Basho Enters Ring With New Data Platform
June 18, 2015
When it comes to enterprise technology these days, it is all about making software compliant for a variety of platforms and needs. Compliancy is the name of the game for Basho, says Diginomica’s article, “Basho Aims For Enterprise Operational Simplicity With New Data Platform.” Basho’s upgrade to its Riak Data Platform makes it more integration with related tools and to make complex operational environments simpler. Data management and automation tools are another big seller for NoSQL enterprise databases, which Basho also added to the Riak upgrade. Basho is not the only company that is trying to improve NoSQL enterprise platforms, these include MongoDB and DataStax. Basho’s advantage is delivering a solution using the Riak data platform.
Basho’s data platform already offers a variety of functions that people try to get to work with a NoSQL database and they are nearly automated: Riak Search with Apache Solr, orchestration services, Apache Spark Connector, integrated caching with Redis, and simplified development using data replication and synchronization.
“CEO Adam Wray released some canned comment along with the announcement, which indicates that this is a big leap for Basho, but also is just the start of further broadening of the platform. He said:
‘This is a true turning point for the database industry, consolidating a variety of critical but previously disparate services to greatly simplify the operational requirements for IT teams working to scale applications with active workloads. The impact it will have on our users, and on the use of integrated data services more broadly, will be significant. We look forward to working closely with our community and the broader industry to further develop the Basho Data Platform.’”
The article explains that NoSQL market continues to grow and enterprises need management as well as automation to manage the growing number of tasks databases are used for. While a complete solution for all NoSQL needs has been developed, Basho comes fairly close.
Whitney Grace, June 18, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Exorbyte Offers Entity Detection
June 16, 2015
Germany based Exorbyte is a leading European solutions company for search and analysis in structured/unstructured data. Business On tells us that Exorbyte has released a feature to help users manage their email inboxes: “Input Management: Exorbyte Automates Identity Determination.” Using Google Translate to give us the details, the article explains that Exorbyte now offers a Full Page Entity Detect, a tool that extracts the identity data from full-text documents and compares them with reference databases.
Full Page Detect is advertised as taking out the guess work in figuring out where data originates in documents. The process is described as:
“The identity data can be extracted directly from the digitized full-text documents such as letters, faxes and e-mails and efficiently compared with reference databases – virtually independent of language. It doesn’t matter whether the data in question is incorrect or incomplete. Exorbyte’s Full Page Detect Entity is able to read the valid data and organize it without fail for customers.”
Full Page Detect’s main selling point is that it can recognize information in documents no matter where it is placed in the document. It uses Exorbyte’s leading Matchmaker technology, which is extremely reliable in detecting errors and keeping analysis on track.
Exorbyte offers a useful service for people trying to summarize their emails without having to open every single one. It streamlines the email process and makes it more efficient.
Whitney Grace, June 16, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Search Cheerleader Seeks Text Analytics Unicorns
June 12, 2015
The article on Venture Beat whimsically titled Where Are the Text Analytics Unicorns provides yet another cheerleader for search. The article uses Aileen Lee’s “unicorn” concept of a company begun since 2003 and valued at over a billion dollars. (“Super unicorns” are companies valued at over a hundred billion dollars like Facebook.) The article asks why no text analytics companies have joined this exclusive club? Candidates include Clarabridge, NetBase and Medallia.
“In the end, the answer is a very basic one. Contrast the text analytics sector with unicorns that include Uber — Travis Kalanick’s company — and Airbnb, Evernote, Flipkart, Square, Pinterest, and their ilk. They play to mass markets — they’re a magic mix of revenue, data, platform, and pizazz — in ways that text analytics doesn’t. The tech companies on the unicorn list — Cloudera, MongoDB, Pivotal — provide or support essential infrastructure that covers a broad set of needs.”
Before coming to this conclusion, the article posits other possible reasons as well, such as the sheer number of companies competing in the field, or even competition from massive companies like IBM and Google. But these are dismissed for the more optimistic end note that essentially suggests we give the text analytics unicorns a year. Caution advised.
Chelsea Kerwin, June 12, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Upgraded Version of Kofax Kapow Released
June 11, 2015
The article on KapowTech titled Kofax Kapow 9.5 Adds Analytics and Simulation Capabilities discusses Kofax’s recent upgrade. The new version includes more graphic support, speedier robot design and testing, and the ability to easily share and synchronize projects. The article says,
“As a global leader in commercial intelligence for the energy, chemicals, metals and mining industries, we provide objective analysis and advice on assets, companies and markets, giving clients the insight they need to make better strategic decisions,” said Matthew Jennings, a Director Operations for Research at Wood Mackenzie. “The new analytics capabilities built into Kofax Kapow 9.5 will give our business analysts detailed, up-to-the-minute insight into how our web data integration processes are running.”
Dave Caldeira, Senior Vice President of Product and Solutions Marketing for Kofax speaks to the importance of real-time management in order for users to keep on top of their projects. The article reports that the Kofax Kapow platform is the quickest way to work with enterprise applications that also routes the need for any coding. Most importantly, it provides the ability to use information that was previously useless. Kofax has more than 20,000 users that rely on the company for its aid in customer engagement.
With Lexmark in Kentucky, the crowd in Harrod’s Creek wishes the company success as it adjusts to its new owner.
Chelsea Kerwin, June 11, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Free Version of InetSoft Style Scope Agile Edition Available
June 10, 2015
The article titled InetSoft Launches Style Scope Agile Edition for Dashboarding and Visual Analytics on PRWeb tells of a free version of InetSoft’s application for visualizing analysis. Business users will gain access to an interactive dashboard with an easy-to-use drag and drop sensibility. The article offers more details about the launch:
“Advanced visualization types ideal for multi-dimensional charting and point-and-click controls like selection lists and ranger sliders give greater abilities for data exploration and performance monitoring than a simple spreadsheet offers. Any dashboard or analysis can be privately shared with others using just a browser or a mobile device, setting the application apart from other free BI tools… Setting up the software will be straightforward for anyone with power spreadsheet skills or basic knowledge of their database.”
Drawbacks to the free version are mentioned, such as being limited to two concurrent users. Of course, the free version is meant to “showcase” the company’s technology according to CMO Mark Flaherty. There is a demo available, to check out the features of the free application. InetSoft has been working since 1996 to bring users intuitive solutions to business problems. This free version is specifically targeted at smaller businesses who might be unable to afford the full application.
Chelsea Kerwin, June 10, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Data Darkness
May 28, 2015
According to Datameer, organizations do not use a large chunk of their data and it is commonly referred to “dark data.” “Shine Light On Dark Data” explains that organizations are trying to dig out the dark data and use it for business intelligence or in more recent terms big data. Dark data is created from back end business processes as well as from regular business activities. It is usually stored on storage silo in a closet and only kept for compliance audits.
Dark data has a lot of hidden potential:
“Research firm IDC estimates that 90 percent of digital data is dark. This dark data may come in the form of machine or sensor logs that when analyzed help predict vacated real estate or customer time zones that may help businesses pinpoint when customers in a specific region prefer to engage with brands. While the value of these insights are very significant, setting foot into the world of dark data that is unstructured, untagged and untapped is daunting for both IT and business users.”
The article suggests making a plan to harness the dark data and it does not offer much in the way of approaching a project other than making it specifically for dark data, such as identifying sources, use Hadoop to mine it, and tests results against other data sets.
This article is really a puff piece highlighting dark data without going into much detail about it. They are forgetting that the biggest movement in IT from the past three years: big data!
Whitney Grace, May 28, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Behind The Google X Doors
May 18, 2015
Google X is Google’s top-secret laboratory, where the company develops new, innovative technology projects. The main purpose behind Google X is to make technology more adaptable, useful, as well as improve people’s lives. The Google Glass was one of their projects, so is Project Loon, where giant, high altitude balloons are released into the sky to bring Internet services to rural areas. Also do not forget the driverless car. EWeek has listed “10 Bold Google X Projects Aiming For Tech Breakthroughs,” exploring the new wonders that could eventually be available to your or me.
Are you interested in cleaner, renewable energy? So are the folks at Makani Power, a Google X project that builds wind turbines and then makes them airborne using kites. The wind turbines make energy for human consumption. While energy is important for modern human life, health is a big issue too.
Google X has four projects dedicated to learning more about the human body and disease. One is a contact lens measure glucose levels in tears, so diabetics will not have to prick themselves with needles to measure their sugar levels. The Baseline Study project analyzes medical information and uses genomics to define what the human body actually is. This project’s goal is to predict major diseases before their onset. Life Labs, acquired in 2014, invented a spoon device that counteracts Parkinson’s disease. The most astounding is something out of a science-fiction novel:
“Google X is in the nanoparticles business. The company in October unveiled a platform that uses nanoparticles to detect disease. In January, it followed that up with the announcement of the creation of synthetic skin as a proof-of-concept to show what nanoparticle technology might achieve in human biology and health.”
Nanoparticles? Self-driving cars? Wind turbines on kites? What will Google X work on next?
Whitney Grace, May 18, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Popular and Problematic Hadoop
May 15, 2015
We love open source on principle, and Hadoop is indeed an open-source powerhouse. However, any organization considering a Hadoop system must understand how tricky implementation can be, despite the hype. A pair of writers at GCN asks and answers the question, “What’s Holding Back Hadoop?” The brief article reports on a recent survey of data management pros by data-researcher TDWI. Reporters Troy K. Schneider and Jonathan Lutton explain:
“Hadoop — the open-source, distributed programming framework that relies on parallel processing to store and analyze both structured and unstructured data — has been the talk of big data for several years now. And while a recent survey of IT, business intelligence and data warehousing leaders found that 60 percent will Hadoop in production by 2016, deployment remains a daunting task. TDWI — which, like GCN, is owned by 1105 Media — polled data management professionals in both the public and private sector, who reported that staff expertise and the lack of a clear business case topped their list of barriers to implementation.”
The write-up supplies a couple bar graphs of survey results, including the top obstacles to implementation and the primary benefits of going to the trouble. Strikingly, only six percent or respondents say there’s no Hadoop in their organizations’ foreseeable future. Though not covered in the GCN write-up, the full, 43-page report includes word on best practices and implementation trends; it can be downloaded here (registration required).
Cynthia Murrell, May 15, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
SAP and Business Intelligence: Simple Stuff, Really Simple
May 14, 2015
I came across an interesting summary of SAP’s business intelligence approach. Navigate to “SAP BI Suite Roadmap Strategy Update from ASUG SapphireNow.” ASUG, in case you are not into the SAP world, means America’s SAP User Group. Doesn’t everyone know that acronym? I did not.
The article begins with a legal disclaimer, always a strange attractor to me. I find content on the Web which includes unreadable legal lingo sort of exciting.
It is almost as thrilling as some of the security methods which SAP employs across its systems and software. I learned from a former SAP advisor that SAP was, as I recall the comment, “Security has never been a priority at SAP.”
The other interesting thing about the article is that it appears to be composed of images captured either from a low resolution screen capture program or a digital camera without a massive megapixel capability.
I worked through the slides and comments as best as I could. I noted several points in addition to the aforementioned lacunae regarding security; to wit:
- SAP wants to simplify the analytics landscape. This is a noble goal, but my experience has been that SAP is a pretty complex beastie. That may be my own ignorance coloring what is just an intuitive, tightly integrated example of enterprise software.
- SAP likes dedicating servers or clusters of servers to tasks. There is a server for the in memory database. There is a server for what I think used to be Business Objects. There is the SAP desktop. There are edge servers in case your SAP installation is not for a single user. There is the SAP cloud which, I assume, is an all purpose solution to computational and storage bottlenecks. Lots of servers.
- Business Objects is the business intelligence engine. I am not confident in my assessment of complexity, but, as I recall, Business Objects can be a challenge.
My reaction to the presentation is that for the faithful who owe their job and their consulting revenue to SAP’s simplified business intelligence solutions and servers, joy suffuses their happy selves.
For me, I keep wondering about security. And whatever happened to TREX? What happened to Inxight’s Thingfinder and related server technologies?
How simple can an enterprise solution be? Obviously really simple. Did I mention security?
Stephen E Arnold, May 14, 2015
Cloud Adoption Is Like a Lead Balloon
May 8, 2015
According to Datamation’s article, “Deflating The Cloud BI Hype Balloon” the mad, widespread adoption of enterprise cloud computing is deflating like helium out of a balloon. While the metaphor is apt for any flash pan fad, it also should be remembered that Facebook and email were considered passing trends. It could be said that when their “newness” wore off they would sink faster than a lead balloon, if we want to continue with the balloon metaphor. If you are a fan of Mythbusters, however, you know that lead balloons, in fact, do float.
What the article and we are aiming here is that like the Mythbusters’ lead balloon, cloud adoption can be troublesome but it will work or float in the end. Datamation points out that the urgency for immediate adoption has faded as security risks and integration with proprietary systems become apparent.
Howard Dresner wrote a report called “Cloud Computing And Business Intelligence” that explain his observations on enterprise cloud demand. Dresner says that making legacy systems adaptable to the cloud will be a continuous challenge, but he stresses that some data does not belong in cloud, while some data needs to be floating about. The challenge is making the perfect hybrid system.
He makes the same apt observation about the lead balloon:
“Dresner, who was a Gartner fellow and has 34 years in the IT industry, takes a longer-term perspective about the integration challenges. “We have to solve the same problems we solved on premise,” he explains, and then adds that these problems “won’t persist forever in the enterprise, but they will take a while to solve.”
In other words, it takes time to assemble, but the lead balloon will keep floating around until the next big thing to replace the cloud. Maybe it will be direct data downloads into the head.
Whitney Grace, May 8, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
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