Brainware Acquired by Lexmark
March 7, 2012
Lexmark, the printer outfit located about an hour from the goose pond, is now in the back office, document imaging, search, and eDiscovery business. Like Xerox, Lexmark sees an opportunity in owning document centric software. The price of entry for Lexmark, a company which has had its share of revenue and product innovation challenges, was $148 million. Brainware is in the capture, manage, and access business along with printers and ink.
“Lexmark Acquires Brainware Parent BDGB Enterprise” reported:
Brainware, which provides data capture and enterprise search solutions, will become part of Lexmark’s Perceptive Software business unit. Brainware CEO Carl Mergele will stay with the company, and report to Scott Coons, Perceptive Software’s president and CEO and Lexmark vice president.
Brainware has a patent on tri-gram technology. The idea is that one access an index which creates three letter strings. The system works when performing patent research. By copying the claims from one patent and searching a corpus processed by Brainware, the relevance ranked list of hits provides a useful adjunct to key word and fielded search. Tri-grams are often not enough, so Brainware added support for controlled term lists. The combination added some utility to the firm’s search solution.
Brainware’s moment of insight was its push into the back office. As other search vendors were chasing the traditional documents in the office, Brainware tackled the problem of paper. Not surprisingly, few traditional search vendors paid much attention to Brainware, conceding the sector to ZyLAB, some imaging integrators, and Brainware.
The approach paid off. Compared to the somewhat lackluster performance of such capable search vendors as Coveo and ISYS Search Software, Brainware continued to add clients. The company cut a deal with Oracle, which surprised me and my colleagues in Harrod’s Creek. The denizens of Sea World Parkway realized that Brainware’s approach was able to solve some back office woes that Oracle’s formidable array of solutions could not. SES11g is not what one wants processing the text from random forms and documents which clog the enterprise arteries.
How will Lexmark leverage Brainware? One hopes that Lexmark figures out a way to navigate choppy financial waters. The merry band of Brainware owners are probably going to replace their HP and Canon printers with Lexmark gear. Worth watching how Lexmark leverages this $148 million purchase. For those of you who don’t calculate the relative buyout delta between Autonomy and Brainware, Hewlett Packard paid 67 times as much for its search acquisition Autonomy.
Stephen E Arnold, March 7, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
SharePoint 2013: Speculation and Musings
March 7, 2012
With SharePoint 2013’s hotly anticipated release, Bjorn Furuknap weighs in, speculating on the various features that will be made available. His blog entry, “SharePoint Server 2013 Features,” provides details on some rumored 2013 additions.
SharePoint Server 2013 keeps many of the existing SharePoint 2010 features, such as: Excel Services, Access Services, InfoPath Forms Services, User Profile Service, Search Services, Business Connectivity Services, and PerformancePoint Services. In addition, however, there are new, or at least radically expanded services, such as: Content Management Service, Translation Services, Workflow Services, SharePoint Quiz Client-Side Object Model Protocol, Education Services, and Work Management Service.
While every edition of SharePoint gets better, increasing ease-of-use and efficiency, it sometimes seems that SharePoint is simply keeping up with third-party solutions that are much more agile and current in terms of new releases. One particular solution that does a great job of staying current with its suite of solutions is Fabasoft Mindbreeze.
With Fabasoft Mindbreeze, updates are not a belabored three-year overhaul, but an efficient revamp every quarter. Felt needs are met quickly and efficiently. Read more about actionable information, one of the latest additions to Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise Winter Release 2012:
With most search engines you can search and find. With Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise you don’t just find, you can instantly use the information without any intermediate step. The search query delivers an e-mail address, for example – click on this address directly within the preview to write an e-mail to the selected addressee.
So while SharePoint 2013 is greatly anticipated, consider if it is worth the wait or if the addition of a third-party solution can meet your organization’s information needs.
Emily Rae Aldridge, March 7, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Kenesto Breaks Free of Traditional PLM
March 7, 2012
Technology companies are continually releasing new products, but one that caught our eye was Kenesto. They have created a new cloud-based, business process automation system for manufacturing. Engineering Matters takes a closer look in their article Kenesto: A New Take on PLM.
Kenesto “is markedly different from almost all of the software systems that support product development today.” These differences allow “new activities that organizations cannot get by using today’s PLM systems.”
“[t]here is a strong need for creativity and innovation in engineering. Today’s PLM systems with rigid process definitions seem ill suited to support that need. And that’s why I feel something like Kenesto with something that looks and feels more like routing to support ad-hoc activities than a workflow enforcing predefined processes seems like a better fit. The great news is that Kenesto can support both.”
Like Autodesk PLM360, Kenesto “is decoupled from PDM, making it a finer granularity system that can be adopted more readily.”
We are excited about Kenesto’s new take on PLM. There are many technology companies that are taking PLM and putting their own spin on it. For example, Inforbix has successfully changed how manufacturers find, reuse and share product data.
Going beyond traditional PLM parameters will only lead to bigger and better things for Kenesto, Inforbix and manufacturers using their solutions.
Jennifer Wensink, March 16, 2012
Lucid Imagination: Pushing Forward with Enterprise Search
March 7, 2012
ZDNet recently reported on the enterprise search software provider Lucid Imagination in the article “Lucid Imagination Wants to Make Enterprise Search Easy.”
According to the article, there is a problem that exists within many enterprises today. Companies are creating an increased amount of data than ever before, but are simultaneously unable to turn the majority of that data into useful information that can be easily accessed.
Lucid Imagination has proposed a solution to this problem by packaging several formerly open source Apache Solr/Lucene products into a search platform called LucidWorks.
the article states:
“Lucid Imagination is competing with a number of other companies, such as Innovent Solutions and Search Technologies, that hope to make Apache Lucene/Solr a part of enterprise tool-kits. Lucid hopes to stand out because of the enhancements it has made to the open source software to make it easier to use, help it index a larger number of data source, and increase the levels of security protecting the resultant search solution.”
We believe that Lucid Imagination’s product stands out among other similar providers and look forward to seeing more of them in the future.
Jasmine Ashton, March 7, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Sematext Search Autocomplete Updated
March 7, 2012
Here’s an update to a useful tool for any business with a Web site. So, pretty much any business. Digital Journal reports, “Sematext Releases Search AutoComplete 1.2.1.” The write up asserts:
Sematext Search AutoComplete helps businesses of all sizes improve their search by making it easier for potential customers to go from a blank search box to finding. Sematext Search AutoComplete (aka auto-suggest or search-as-you-type) is an advanced, cost-effective, search backend agnostic auto-complete package. It works equally well with open-source search servers like Apache Solr or ElasticSearch as it does with commercial search solutions like Endeca, Fast, Attivio, Google Search Appliance, etc. Sematext AutoComplete has been used in production and with great success by a number of Sematext clients across a number of industries.
See the article for the benefits touted by Sematext Search AutoComplete. Some highlights: the ability to interpret misspelled queries; the capacity to specify additional criteria; in-line targeted ads; and low memory and CPU footprints.
Founded in 2007, Sematext makes good use of open source projects in its search and analytics products. The company prides itself on being entirely self-funded, and boasts clients in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
By the way, the firm is also hiring.
Cynthia Murrell, March 7, 2012
Identity Theft and Social Media Scares
March 7, 2012
Ah, The Culture of Fear is finally reaching social media. With search morphing from precision and recall to asking one’s closest online pals, fear and search may now become unlikely bed fellows.
I came across an interesting article today (while taking a break from browsing my social media accounts on my smartphone) titled, “Smartphone, Social Media Users at Risk for Identity Fraud.” According to the piece, smartphone owners and social media users have an increased risk of becoming a victim of identity theft because of a lack of adequate security settings. A recent report on identity fraud by Javelin Strategy and Research found that 7 percent of smartphone users were victims of identity fraud last year, compared to the 4.9 percent rate among the general population. The article tells us more:
Around 62 percent [of smartphone owners] said they don’t use a password or a pin code to lock their devices. About 32 percent admitted to saving log-in information on their devices. Social media and mobile behaviors made users more vulnerable to fraud, according to the report. Users of social networking services, such as LinkedIn, Google+, Facebook and Twitter, had the highest incidence of fraud. Consumers who actively engage with social media and use a smartphone were found to have a disproportionate rate of identity fraud than consumers who do not use in these services.
Because of GPS-enabled location data and personal information shared over these networks, users are putting themselves at risk. However, when it comes to sharing information on smartphones and social media, users’ fear may be misdirected and misinformed. It seems to me that a 2 percent increase in identity theft possibilities might not be the biggest of our problems.
Andrea Hayden, March 7, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Protected: Recycle the SharePoint Way
March 6, 2012
Retailers are Depending on PLM for Growth
March 6, 2012
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is no longer exclusively for engineers and manufacturing. The retail industry has slowly been adding PLM software and retailers are seeing the power of PLM. Recently, one of England’s fastest growing retailers hired a consulting firm to review and evaluate their PLM system. The details are found in Hitachi Consulting UK Helps Boden Assess Global Product Lifecycle Management Solutions to Support Strategic Growth.
Despite the economic downturn, Boden has seen significant growth in several markets.
“As a result of its on-going growth, the company needed to review its current product lifecycle management processes to ensure global business alignment across both its business strategy and technology processes. Boden required an assessment of alternative solutions capable of providing more efficient and automated processes for product development and analysis, such as insight into buying patterns, to further support the future growth of the business and product diversity into the marketplace.”
Hitachi Consulting UK is a global business and IT consulting company. They completed an extensive review and their PLM recommendation “will enable [Boden] to improve efficiency, and also lend itself to the design, buying and merchandising teams.”
Retailers are realizing the advantages that PLM can bring to their industry. Solutions like those developed by Inforbix could be invaluable to a retailer. Inforbix has revolutionized the way companies can find, use and re-share product data. That means less time and more money – which is music to any company’s ears.
Jennifer Wensink, March 6, 2012
Librarian Solutions to SharePoint Problems
March 6, 2012
When time and money is spent on a SharePoint implementation, it makes sense that companies would require that their employees jump on board and start using the application. However, this has led to an epidemic of frightened and frustrated employees, and an overflowing of training and tips on the internet. Lorette S. J. Weldon addresses this issue and uses her library science training to craft a solution in, “Help with SharePoint is on the way in The Adventures of SharePoint Reading Bee© Animated Series.”
Weldon states her motivation for developing a unique training tool:
To maintain Weiser’s belief of being sufficiently trained in order to be free to use the technology, for example, SharePoint, for the job, I have created The Adventures of SharePoint Reading Bee Animated Series. Librarians and information professionals are free to suggest ideas for future episodes ‘anonymously’. This animated series is a free service trying to meet the business needs of setting up SharePoint to perform needed tasks from within the office environment . . . librarians have been increasingly asking me to find out how Microsoft SharePoint can help them. The Adventures of SharePoint Reading Bee will try to help break it down for the non-programmer in answers that do not require coding. The SharePoint versions to be covered will be 2007 and 2010.
We commend the innovative approach to SharePoint training. The key is the user focus, without the need for programming and coding. But the major drawback of SharePoint is a fundamental one, something that cannot be overcome with training, the obtrusiveness of the program. Weldon herself laments that SharePoint does not run seamlessly in the background. However, some third-party enterprise solutions do just that.
We like Fabasoft Mindbreeze and their suite of enterprise solutions.
Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise understands you, or to be more precise, understands what the most important information is for you at any precise moment in time. It is the center of excellence for your knowledge and simultaneously your personal assistant for all questions. The information pairing technology brings enterprise and Cloud data together.
If SharePoint is a struggle for your employees, explore training options such as those offered by Weldon or consider adding an intuitive third-party solution like Fabasoft Mindbreeze.
Emily Rae Aldridge, March 6, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Resistance Emerging to Sci Tech Publishing Status Quo
March 6, 2012
More hassles are brewing for Elsevier Science, as We, Beasties discusses in “The Future of Science Publishing.”
Since the earliest scientific journals began being published in 1665, their key position in the field of science has grown exponentially. They have become so integral that it is nigh impossible to build a successful career as a scientist without publishing in them. The publishers of these journals vigorously guard their territory; even now, they are throwing their weight behind the Research Works Act, a proposed US law that would nullify the current mandate: that any scientific data derived from public funding must be made available to the public within one year of publication. So, we helped pay for the research, but wouldn’t be able to read the results without paying again? Hmph.
Prominent mathematician Timothy Gowers has had enough such tactics, and has begun a publishing boycott of Elsevier, one of the largest journal publishers. If such a boycott expands to all the publishers, and it might, those who participate will risk prestige and grant money until the system changes. How many will take such a risk?
We, Beasties writer Kevin presents his own vision of a post-journal-centric field:
“In my idyllic world, every lab has their own blog, and publishes their results in real time, sharing them on a site like ResearchGate. Individual figures can be indexed on something like FigShare. Scientists can post their negative or confusing data and ask the entire world for help, or talk about their research plans and get critiqued. Meanwhile, altmetrics are being generated in real time to assess the validity of data, and scientists peer review on their own blogs or at some central location. The distribution of scientific knowledge returns to the model of the 19th century – free and openly distributed – but now also instantly and globally distributed at the same time.”
Sounds great. Will grass-roots action by scientists be enough to break the stranglehold of entrenched science publishers like Elsevier?
Cynthia Murrell, March 6, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
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