SharePoint is the Fastest Growing Content Tool
November 24, 2011
Many articles we write about on Beyond Search state that SharePoint is the most popular content management platform and is gaining new clients everyday. It is one thing to read about this statement as it could be contributed to sensationalism, but the SharePoint and Assessment Blog recently interviewed Ed Kelty, the CIO of Rio Salado College in Arizona and a write up is found here: “SharePoint Adopted Faster Than Any Other Application I’ve Ever Seen!”
Rio Salado teamed up with Microsoft to build their long distance learning application to handle their 47,000 online students, be the official web site, and employee portal all on SharePoint. Kelty identifies SharePoint’s strengths: it’s fast, team sites, document tracking, etc. and its weaknesses: that Rio Salado didn’t realize the program’s capabilities. More items discussed are advice for businesses and schools on SharePoint deployment, SharePoint team experience, and ideas for the future:
“If it keeps going the way it is, not only can we start developing more complicated applications in SharePoint, but it is also likely to be the link or front-end interface to other systems, making it easier for our customers to access information. I see a lot of third party applications being integrated with SharePoint – social media integration is an example and more third party apps are being developed all the time. It seems that SharePoint can be used to aggregate data from different kinds of systems together and integrate them into a clean customer interface adapted specifically for their needs.”
Wile we’re on the subjects of the future and colleges, if you’re looking at an IT career why not specialize in SharePoint? It’s the fastest growing application at the moment. ISVs, like SurfRay, have realized the potential opportunities and they provide excellent adoption tools.
Whitney Grace November 24, 2011
Thanks Be For A Guide to SharePoint Server 2010 Search
November 24, 2011
To understand SharePoint’s FAST Search Server, it’s smart to work your way up by first understanding SharePoint Server 2010 Search. “Configuring Enterprise Search in SharePoint 2010” is a useful guide that covers search features and has lots of screen shots. A handy flow chart visualizes the following:
“SharePoint 2010 search architecture is made up of the Crawler, Indexing Engine, Query Engine and the User Interface and Query Object Model. We now have greater flexibility and expandability with our search design in 2010 and can setup not only multiple Query Servers but can now scale out our Index server and add multiple instances.”
Savvy businesses know the benefits of collaborative content management with integrated search – add access to the constantly growing information in the Cloud, and company knowledge gets a big boost. For those needing a deeper solution that has the ability to answer enterprise search needs in the cloud, you may want to explore Mindbreeze.
Their information pairing technology results in a complete overview of a company’s knowledge, merging enterprise information with Cloud information.
Sara Wood, November 24, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Another Googler Wants to Outdo Google
November 24, 2011
Massimo Marchiori, who “helped” develop the algorithm that evolved into Google’s Page Rank, is ready to take on the search giant with his own competing product, as ComputerWorld reveals in “Italian mathematician prepares to challenge Google.” Marchiori is understandably reluctant to release details, noting that it would be easy for Google to beat him to the punch. However, he will characterize what makes his engine, called Volunia, different; we learned from the write up:
Marchiori said the basic idea was simple and radically different from the current approach of the major search engines. ‘If Google uses a club, we will work with a fencer’s foil. The difference of our search engine is what will enable us to emerge. And because Volunia will be really useful to people.’
At the Web site for the project, one can apply to become a beta tester. That could be fun.
Investor Mariano Pireddu is funding the endeavor. He emphasizes that the goal is not to create something better than Google, just different. Hmm, that just makes me more curious.
Refreshingly free of rancor, Marchiori notes that Google founders Page and Brin always acknowledged his contribution to their company’s success, and that he doesn’t regret the decision to pass on becoming a part of it.
We wish the distinguished mathematician the best of luck with Volunia. However, it might be a little late with Google’s world grasp already in place. We’ll see.
Cynthia Murrell, November 24, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Oracle Starts its Move on Open Source NoSQL
November 24, 2011
The adult has arrived on the scene. At least, that’s the perspective InfoWorld takes in “First look: Oracle NoSQL Database.” In describing the history of NoSQL development up to this point, the article asserts:
For the last few years, the world of NoSQL databases has been filled with exciting new projects, ambitious claims, and plenty of chest beating. The hypesters said the new NoSQL software packages offered tremendous performance gains by tossing away all of the structure and paranoid triple-checking that database creators had lovingly added over the years. . . . If we ignore these things, our databases will be free and insanely fast.
Specifically, these open source developers have eschewed adherence to the ACID (atomicity, consistence, isolation, durability) standards that guarantee the reliability of database transactions. While Oracle’s version doesn’t strictly adhere to these, either, it does come much closer than its forerunners. It also offers the option to partition data, which guarantees consistency across node-replicating machines.
Writer Peter Wayner gives an in depth comparison between Oracle NoSQL and the other options, often lauding the former for being more “serious” (that is to say, more reliable.) The piece also details the results of his own speed test. Definitely worth a read for anyone considering the move to Oracle, or any other NoSQL database. And open source? Would a toll booth look good on Oracle Parkway?
Cynthia Murrell, November 24, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
AOL Management: The Xoogler Effect
November 24, 2011
My view about Google as a management training ground is that “real” managers are not produced at Google. Examples range from the legal tussles to the killing of products, the handling of squawks about search results, and the controlled chaos approach which works because of online revenue flows. Lots of money cleanses many things. But management expertise?
At AOL, Tim Armstrong, a Xoogler (former Google employee), is in charge. I found the round up of news, events, and speculation fascinating. Point your browser thing at “The Truth About The People Running AOL Right Now” to get the full run down of issues.
I noted one point which I have tucked in my “management tips” folder. Here it is:
Huffington is a “perfectionist” who is “in the weeds,” says one source. She is also AOL’s product visionary. She cannot be managed. Another source says AOL is The Huffington Post Media Group now.
Well, that is fascinating. How long will Tim Armstrong remain the top gun? And what about search? What about effective management? Oh, never mind.
Stephen E Arnold, November 24, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Bloomberg Discovers Palantir: Huh?
November 23, 2011
News flash! Bloomberg Businessweek has realized that Palantir, which has garnered more than $90 million in funding,is indispensible to the US intelligence community. Er, okay. You will want to read this “real” news story yourself. Just point your monitored browser at “Palantir: The War on Terror’s Secret Weapon.” Palantir has been a well kept secret at least in Bloomberg’s news room. Palantir ended up in a nifty legal spat with i2 Group, not part of IBM. The settlement was sealed, which certainly catches the attention of the goslings in Harrod’s Creek, but not the “real” journalists in New York. The fact that Palantir is the PowerPoint superstar which has the attention of those attention deficit disorder presenters is not on the radar of the Bloombergians.
Here’s the passage which I enjoyed:
The origins of Palantir go back to PayPal, the online payments pioneer founded in 1998. A hit with consumers and businesses, PayPal also attracted criminals who used the service for money laundering and fraud. By 2000, PayPal looked like “it was just going to go out of business” because of the cost of keeping up with the bad guys, says Peter Thiel, a PayPal co-founder….PayPal’s computer scientists set to work building a software system that would treat each transaction as part of a pattern rather than just an entry in a database. They devised ways to get information about a person’s computer, the other people he did business with, and how all this fit into the history of transactions. These techniques let human analysts see networks of suspicious accounts and pick up on patterns missed by the computers. PayPal could start freezing dodgy payments before they were processed. “It saved hundreds of millions of dollars,” says Bob McGrew, a former PayPal engineer and the current director of engineering at Palantir.
Want more? Well, the story sprawls over six pages.
My view?
First, point your browser to www.inteltrax.com and read the stories about Palantir.
Second, what about the legal dust up? Well, run a Google query and get the scoop. The legal documents are quite interesting as well. The interesting information is available on WestlawNext and Lexis. The free Web content is, well, not industrial strength.
Third, what about Digital Reasoning, a company with groundbreaking entity based analytics? Check that out at www.digitalreasoning.com . For more amusement look at www.recordedfuture.com.
You can read interviews with founders of companies with technology that goes beyond Palantir at these two links:
We are not “real” journalists. On the other hand, you will get some insight into what’s happening with next generation analytics. No turkey on Thanksgiving at Beyond Search.
Stephen E Arnold, November 24, 2011
Freebie. Unlike Palantir’s solutions.
Mobile Devices and SharePoint Have Opposing Views
November 23, 2011
Imagine that you designed a SharePoint web site and you want to share it with a friend. Your friend tries to access the web site from their cell phone, but they only get a login screen. This is the SharePoint mobile experience for anonymous users. SharePoint has an out-of-the-box mobile feature, but it doesn’t work if you don’t have the proper password. SharePoint mobile is up against small screens and bandwidth limits, but the worst is that the feature cannot be turned off. How do you fight this? Waldek Mastykarz, a SharePoint Server MVP, outlines all the issues with mobile SharePoint in “Inconvenient SharePoint 2010 Mobile Redirect.”
There are a few solutions like deleting the .browser files in the App_Browser directory on your site and disable the recognition of mobile browsers. Mastykarz created his own solution, though:
“As I mentioned before the mobile redirect is being done in the BeginRequest event (which is the first event in the Page request pipeline) handler in the SPRequestModule HTTP module which is part of SharePoint 2010. The solution we came up was to mislead SharePoint and make it think we’re using a non-mobile browser while keeping all the browser information available to all custom code we might use on the website.”
Employing Mastykarz’s solutions will allow you to maximize your mobile SharePoint capabilities and work around SharePoint weaknesses. Of course, it comes down to relying on a third party to fix SharePoint, but it is comforting to know that companies like SurfRay will resolve the problems.
Whitney Grace November 23, 2011
Plan for Content Management Growth: Tools and Considerations
November 23, 2011
With SharePoint 2010 and its widespread deployment, many are beginning to take stock of the lack of growth planning when it comes to content management systems. With the overwhelming growth of electronic content in just the last few years, preparations must be made for the future. No one can truly predict information volume in coming years, but some steps should be taken. Don Jones explores the theme in, “Set early plans to manage growth of your SharePoint 2010 deployment.”
The three main areas Jones focuses on are: security, managing SQL server, and keeping track of SharePoint.
“It’s key to think hard about how the group will manage SharePoint and what policies will be adopted to control — but not necessarily limit — its growth. With the right plan in place, organizations get a better return on their investments and ultimately prevent SharePoint from creeping out of control.”
We think that careful planning is important in any software implementation. Even still, maybe SharePoint isn’t the most flexible solution for long-term needs. A content management solution suite like Fabasoft Mindbreeze can meet all of your current needs with plenty of room for expansion and potential future surprises. Utilization of the Fabasoft Mindbreeze Appliance ensures that all of Jones’ main points above are heeded.
“The Fabasoft Mindbreeze Appliance is the optimal basis for highly efficient enterprise-wide search and easy configuration. To utilize the full potential of a software solution it is essential that hard- and software are fully aligned. Even more, the required time for deployment to the user is critical for gaining the highest ROI. The Fabasoft Mindbreeze Appliance components have been optimally synchronized in numerous tests.”
So while planning is essential, and should be regarded with any content management implementation, some solutions are more naturally suited to future growth. Mindbreeze and its agile solutions are worth consideration.
Emily Rae Aldridge, November 23, 2011
Sponsored by: Pandia.com
ZyLAB Pursues Governance with Records Management
November 23, 2011
It is common knowledge that it is necessary for to impart efficient records management (RM) policies and practices in order for an organization to fulfill its enterprise-wide knowledge management (KM) goals. However, it is less common to find an IT department that understands the value of an RM framework that also provides e-discovery http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_discovery.
In this vein of thought, a new marketing theme has recently emerged from software developer ZyLAB as a way to nail down the governance silliness in a way that benefits businesses from a variety of different angles.
The recent CodeZED blog post “Records Management Is the Foundation of Proactive E-Discovery” notes:
Any effective RM solution must be multifaceted and have at least some level of robust search and e-discovery capabilities to be scalable, especially in the face of growing regulations concerning information transparency, security and expectations for data archiving and retention.
In addition to the obvious legal benefits that come with having a good RM solution that provides e-discovery, there are other benefits as well. These include: more proactive customer service capabilities, an unencumbered environment for innovation, optimized maneuverability and preparedness in a rapidly shifting competitive marketplace and stronger positioning for long-term profitability. Who can say no to that?
In my opinion, the governance mavens may not know what to say. Records mnagement is a discipline. Governance is a made-up service designed by folks who don’t want to do the work required to implement a standard.
Jasmine Ashton, November 23, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Brainware and the Back Office
November 23, 2011
Have we been ignoring the back office as a niche for search and content processing? No, we have not ignored this niche.
There is money to be made in handling paper plus digital content, and Brainware wants to convince some organizations that it leads the field. News.Gnome.es clued us in with “Brainware Emerges As Market Leader For Intelligent Data Capture: 2011 Survey.” The survey, conducted by the Institute of Financial Operations, focused on the use of automated data capture to tame companies’ accounts payable. Thomas M. Bohn of the Institute summarizes the results:
These findings demonstrate that accounts payable departments using data capture technology—especially higher volume, complex operations—hold the advantage in reducing costs, improving turnaround times and optimizing accountability over their process. Furthermore, these insights are consistent with the numerous customer case studies I’ve witnessed while hosting events with Brainware this past year.
This press release from Brainware emphasizes that company’s leadership in this area. The enterprise serves many large companies and organizations globally, and boasts that its products “manage unstructured data without templates, exact definitions, taxonomies or indexing.”
It seems the purveyors of search solutions can’t help but invent new classifications as the try to cope with the complexity of their task. We will update this list of 14 silver bullets to include this new category.
Cynthia Murrell, November 23, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
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