Data Management Solutions for Any Size Company Demanded
May 7, 2012
Small and midsized businesses have long suffered in a word of too much data because data management solutions were not scalable for their modest needs. All that has changed, however, with cloud technology. Now any company regardless of size can benefit from product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions. A recent article, “How Arena Is Bringing PLM Implementation Back to Basics”, on Arena Solutions’ website, explains how their PLM solutions (available in three sizes) allow even the smallest companies access to data management.
The article explains the problem facing these small companies as,
“Prior to Arena and the advent of cloud, PLM was an expensive gamble. PLM solutions took a long time to implement, and implementations frequently failed. Faced with frightening odds, small and mid-size manufacturers used makeshift tools like spreadsheets to keep product data organized. And while the spreadsheets were free, the resulting miscommunications and mistakes were not.”
While we could not agree Arena’s premise that small and midsized companies have every right to utilize PLM just as their larger counterparts have been doing for years we disagree with the presentation. Instead of offering pre-packaged data management solutions we recommend small companies turn to Inforbix, a leader in PLM solutions that caters to small and midsized enterprises with customized data management solutions including a heavy dose of customer support, to guarantee that every company can find, share and reuse data as needed.
Catherine Lamsfuss, May 7, 2012
Autonomy Offers Automatic Classification and Taxonomy Generation
May 7, 2012
Conceptualizing the processes and methods behind the storage and organization of data in our current age ruled by unstructured content and meta-tags can prove overwhelming. We found a great source of information from Autonomy, which explains their offering of Automatic Classification and Taxonomy Generation.
With their eye on functionality, IDOL’s classification solutions help users to circumvent issues that have arisen in a time of exponential data growth.
In addition to Taxonomy Libraries and Automatic Categorization and Channels, the Autonomy Collaborative Classifier is included. Their website clearly delineates how these elements work.
The website states the following information regarding Taxonomy Libraries:
“Built by experienced knowledge engineers using best practices learned through hundreds of consulting engagements, Autonomy taxonomies let organizations rapidly deploy industry-standard taxonomies that can be combined with your corporate taxonomies or easily customized to meet company and industry-specific requirements. Each Autonomy taxonomy is based on industry standards, and built using IDOL’s conceptual analysis that provides the highest level of accuracy.”
There are a variety of taxonomies IDOL consists of ranging from biotechnology to financial services: a comprehensive solution, indeed. Overall, IDOL seems equipped to eradicate the need for time consuming intervention required in the past. But open source alternatives exist and should be considered by procurement teams.
Megan Feil, May 9, 2012
Sponsored by Ikanow
Baidu Remains the Lead Search Engine in China Despite Revenue Slowdown Predictions
May 7, 2012
Search Engine Journal recently reported on Chinese-language Internet search provider Baidu in the article “Chinese Search Market Update: Baidu Predicts Growth Slowdown.”
According to the article, despite the fact that Baidu holds 78.5% of China’s search engine market’s revenue share and its first quarter net income has increased by 75% to $677 million, its American depositary shares have gone down by 10% in the news based on predictions that revenue will slow this quarter.
The article states:
“Since Baidu currently has 412,000 marketing customers, strong operating margins, a growing Chinese middle class, no real competition, and exponential net income growth rates, many analysts are predicting that the new financial data is not cause for serious concern. Although a slow-down in growth is never something an investor wants to see, the data strongly suggests that Baidu will remain the market leader for the foreseeable future.”
This seems to be an accurate prediction, since Google has found Chinese censorship laws to be too constraining and has been consistently losing revenue share in China. It looks like, the American search giant will have to put up a bigger fight to overrule Baidu.
Jasmine Ashton, May 7, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Bixtext Augments Enterprise Search with Natural Language Technology
May 7, 2012
Social media is swarming with sound bites about social media. We recently came across a bit of information about Bitext’s recent SIG brainstorming meeting, which prompted further investigation into their company. As their name implies, they are concerned with text bits. Or, as the name we know it as: unstructured content.
There event was a big success with attendance turning out to be double what they expected. Social media and business strategies were discussed, in particularly in relation to their primary concern of semantics.
Amongst several solutions, consulting services and research and development, NaturalFinder stood out as having value on par with other semantically enriched search technology:
“NaturalFinder is the essential complement for any Internet or intranet search engine as it allows users to query in natural language (Spanish, English, French…) without using Booleans or wildcards. Thanks to its linguistic technology, users can focus on typing their queries in his/hew own words as if he/she talked to another person. NaturalFinder will return all relevant documents and more documents than traditional search engines, which are based on keywords.”
It is clear here that technology is continuing to adapt to the larger trend of pervasive informal language. First, we saw unstructured content, as opposed to traditional structured content, utilized for business analytics. Now, we are creating tools that allow search engines to mimic human intelligence.
Megan Feil, May 7, 2012
Sponsored by Ikanow
A Google Nemesis Seeks Innovation Pipeline
May 7, 2012
Yandex is looking to the future. TNW Europe announces, “Russia’s Yandex Invests in Seedcamp to Gain Closer Ties with European Startups.” Seedcamp funds and mentors early-stage European startups, and Yandex has climbed aboard with, reportedly, the maximum investment the organization will allow. (The precise amount, however, has not been released.) Reporter Robin Wauters writes:
“The company thus gains an indirect stake in all the companies Seedcamp has already backed with the fund (20 existing ones to date) and all the startups it will back in the future, at least out of this fund. . . .
“Now that Yandex has invested in Seedcamp, it will actively participate in the selection and advisement of startups, and help them (as well as Seedcamp proper) better understand the Russian market and identify market opportunities. In addition, Yandex will occasionally make direct follow-up investments in Seedcamp portfolio startups, the company said.”
The top internet company in Russia, Yandex is an outfit to watch; the search giant also started its own seed investment program, Yandex.Factory, last year. It sounds like the Google competitor is laying the groundwork for a long and prosperous future on the global stage.
Europe’s top early seed fund program, Seedcamp provides guidance through its young companies’ first post-funding year. Though it has already attracted funding from prominent business angels and institutional investors, Yandex is the first corporation to directly invest in the program.
Cynthia Murrell, May 7, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
No Big Deal: Beyond Search Passes 8,000 Articles
May 6, 2012
Beyond Search began in January 2008. I wanted to find a way to keep track of the most interesting news which I had been placing in my Overflight system. You can see some of the Overflight functionality at www.arnoldit.com/trax or www.arnoldit.com/taxonomy. A few days ago, Beyond Search passed the 8,000 post mark. You can search the archive of content using either the site search system, provided by Blossom.com, or the Google Custom Search Engine which indexes site content plus the links Beyond Search editors include in stories. Blossom is the search box at the top of the page. The CSE is labeled “Google.”
You can use the content to track a leading vendor; for example, enter the query “Autonomy” in the site specific search box and you see the events which we consider significant. You can also get my personal views on online products and services. Just run a query for “mysteries of online.” You can use the categories to limit a display to indexed content. No index is perfect, but you can look at a result set for a hot topic like “indexing” with a mouse click or two.
Now about the content.
First, I am not running a news operation. In fact, I don’t do news. Neither my editorial team nor I are real journalists. I am supposed to know about medieval religious sermons in Latin. The writers are mostly librarians or researchers who have been trained to produce the equivalent of a debate note card. I learned how to prepare 5×8 inch note cards when I returned to the US from Brazil and entered a wonderful American high school. Let’s see. That was in 1957 or 1958. In short, I have been doing one thing as my core research method for more than 50 years. Do you think I am going to change because a PR maven, an unemployed middle school teacher, an English major turned search expert or a Panda wants me to? In case you don’t know the answer, the answer is, “No.”
Second, we run sponsored content. We use Google AdSense. We run ads for companies who want to get a message in front of my two or three readers. I wish I knew what the business model for Beyond Search is, but the content continues to flow, seven days a week, year round. When I was in intensive care in January for more than a week, the content flowed. I know one of the editors smuggled my laptop into the hospital lock up where I was. We kept publishing. Those working on the blog just kept on going. My writing was given an extra cycle of editing because I was, quite literally close to being a gone goose. Keep in mind that the only difference between a note card content object and sponsored content is that the subject of the write up gets a chance to provide input to an editor. The ironic or cynical comments remain. If I get fascinated with a topic, I write about it or get one of the editors to produce content objects on the subject. So you will find certain topics get covered and then dropped, it is because I lose interest. You want news? Find a real journalist. Examples of what I follow and then drop range from European search systems to ways to federate the text and numeric data associated with building a fungible product like a personal computer.
Third, I am usually biased, often incorrect, and completely indifferent to the hottest trends that azure chip consultants pump out to sell consulting work. If you read the content in Beyond Search or any of the blogs which we produce, you have the obligation to think about what we present and make your own judgment about its usefulness, accuracy, or appropriateness for your particular situation.
Fourth, I use the content in Beyond Search for my columns in Enterprise Technology Management magazine, Online magazine, Information Today (a library oriented tabloid), KMWorld (an enterprise information tabloid), and Searcher magazine (a specialist publication for people who know how to use the old fashioned Dialog and Lexis systems). The content in my for fee articles is closer to the type of reports I prepare for my one or two clients. I am not a great writer. I try to look at popular or emerging technical trends and put them into the frame of my experience. If you want stories that reinforce received wisdom, you will find Beyond Search inappropriate for your needs. In my for fee columns, I knit together a number of items of information and interpret those items in a business context. The for fee columns, therefore, go beyond what is in the free blog.
My plan is to keep the information stream flowing and free. If you have a comment to make about the point of view or the information in a content object (my word for article or story), use the comments section of the blog. If you write me with spam, silly news releases, and baloney I did not specifically request—be advised: I may write about what I call “desperation marketing.” Don’t like the term? Well, I do, and it is accurate. The facile notion of “pivoting” a company is mostly marketing baloney. I don’t like baloney.
For more information about the editorial policies or how to contact us to get access to our two or three readers, navigate to the About page.
Stephen E Arnold, May 6, 2012
Sponsored by Stephen E Arnold
Oracle and Google Continue to Battle Over Copyright Allegations
May 6, 2012
Groklaw recently reported on the ongoing copyright lawsuit filed by Oracle against Google over the Java code being used in Android in the article “Judge Alsup Decides He, Not the Jury, Will Decide the Issue of API Copyrightability.”
In the article, the writer provides several transcripts from the trail that support the claim that this is a definite win for Google and highlight Oracle’s pettiness. By allowing Judge Alsup to make the final call in this trial Oracle will be prevented from confusing a non technical jury that doesn’t have a strong understanding of the law.
When quoting another Groklaw writer, the article states:
“So the question is, given that the Java programming language is licensed under GPLv2, are the APIs and associated class libraries necessary to make programs run in the Java language “associated interface definition files?” If so, one could argue that those 37 APIs are a part of the “work as a whole” (the Java programming language) and, thus, also subject to the GPLv2. Interesting.”
When big names like Oracle and Google are involved with a trial, it’s difficult to get an objective jury. Add a lack of technical knowledge to the equation and its nearly impossible for a jury to make a sound and educated ruling.
Once this matter is resolved, Google may face more scrutiny in Europe. Google may not be distracted but I am. The jury seems to be struggling. Whatever the decision, Google and Oracle will be scuffling for months, maybe years.
Cynthia Murrell, May 6, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Google Drive Finally Released
May 6, 2012
The long-awaited online storage service from the mighty Google has finally arrived.
Last week, Google Drive was released after years of speculation about the product. Many wonder what the holdup was. A recent write-up on Mercury News asks the question many are begging to be answered: “O’Brien: Now That Google Drive Has Landed, I Ask: ‘What Took So Long?’”
The article speculates on Google and fast cycle development. We ponder how startups such as Dropbox and Sugarsync with similar services beat Google to the punch. Chris Sacca, who worked at Google as head of special initiatives from 2003 to 2007, became one of Silicon Valley’s most influential early stage investors. Sacca comments in the article:
“I didn’t invest in @dropbox because I’d been using GDrive at Google since ’04 and assumed would publicly launch any day. Whoops,” Sacca tweeted. “In the end, my lesson learned again and again? Never count on a big company beating a startup. Never.”
However, Sundar Pichai, Google’s senior vice president for Chrome and Apps, comments that the delay can be attributed to waiting for mainstream users to embrace these types of services. “We felt less urgency about getting something out the door than about getting the experience right,” Pichai said.
Does the release of Google Drive mean hardworking startups will be damaged? The answer may lie in innovations to come.
Andrea Hayden, May 6, 2012
Sponsored by Ikanow
Are the Basics of Innovation Changing?
May 6, 2012
The Washington Post gets into Harvard/Wharton pontification methods with “Google and the Myth of First-Mover Advantage.” Writer Dominic Basulto proposes that the principle that has underpinned innovation for many years, that of the first-mover advantage, is being replaced by a more holistic, ecosystem-building approach. The article declares:
“The ‘first-to-market’ mentality has been replaced by a broader, more strategic imperative: to create a truly global ecosystem that encompasses devices, platforms and operating systems. It’s okay to introduce a tablet after everyone else, as long as that tablet runs on your operating system and helps your overall ecosystem perform. . . .
“To be a great business in today’s digital world, it requires spotting all the emergent technological trends on the borders and edges and transforming them into new, scalable market opportunities that build on existing strengths in a unique way.”
Google, Basulto insists, is the prime example of a company who gets it. That’s why it keeps churning out new applications; even when the ideas are far from fresh, they all deliver users back into the Google environment. Even their much anticipated, the-future-is-here glasses, he notes, are another way to pull users into Google’s world.
Interesting observations. So, now that the Post has this knowledge, how will the paper put it into practice? Perhaps more important: How will online information systems leverage this insight?
Cynthia Murrell, May 6, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Protege 4.2 Now Available
May 5, 2012
Version 4.2 (beta) of Protégé from Stanford University is now available here. The open source application serves as an ontology editor and knowledge-base framework. The product description states:
“The Protégé platform supports two main ways of modeling ontologies via the Protégé-Frames and Protégé-OWL editors. Protégé ontologies can be exported into a variety of formats including RDF(S), OWL, and XML Schema.
“Protégé is based on Java, is extensible, and provides a plug-and-play environment that makes it a flexible base for rapid prototyping and application development.
“Protégé is supported by a strong community of developers and academic, government and corporate users, who are using Protégé for knowledge solutions in areas as diverse as biomedicine, intelligence gathering, and corporate modeling.”
The editor can be customized to provide domain-friendly support for creating knowledge models and entering data. The National Library of Medicine supports Protégé’s biomedical ontologies and knowledge bases, which serve as national resources. The editor is a core component of The National Center for Biomedical Ontology.
Do taxonomy vendors face the open source ogre?
Cynthia Murrell,May 5, 2012
Sponsored by Ikanow
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
