Inteltrax: Top Stories, March 12 to March 16
March 19, 2012
Inteltrax, the data fusion and business intelligence information service, captured three key stories germane to search this week, specifically, how some online sources are embracing the big data revolution.
One of the hottest names in online retail in the last 12 months, is breaking analytic ground, according to “Groupon Expands into Big Data,” but is that a good idea?
Another online giant is losing a little analytic ground to its social media competitors, as we learned in “Facebook No Longer Biggest Analytic Source” .
The internet presence of nonprofits has certainly increased and analytics is helping them help more people, according to “Nonprofit Analytics Could Spell Big Business” .
Just like with any industry, the online world has taken a shine to analytics. The results, much like anywhere else tend to be positive, but also involves some shrinking. No matter who’s involved or what direction they’re headed, it’s a fascinating ride and we’ll be monitoring it every day.
Follow the Inteltrax news stream by visiting www.inteltrax.com
Patrick Roland, Editor, Inteltrax.
March 19, 2012
Protected: 101 Complex SharePoint Samples
March 19, 2012
Google and the Enterprise: The Point? Money
March 19, 2012
You must read “Google Enterprise chief Girouard Heads to Startup Upstart.com.” I wondered if a simple executive shuffle many months after a de facto demotion was news. Apparently the poobahs and “real” journalists find a Xoogler worthy of a headline. I have a different view about Google and the enterprise. I write about Google’s latest adventures in my Enterprise Technology Management column, published in the UK, each month.
Google pumped quite a bit of time, effort, money, and Google mouse pads into its enterprise initiative. In the salad days, Google could not learn enough about the companies dominating the enterprise search space. As I researched my Google monographs, I was picking up from interview subjects anecdotal information about the paucity of knowledge Googlers had about what enterprise procurement teams required.
In one memorable, yet still confidential interaction, Google allegedly informed a procurement manager that Google disagreed with a requirement. Now, if that were true, that is something one hears about a kindergarten teacher scolding a recalcitrant five year old. Well, that may have been a fantasy, but there were enough rumblings about a lack of customer support, a “fluid” approach to partners, and a belief that whatever Google professionals did was the “one true path.” I never confused Google and Buddha, but for some pundits, Google was going to revolutionize the enterprise. Search was just the pointy end of the spear. The problem, of course, is that organizations are not Googley. In fact, Googley-type actions make some top dogs uncomfortable.
What happened?
Based on my research, which I shifted to the back burner, I learned:
- Google was unable to put on an IBM type suit. The Googley stuff opened doors, but the old Wendy’s hamburger ad sums up what happened after the mouse pads and sparkle pins were distributed: “Where’s the beef?”
- The products and services were not industrial strength and ready for prime time. The notion of an endless beta and taxi meter pricing, no matter how “interesting”, communicated a lack of commitment.
- The enterprise market likes the idea of paying money to be able to talk to a person who in most cases semi-cares about a problem. AT&T makes tons of dough making clients pay four times an engineer’s salary to get a human on the phone any time. Google delegated support down to partners. Won’t work. A Fortune 100 company wants to call Google, not send an email.
- Pricing. If you are not sure what the ballpark cost for indexing 100 million documents using a search appliance, ensuring 24×7 uptime, and backing up—navigate to www.gsaadvantage.com and look up the price of a Google Search Appliance. Now figure out how much it will cost to process an additional one million documents. How’s that price grab you?
When Larry Page assumed control of the company, I wrote about the wizards who were reporting directly to him. The head of the enterprise unit was not one of those folks. My conclusion: game over.
Like AOL, the notion of having a Google person on staff is darned appealing to some, but as the AOL experience makes clear, a Xoogler is not a sure fire money maker.
Here’s the quote I jotted down from the GigaOM story:
Still, market share and revenue may never have been Google’s goal. By offering a lower-cost option to the Office/Exchange tandem, Google forced the market leader to respond, and that may have been the point all along.
Baloney. Google expected to have big outfits roll over and wag their tail. The US government did not roll over. Most big IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle customers did not roll over. More important, the new wave of enterprise service and solutions providers did not roll over. Why? A lack of focus and a dependence on online advertising, legal hassles, privacy chatter, and a failure to deliver competitive products and services made the enterprise initiative a tough sell. Betas may be great for market tests. For the enterprise, a beta may be a hindrance.
Stephen E Arnold, March 19, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Combine the Cloud and On-Premise Capabilities in SharePoint
March 19, 2012
Over at the SharePoint Pro Blog, Chris McNulty recently posted, “The SharePoint Decision: Do We Choose Cloud or On-Premises?” In the article, the author looks at SharePoint Online versus on-premises SharePoint. SharePoint Online lacks a few features found in an on-premises farm, but SharePoint Online opens new doors that are appealing. McNulty offers a list of questions to ask yourself with respective scores for each answer that may help you decide between the two SharePoint options.
McNulty has this to say:
It’s also important to remember that a cloud vision is almost always a future-looking strategy. Since the cloud is uniformly available, it’s easier to deliver content to users with less respect for their immediate location or device (PCs, tablets, smartphones). Similarly, although Office 365 and SharePoint Online lack features relative to on-premises SharePoint, this isn’t expected to be a permanent situation. If we project forward through the next release of SharePoint, we can forecast a time when the on-premises and cloud versions of SharePoint provide nearly identical functions.
The guidance questions cover a variety of topics, such as the extent of your SharePoint IT team, geographic limitations, and budget outlooks. These questions may be helpful to help you evaluate your system, but we like a simpler solution. Consider a third party solution that combines the best of both worlds. A solution worth a close look is Fabasoft Mindbreeze. One of the key components in their full suite of solutions is the information pairing technology:
Our information pairing technology makes you unbeatable. Information pairing brings enterprise information and information in the Cloud together. This gives you an overall image of a company’s knowledge. This is the basis for your competitive advantage. In this way you can act quickly, reliably, dynamically and profitably in all business matters. Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise and the Cloud fit perfectly together. The Cloud makes you and your business mobile – Mindbreeze makes itself at home in the Cloud.
Read more about the integrated solution that requires no installation at Fabasoft Mindbreeze.
Philip West, March 19, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Protecting Open Source with Patents
March 19, 2012
Cooperation and mutual protection. These are traits that have been all too rare lately in the world of potentially patentable technology. However, that’s what IBM and others are pursuing, according to CNN Money’s “The Open Source Movement Enlarges Its Shield.”
The Open Invention Network (OIN) was formed in 2005 by IBM, Novell, Philips, Red Hat, Sony, and NEC with the goal of fostering a nurturing environment for free and open source software. Since then, other big companies such as Google, Oracle, Fujitsu, and Facebook have joined the fold. The organization recognizes that the current patent-grab atmosphere poses a threat to open source projects. CNN senior editor Roger Parloff writes:
OIN has, therefore, acquired a defensive portfolio of strategic patents which it makes available, royalty free, to companies that commit not to assert their own patents against members of the Linux community. Every licensee also then enjoys royalty-free protection from every other licensee’s patent portfolio, at least as it relates to the specific Linux applications that are designated in the license. Today, the licensees’ collective portfolio includes more than 350,000 patents and applications.
OIN CEO Keith Bergelt expects more companies to join in the effort, including, perhaps, such heavy hitters as Samsung, Intel, and Dell. Eventually, he hopes that enough companies will have joined to induce a sense of isolation in the holdouts. Perhaps.
It is refreshing to read about companies protecting the concept of free and open software. Let’s hope the trend continues. The nagging question: Will open source players have the money to cope with a cashed up troll?
Cynthia Murrell, March 19, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Text Analytics Gurus Discuss the State of the Industry
March 19, 2012
Text Analytics News recently reported on an interview with Seth Grimes, the president of Alta Plana Corporation, and Tom H.C Anderson, managing partner of Odin Text- Anderson Analytics, in the article “Infinite Possibilities of Text Analytics.”
According to the article, in preparation for the 8th Annual Text Analytics Summit East in Boston, Text Analytics News reached out to these influential thinkers in the text mining field and asked them some questions regarding the state of the industry.
In response to a question regarding the changes in the approach of analysis software for unstructured data, Grimes said:
The big changes in text analytics are the embrace of and by Big Data, the development of ever-more sophisticated algorithms, and a shift in the way user invoke the technologies. Enterprises understand that a high proportion of Big Data is unstructured: Variety is one of Big Data’s three “Vs.” Text analytics providers know they have to meet challenges presented by the other two “Vs:” Volume and Velocity.
Stephen E Arnold, publisher of Beyond Search, will discuss the implications of “near term, throw forward” algorithms. Mr. Arnold will describe how injections of content can distort the outputs of certain analytic methods. At the fall 2011 conference, Mr. Arnold’s presentation provided a reminder that “objective” outputs may not be.
This is an interesting interview that would be worth checking out for those who are interested in attending the conference or just finding out a little more information about how content is analyzed. For registration information visit the Text Analytics website.
Jasmine Ashton, March 19, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
PLM Conference Scheduled for the Retail Industry
March 19, 2012
The manufacturing industry is no longer alone. The apparel industry has taken notice of all the advantages that product lifecycle management (PLM) provides. In fact, the industry is hosting their second annual conference as reported in the article, “TXT Announce the 2012 TXT Retail Thinking Event”, on Which PLM, that focuses on Integral Retail Planning and PLM.
With the success of the first conference, TXT e-solutions in collaboration with Microsoft and Kurt Salmon, “with an even richer agenda, more testimonials, debates, deep insights into best practices, solutions and technology for Integrated Retail Planning and PLM.” Guest speakers include “TXT’s customers Desigual, Guess, Louis Vuitton Malletier, Marc Jacobs and Verywear.”
“During the Event, guest speakers, along with Kurt Salmon, Microsoft and TXT experts will discuss the value that Integrated Planning and PLM best practice processes, solutions and technologies can bring to multi-channel retailing, while special emphasis will be placed on the practical actions that need to be taken to move to the next level of maturity.”
Retail PLM is certainly growing and tech companies are taking notice as well. Companies like Inforbix, are crossing that manufacturing line and assisting numerous industries with their product data. Inforbix has developed a new approach to find, reuse and share product data and we expect that the apparel industry to utilize this new technology.
Jennifer Wensink, March 19, 2012
More Data Concentration Ahead
March 18, 2012
TMCnet announces that “Smartphone Usage Eclipses ‘Dumbphone’ Usage, Fueling Unified Data Storage ‘Tipping Point.’” IceWEB, Inc., a provider of unified data storage appliances, came to this conclusion after reviewing this recent study from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project which found that the majority of mobile phone users in the US are now smartphone users. This means a surge in demand for cloud-based unified storage. The write up quotes:
’With nearly half of all adult Americans using smartphones to capture and share billions of storage-heavy pictures and video, all that media takes up more and more storage in the cloud,’ said Steven Toole, Chief Marketing Officer at IceWEB. ‘Unstructured data such as photos and video lends itself to IceWEB’s unified data storage appliances, where data centers hosting smartphone users’ media can easily and more cost effectively manage and scale as these trends continue.’
Unified storage is a harbinger of consolidation, which is good for search and for eDiscovery. It is easier to dig through fewer bins.
IceWEB boasts that it can provide quality, enterprise-level unified data storage solutions at hefty savings over the competition. They declare that their unified storage arrays save storage costs, space, and power. The company is headquartered in Washington, DC.
Cynthia Murrell, March 18, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Monty Program Releases Version of MariaDB
March 18, 2012
Attention, NoSQL fans.
Developers at Monty Program believe they’ve finally got the formula for their MariaDB project on the right track. In the article “MariaDB 5.3.5 Delivers Faster Subqueries” we get a better idea of its functional capabilities.
MariaDB 5.3.5 is the first stable release of the touted maria DB 5.3 relational database series. Developers focused on improved performance (of course) as well as improving querying capabilities and functionality. The developers now feel that the new query optimizer is ready for more widespread production uses.
They have finally made the realm of subqueries using the Maria software usable. Users can utilize semi-join subqueries to run IN subqueries using the join optimizer to select one of five execution strategies. A subquery map shows which queries and optimizations are being utilized in the different versions of the Maria software.
One core optimization, the Table Pullout, can replace sub-queries with a join where appropriate. If the sub-query is not a semi-join, MariaDB 5.3 falls back to other methods including extracting the results of the subquery into a temporary table, or the older IN-TO-EXISTS optimization, the only one to be carried forward to MariaDB 5.3. There is also a subquery cache to reduce the number of times already optimized subqueries are re-executed.
It’s a definite step in the right direction as far as data management is concerned. By being able to map your queries and create subqueries for more relevant material, your able to maximize the potential for your software and production capabilities. Good show.
Stephen E Arnold, March 18, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Wild and Crazy Analysis: The New March Madness
March 18, 2012
You must read each and every word of the article “Is Google Facing the Beginning of the End?” Now that you have read the write up, answer these questions. Take your time. You won’t get a grade, but you will have an opportunity to figure out whether you are more like the former Forrester “expert” or more like the addled goose in rural Kentucky.
Question 1: Is Google simplifying?
My view is that Google is more complex than ever. Want to set up a Google Custom Search Engine? You will need more skill that it takes to fire up the word processor and write a Forrester- or Gartner-type generalization.
Question 2: Is IBM focused?
My view is that any company which buys overlapping and duplicative products and bets its future on selling expertise to help companies make those products work may not fly here in Harrod’s Creek. IBM is a consulting firm but it has quite a few other activities and many activities means a lack of focus. How does one explain Lucene based Watson and the purchase of i2 Group? A lack of focus is my answer.
Question 3: Is it a surprise that Microsoft faces challenges?
I believe that the larger an outfit becomes the larger the challenges. And if there are not enough external challenges, the insiders will whip some up. My view is that a large corporation is a fiesta of challenges.
Question 4: Is Netscape a factor in anyone’s life today?
Wow, I did not expect Netscape as a case example from an azure chip consultant. My view is that Netscape had its moment in the sun and management muffed the bunny. Sure, Microsoft played a part, but there is no pass for lousy management.
Question 5: Did Sun forget what it was or was Sun an example of transcendentally bad management?
Sun was the engine of the Internet and then it wasn’t. Oracle’s acquisition of Sun may drag Oracle under water. Once again, my answer is management. Period.
Question 6: Do we need to be reminded that Yahoo is the poster child for Silicon Valley’s decline? At Yahoo, different management teams tried to make decisions which would move the company forward. What happened was a weird environment in which silos crowded out the corn fields. Yahoo makes clear that when there is money, an Internet centric company will try many things and avoid the big things. I submit that Yahoo embodies the “Yahoo principle.” I wish Laurence Peters were alive.
Question 7: Is Google edging toward evil?
My answer is that Google is doing what publicly traded companies do. Management is the issue. Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, the US government, and any other exogenous entity and action are not the problem. After 13 years, Google will be Google.
Question 8: is Facebook error prone?
My answer is that Facebook manifests the same type of errors one associates with a company run by a founder who is essentially technical and not too keen on the MBA type of life experience. More excitement will be forthcoming from Facebook. The train is in motion and the tracks are not true.
Question 9: Is there a 1-2-3 recipe for killing a company?
My answer: There are 50 ways to leave a lover and just one way to kill a company: no money. Without dough, no go. You can put lipstick on a pig, but if you have money, it will be called art. If you are broke, you are a can or two short of a six pack.
Did your answers match mine?
Stephen E Arnold, March 17, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
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