Protected: Tune in for the Exciting Adventures of SharePoint
March 12, 2012
Inteltrax: Top Stories, March 5 to March 9
March 12, 2012
Inteltrax, the data fusion and business intelligence information service, captured three key stories germane to search this week, specifically, trends in big data.
Our biggest trend spotting article was undoubtedly “Big Predictions for 2012 Big Data” in which we laid out the upcoming months and how they will be even bigger than 2011’s massive data year.
“Safety and Security Prompt Analytic Trend” took a closer look at new trends, specifically how to keep folks safe via analytic technology.
Finally, “Consumer Thinking Becomes a Big Analytic Focus” is undoubtedly the hottest topic in big data and we toss our two cents into the hat.
Big data and analytics are an evolving being. The landscape today is nothing like it was twelve months ago. Thankfully, we are watching every blip on the radar to give readers a comprehensive feel for the past, present and future of analytics.
Follow the Inteltrax news stream by visiting www.inteltrax.com
Patrick Roland, Editor, Inteltrax.
March 12, 2012
HP, Autonomy: Baby Tigers on the Loose
March 12, 2012
To many, it may seem that $10.3 billion is a large sum to pay for a software company. However, that’s exactly what Hewlett Packard paid to acquire Autonomy late last year.
The company is now embracing a powerful new marketing metaphor to describe the costly acquisition as a baby tiger.
In “HP: ‘Baby Tiger’ Autonomy Will Drive Channel Business,” we learn about HP’s Information Management division, which includes Autonomy and Vertica, the business intelligence vendor also acquired by HP in 2011. HP will apparently be focusing on getting Autonomy incorporated into HP during the first half of this year, and expect to see financial “synergies” in the second half. The CRN article tells us more:
One thing Autonomy lacks is a services arm, but HP expects to fill the gap with its own services oriented partners. The big question, though, is when partners will actually be able to start getting into this side of the business. [HP CEO] Whitman often describes Autonomy as a “baby tiger” that is vulnerable within the giant organization that is HP, and she has made it clear that she has no intention of rushing it into the channel.
Last November, HP launched two Autonomy powered appliances. One of these archives structured data; the other makes that data available for e-discovery purposes. Sounds good, but why the strong comparison to jungle cats? Autonomy co-Founder and CEO Mike Lynch, vice president of HP’s Information Management division, says simply, “It is Autonomy’s ability to understand meaning that gives the technology such differentiation.”
Our thoughts on the marketing comparison? We’ve been close to baby tigers, and while fiercely precious, these cats are dangerous. Competitors should beware. Autonomy is said to be adding between 50 and 60 cloud customers per year.
Baby tigers have teeth.
Andrea Hayden, March 12, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Autodesk PLM 360 Takes to the Cloud
March 12, 2012
The hottest topic in technology these days is definitely ‘the cloud’. It is revolutionizing everything from social media to business dealings. Product lifecycle management (PLM) companies are also getting into the act. Rachael King of ZDNet reports that Autodesk PLM 360 Launches as ‘Cloud-Based Alternative’.
Autodesk PLM 360 designs PLM solutions which help companies manage and improve their products. With the steady rise of the PLM software market:
“Autodesk is getting in at the ground floor quickly with hopes of ‘shaking up the very small population of legacy PLM solution providers’ with new cloud-based products being released at a ‘fraction of the cost’ made available from competitors.”
They are also boosting “to be the ‘first cloud-based PLM solution focused on business applications beyond engineering and bill of material management.’”
It is good to see Autodesk making advancements, but we’re not sure we are that impressed. Smaller tech companies like Inforbix have already taken to the cloud, have mobile capabilities and have changed the way companies access their product data. They have already turned legacy PLM solutions on their head by being innovative. So it looks like the bigger PLM providers are playing catch up with their small, but mighty competitors!
Jennifer Wensink, March 12, 2012
To Cloud or Not to Cloud, That is the Question
March 12, 2012
Less than a year ago Microsoft launched Office 365, allowing Cloud access to a comprehensive set of software, including SharePoint Online. And while many businesses saw migrating Exchange email services to the Cloud as a no-brainer, the same positive perception has not be given to SharePoint Online. Chris McNulty gets into the details in, “The SharePoint Decision: Do We Choose Cloud or On-Premises?”
When examining the cold hard facts about SharePoint Cloud functionality, McNulty has the following to say:
People would be blown away by the depth of functionality Microsoft made available in the cloud. I mean it – there would be wild celebrations and stampedes in the street! But that’s not the perception of Office 365-based SharePoint. Instead, there’s a lot of needless focus on what’s left out.’ (SharePoint Online does lack a few features relative to on-premises SharePoint.)
While SharePoint Online shows a lot of promise and continued improvement, it is noted that it still lags behind the full functionality of an on-site SharePoint installation. However, some third-party solutions are available that are much more agile, and therefore already display greater Cloud functionality.
Check out Fabasoft Mindbreeze and their enterprise solution, which is fully functional as an on-site installation or on the Cloud.
Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise and the Cloud fit together perfectly. The Cloud makes your business mobile; Mindbreeze finds its way in the Cloud. This intelligent search is available as a Cloud service. This means that, if you so desire, Fabasoft Mindbreeze can run without any installation whatsoever – we operate the search engine for you. All the data that you manage in the Cloud is made searchable by Fabasoft Mindbreeze.
While SharePoint gets better with each new release, third-party solutions have the advantage of being more agile and being updated more frequently. See if Fabasoft Mindbreeze can replace or supplement your current enterprise infrastructure, improving its performance in the Cloud.
Emily Rae Aldridge, March 12, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Paternal Google and Input to Child in Us
March 12, 2012
I read “Google+ Executive to Critic: ‘Make Sure You’re Using It Correctly’.” I find it amusing when those not at Google tell Google what to do. I find it even more amusing when Google shifts into “paternal mode”, providing adult input much in the way a kindergarten teacher reminds a child to keep his cubby tidy. That works really well, right?
Here’s the passage I noted:
Still he [the famous Guy Kawasaki] was not satisfied and asked why Google+ sometimes seems like a ghost town. Gundotra’s response — “Make sure you’re using it correctly” — drew some chuckles as it brought to mind how Apple CEO Steve Jobs responded to criticism of Apple’s antenna attenuation problem, telling users they were holding the phone wrong. Undaunted, Gundotra [Google wizard] told Kawasaki that sometimes users post to empty circles without realizing it. Gundotra said that what people do not understand is that with Google+, Google is actually building 2.0, in other words this is the next generation of Google as a broad-based service.
Yep, when customers don’t understand a product, a little parental input is appropriate. I wonder if Sumner Redstone provided some adult input after his first meeting with Messrs. Brin and Page. I assume Mr. Redstone provided adult input to his legal team when the Viacom matter took flight. Adult-child, child-adult. Google vacillates I surmise.
My fervent hope is that precision and recall for the core search system get some love. I don’t need a Google 2.0. I need a search system that makes it easy to eliminate the ads, the SEO baloney, and the boosted content. I admit I am not an adult. I am an addled goose and not qualified to process “adult” information. Heck, I am not sure I know how to log out of Gmail. Interesting how Google is making a goose’s life more challenging.
Stephen E Arnold, March 12, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Discounts in the Cloud from Amazon
March 11, 2012
Orchard Street discounts arrive in the cloud.
We say Amazon is both exploiting Microsoft Azure weaknesses and responding to customer complaints; ZDNet reports, “Amazon drops cloud prices worldwide (again).” Exactly where reductions will be seen depend on region and type of cloudy instance. Clients using Elastic Compute Cloud, Elastic Map Reduce, its relational database service RDS, and ElastiCache benefitted right away.
The attention gives Amazon a chance to highlight its usability by companies great and small. The write up notes:
Despite the company namedropping Foursquare and Samsung as its two prime examples of the model customer, it goes to show that Amazon’s cloud services are not just for the startup, the avid developer, and the bank on the corner. Big names use it, and rely on it, and Amazon is keen to stress how valuable its service is compared to its Microsoft competitor.
Reducing cloud prices has become a habit for Amazon; this is the nineteenth time in six years. At least they’re flexible. All this cutting keeps pressure on primary competitor Microsoft. We think it also has to do with appeasing unhappy customers. We understand, though, why the company wouldn’t emphasize that detail.
One outcome of Amazon’s price cutting is that its margins may come under increased pressure. Amazon is going for the throat in a number of business sectors. The problem is that the tactics can be expensive. Maybe Amazon can make up the costs with volume?
Stephen E Arnold, March 11, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Mishaps at Google Apps?
March 11, 2012
More headaches are at hand for Google users, this time subscribers to Google Apps. ComputerWorld reveals, “Disabled Google Apps Account Deletion Mechanism Affecting Admins, Users.” The tasks of deleting and reactivating domains in Google Apps was handled by an automated mechanism until mid-January, when Google “temporarily” disabled it. The reason? “A related issue.” Um, o.k. . . .
The outage was only supposed to last a couple of weeks, but was still in place as of the publication of the ComputerWorld article on March second. Google Apps administrators have been receiving deletion and re-add requests faster than they can process them. Writer Juan Carlos Perez reports:
“Eventually, Google resorted to a manual process for handling these requests, asking affected administrators to report their domains in a designated thread in the official Apps discussion forum, where they’re then added to a queue to be dealt with manually.”
For users, the delay can impact daily business communications and other operations. Perez writes:
“Some users have remarked that Google could be doing a better job of notifying Apps administrators about this issue. For example, the problem doesn’t yet seem to have been added to the Apps Known Issues list.”
Does Google put users first? Hmmm.
Cynthia Murrell, March 11, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Existential Crisis in the SEO Field
March 11, 2012
SEO is trying to preserve its credibility and relevance in a shifting world. Search Engine Journal asks, “Is SEO Really SEO Anymore? Index Search Down 50%, Apps and Social Search Exploding.”
Search engine optimization, a young profession (compared to, say, farming or tax collecting) is going through an existential crisis. Why so soon? Writer Gabriel Gervelis explains:
“An earlier post of mine for SEJ stated that index search is down fifty percent. Search has moved to sites like Wikipedia and other popular content sites. Search in the app store is up. People have made a the statement that they prefer branded content from apps they trust, rather than sorting through links on a SERP [Search Engine Results Page]. “When the term ‘search engine’ is actually in your job title (or at least in your job description), that’s a change that demands your attention.”
Indeed. Gervelis wonders how SEO professionals will refocus their efforts on social platforms and mobile apps. For the first, he suggests, they will have to invest more in the end user’s experience. As for the apps market, Apple’s recent acquisition of app organizing tool Chomp highlighted the importance of the apps revolution in Gervelis’ mind.
In the end, the article ponders: is even the title itself, “search engine optimization expert”, obsolete? Marginalized, for sure.
Cynthia Murrell, March 11, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Cleo: Open Source Search Tools from LinkedIn
March 10, 2012
LinkedIn’s Engineering page provides insights into the site’s inner workings in “Cleo: the Open Source Technology behind LinkedIn’s Typeahead Search.” Open sourced by LinkedIn under the Apache Software License 2.0, Cleo is a “flexible software library for enabling rapid development of partial, out-of-order, real-time typeahead and autocomplete services.”
The typeahead services fall into two broad categories. Generic Tyapeahead does not take a member’s social network into account. Network Typeahead, on the other hand, does just that; it filters according to the degree of connections in a member’s social network.
LinkedIn Principal Engineer Jingwei Wu reveals:
“Cleo updates in real time: as soon as new members, companies, or groups join LinkedIn, they become immediately searchable through LinkedIn typeahead services. This provides a natural extension to the user search experience and makes it easy for members to engage in social activities such as discovering and connecting with professionals, following companies, and joining groups.”
The article goes into depth from high-level design to samples of code on the inner workings of the typeahead service. See the post for more details. Is LinkedIn an open source player, or is the company positioning itself for more than findability tools?
Cynthia Murrell, March 10, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
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