The article, Siemens Uses Sinequa Business Search to Find Synergies in Technology Projects of its Divisions Around the World, on Decidio, explains how one company has utilized these new search optimization skills.
Siemens Corporate Technology announced they are using Sinequa Business Search to help optimize searching for technology projects. The article reports (translated):
Stefan Augustin, Principal Consultant and Project Manager at Global Information / Knowledge Management at Siemens Corporate Technology, lists other positive experiences of the first projects: a research platform that is flexible and highly reliable with scalable performance; connectors between many sources of data, ready for use, the a high level of security that protects the confidentiality of documents perfectly.
Sinequa explains the problem businesses face with information overload in terms everyone understands – money. According to Sinequa’s website, employees spend an average of five hours a week sifting through data looking for usable information. That translates into $5,000 to $20,000 a year in wasted money, per employee, for companies. By offering customized, industry-specific searches, Sinequa cuts that wasted time dramatically saving money and boosting employee performance.
As more and more information is becoming available, from a variety of sources, companies of all sizes from around the world are feeling the inadequacies of current commercial search engines. The customized industry-specific search optimization market is exploding with need and desire. As more and more tech companies announce successes, it will be no surprise to see the face of data search change to meet the growing demands.
Catherine Lamsfuss, September 16, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com, publishers of The New Landscape of Enterprise Search
An X Ray of the SharePoint User Subsystem
September 16, 2011
SharePoint 2010 is a complex program that integrates many small details to create large architecture schemes for content management to be used by multiple users. On the SharePoint Developer Team Blog, we found the article, “User Profile Subsystem in SharePoint 2010,” which has a user profile graphic that outlines the high level architecture and the various components that make up the User Profile subsystem.
After you view the diagram, there is accompanying text that explains what each part of the graphic represents and how it is used in the SharePoint hierarchy. There are explanations for the user Profile Service Application (UPA), User Profile Service Instance (UP), User Profile Service Application Proxy (UPA Proxy), profile database, User Profile Synchronization Service Instance (UPS), sync database, related service applications, social database, and the Forefront Identity Manager (FIM).
Here is an example of how the text reads for the FIM:
A SharePoint Service Instance. This is a wrapper responsible for the provisioning of the Forefront Identity Manager (FIM) components. You select a User Profile Service Application to associate with, and need to specify the credentials of the Farm Account (under which the FIM Services will run). This should run on the machine in the farm you wish to use to host the User Profiles “Role”. When it’s running that machine is known as the Service Machine Instance. There can only be one UPS Service Instance per User Profile Service Application.
This is an article you will want to bookmark and pull out at one of those business meetings to explain how SharePoint works.
We think that you will be able to give your users advanced search and retrieval functions if you embrace Ontolica, developed by Copenhagen-based SurfRay. If you need a SharePoint X Ray, you will want to use SurfRay’s technology as an advanced MRI for content findability.
Stephen E Arnold, September 16, 2011
SurfRay
Google Gets Pinged on Its Maturity
September 16, 2011
I am permanently 18 years old. The problem is that I am 67 and I recognize that my mind plays tricks on me. Even though I have moved from the land of beets to land of wurst, I try to keep both of my goose-like webbed feet on the ground. I enjoy a good game of global chess. One “expert” believes that Google does not maintain an even keel. I read the two part article “Google: The Big Baby That Won’t Grow Up.” My initial reaction is that Google knows what it is doing and has the cash to make reality conform to Googley perceptions. The article takes a different view, and one that I find somewhat contentious. One of the key passages in my opinion provides a view of Google that is jaundiced and a trifle sharp:
Last week, the New York Times broke the story that unscrupulous competitors were going on to Places and signaling that a rival business was permanently closed, which could be fatal to that fully operational business. When I read that story, I wondered why the aggrieved businesses didn’t simply call up someone at Google to get help. It turns out they can’t. With a few exceptions, “there’s just no way to reach Google when you have a problem with Places,” Linda Buquet, a marketing consultant, tells me.
Google supports its customers via Web pages, email, and the self help information in Google Groups. Maybe some folks think Messrs. Page and Brin are going to field inbound phone calls. My experience says, “No.” There are humans available to sell Adwords. Humans for trivial tasks are not part of the “game plan.”
The Infoworld article adds:
As I’ve said a few times, Google’s outlay of some $400,000 per patent in the Motorola Mobility acquisition was a shocking waste of money and an example of the absurdity of the mobile patent wars. What I didn’t realize was how badly Google handled the acquisition; it’s probably fair to say that Google was bidding against itself. We know this because Google outlined the process in exquisite detail in a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. After months of meetings, Google offered Motorola $30 a share. Motorola rejected the offer. A few days later, Google came back with an offer of $37 a share, but get this: Hours later, before Motorola had even responded, Google upped the offer by another three bucks a share, raising the initial offer by $3 billion when no one else was bidding on the company. For good measure, it agreed to pay a $2.5 billion breakup fee in the event regulators kill the proposed merger.
Those who are not Googley cannot grasp the Google method. Those who can work at Google. “Experts” who make clear their inability to grasp the broad outlines and subtle contours of the Google method struggle to communicate that what looks like missteps are brilliant chess moves. Here in the land of wurst, I see the elegance of the Google method. Perhaps if one is too close to the Google, perception is distorted. Google now has patents with which to attack and defend itself from competitors who are treating the GOOG in an unfair manner. What’s a few billion here or there? A generous golden parachute for certain Motorola Mobility professionals makes perfect sense. “Experts” often miss the logic which leads up to the end game. I am waiting for Google to announce, “Check.”
Stephen E Arnold, September 16, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
When Search Knows Best, Do You Get What You Want?
September 15, 2011
Bing’s term is adaptive search. The idea is that Bing, like the Google, “knows” what I want when I run a query. You can read “Adapting Search to You” to get the details with some spin, of course. How well do these adaptive systems work? If one is a member of a herd looking for sports scores or Lady Gaga news, adaptive search makes life easier. However, if you run some real world queries, adaptive search is maddening.
I was trying to locate flight information from San Francisco to Paris with a return to Washington, DC. One of the adaptive search services concluded that I was in Spain. I was in Austria. Then when the information displayed the language was German with a link that said, “To visit our main site, click here.” Guess where the “adaptive system” sent me. Give up. I was shown a page in Italian. Sure, I am an outlier, but the “smart” systems get confused with real world situations.
When one jumps to a mission critical search, adaptive systems and smart software can return information that may not be what is required. I can work around most problems, resorting to for fee services the retriev5ed information is off point. Other online searchers may suck up what’s offered and make a decision on incorrect or distorted information.
Do you know what you want when you search? Do you know if the information is not on the mark?
Stephen E Arnold, September 15, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Smartlogic Tags SchemaLogic: New Taxonomy Super Firm Created
September 15, 2011
Mergers have captured the attention of the media and for good reason. Deals which fuse two companies create new opportunities and can disrupt certain market sectors. For example, Hewlett Packard’s purchase of Autonomy has bulldozed the search landscape. Now Smartlogic has acquired SchemaLogic and is poised to have the same effect on the world of taxonomies, controlled vocabularies, and the hot business sector described as “tagging” or “metadata.”
As you know, Smartlogic has emerged as one of the leaders in content tagging, metadata, indexing, ontologies, and associated services. The company’s tag line is that its systems and methods deliver content intelligence solutions. Smartlogic supports the Google search technology, open source search solutions such as Solr, and Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Fast Search. Smartlogic’s customers include UBS, Yell.com, Autodesk, the McClatchy Company, and many others.
With the acquisition of SchemaLogic, Smartlogic becomes one of the leading if not the leading company in the white hot semantic content processing market. The addition of SchemaServer to the platform adds incremental functionality and extends solutions for customers. The merger adds more clients to Smartlogic’s current list of Fortune 1000 and global enterprise customers and confirms the company as the leading provider of Content Intelligent Software. Jeremy Bentley told Beyond Search:
Smartlogic has a reputation for providing innovative Content Intelligence solutions alongside an impeccable delivery record. We look forward to providing Grade A support to our new clients, and to broadening the appeal of Semaphore.
SchemaLogic was founded in 2003 by Breanna Anderson (CTO) and Andrei Ovchinnikov (a Russian martial arts expert with a love of taxonomy and advisory board member) and Trevor Traina (chairman and entrepreneur; he sold Compare.Net comparison shopping company to Microsoft in 1999). SchemaLogic launched its first product in November 2003. The company’s flagship product is SchemaServer. The executive lineup has changed since the company’s founding, but the focus on indexing and management of controlled term lists has remained.
A company can use the SchemaLogic products to undertake master metadata management for content destined for a search and retrieval system or a text analytics / business intelligence system. However, unlike fully automated tagging systems, SchemaLogic products can make use of available controlled term lists, knowledge bases, and dictionaries. The system includes an administrative interface and index management tools which permit the licensee to edit or link certain concepts. The idea is that SchemaServer (and MetaPoint which is the SharePoint variant) provides a centralized repository which other enterprise applications can use as a source of key words and phrases. When properly resourced and configured, the SchemaLogic approach eliminates the Balkanization and inconsistency of indexing which is a characteristic of many organization’s content processing systems.
Early in the company’s history, SchemaLogic focused on SharePoint. The firm added support for Linux and Unix. Today, when I think of SchemaLogic, I associate the company with Microsoft SharePoint. The MetaPoint system works when one wants to improve the quality of Sharepoint metadata. But the system can be used for eDiscovery and applications where compliance guidelines require consistent application of terminology. You can get more information about the company’s products at www.schemalogic.com.
Three observations are warranted:
First, not since Business Objects’ acquisition of Inxight has a content processing deal had the potential to disrupt an essential and increasingly important market sector.
Second, with the combined client list and the complementary approach to semantic technology, Smartlogic is poised to move forward rapidly with value added content processing services. Work flow is one area where I expect to see significant market interest.
Third, smaller firms will now find that size does matter, particularly when offering products and services to Fortune 1000 firms.
Our view is that there will be further content centric mergers and investments in the run up to 2012.
Stephen E Arnold, September 15, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com, publishers of The New Landscape of Enterprise Search
Hlava Interview: New Medical Integrity Services
September 15, 2011
On September 14, 2011, I interviewed Margie Hlava, one of the world’s leading experts in the fields of content indexing, taxonomies, and controlled vocabularies. In our third interview, I probed Ms. Hlava, the founder of Access Innovations, one of the key service and software firms in the information retrieval sector. She was attracted to indexing as a consequence of her undergraduate work in the field of biology and its classification methodology.
In this podcast, Ms. Hlava discusses:
- How automated systems like MAI and other Access Innovations’ systems detect new terminology, entities, and synonyms
- The challenge of high volume indexing and tagging of medical documents related to billing. The indexing makes it easier to identify improper or erroneous payments as part of the US government’s “medical integrity programs”
- The close relationship between indexing and content processing cost control. Flawed indexing contributes to search inefficiency. Governance projects, which are really thinly disguised reworking of indexing and tagging, often cost significantly more than a process that makes indexing part of the pre-planning and pre-launch work plan.
The audio program is available without charge on the ArnoldIT.com Web site at this link. The program was recorded on September 14, 2011. More information about Access Innovations is available at the firm’s Web site. Be sure to take a look at Taxodiary, the company’s highly regarded Web log about indexing and taxonomy related topics.
Stephen E Arnold, September 15, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com, publishers of The New Landscape of Enterprise Search
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