IBM and Verizon Team for Search Storage
April 13, 2010
Short honk: I read “IBM and Verizon Look to Draw Large Enterprises to Cloud Data Backup—Search Storage” in File Recovery. The pairing strikes me as one more attempt by IBM to hit a home run in a market sector that is beginning to get some traction. The optimists say an economic recovery is underway. Those in some big companies may be somewhat more cautious. The cloud appears to offer some ways to slash costs, but the idea that a service from two giants like IBM and Verizon will save money strikes me as a proposition that needs some supporting facts. The “search storage” phrase puzzles me. Hosted search works in some situations and it doesn’t in others. More information needed, but the tie up is fascinating.
Stephen E Arnold, April 13, 2010
Nope, a news item written for no dough.
Google Cloud Deals: Are Some More Equal than Others?
April 12, 2010
“Frustrations with Cloud Computing Mount” runs down a number of issues with cloud computing. The hassles wander all over the map. But the article contains a quite interesting point about Google’s cloud computing agreements. Here is the passage I found fascinating:
The big cloud customers, such as the City of Los Angeles, which reached an agreement for unlimited damages with Google when it contracted to use its Google Apps services , should it ever violate its nondisclosure agreements, can negotiate terms that may give them a transparency and enforcement leverage. But many other users don’t have that clout and, and in a lot of cases cloud providers may not even provide the logging information needed to prove a breach, said Jim Reavis, the founder of the Cloud Security Alliance.
I think this means that some are more equal than others.
Stephen E Arnold, April 12, 2010
Unsponsored post.
Google Snags Programmable Search Engine Patent
April 11, 2010
Short honk: The programmable search engine invention has been granted a US patent. Filed in august 2005 and published in February 2007, the PSE provides a glimpse of the Google’s systems and methods for performing sophisticated content processing. Dr. Ramanathan Guha, inventor of the PSE, has a deep interest in data management, the semantic Web and context tagging. You can download a copy of US7693830 from the USPTO. There were four other PSE patent applications published on the same day in February 2007, which is a testament to Dr. Guha’s ability to invent and write complex patent applications in a remarkable period of time. The PSE is quite important with elements of the invention visible in today’s Google shopping service, among others.
Stephen E Arnold, April 9, 2010
Unsponsored post.
Glitch at Google Check Out
April 10, 2010
Short honk: Google may have some unhappy Check Out customers. The Register’s “Google Checkout Checks Out” reports some alleged issues. Yet another Google glitch? Not sure. For me the key passage in the article was:
“As far as I know unlike PayPal they have no technical support via the phone and we just have to hope someone is doing something. If it carries on today I shall remove Google Checkout as an option for payment until it’s fixed.”
I thought Google addressed some of its customer support issues after the Nexus One flap. Maybe not.
Stephen E Arnold, April 9, 2010
A freebie.
InfoDome: Cloud Database for Almost Everyone
April 9, 2010
Databases can be made to look really easy to use. I remember a Filemaker demo from several years ago. I was amazed, but when we tried to create some custom forms. We got Filemaker working but the ease of use was narrowly defined. InfoDome has taken up the challenge of creating an easy-to-use, cloud-based database. You can watch a video of the system in action on the InfoDome Web site. The link is easy to spot and the video shows off the system’s features. The service offers a REST API to add application business logic. Pricing ranges from free for 1,000 or fewer records to $175 a month for 100,000 records, 30 gigabytes of storage, and unlimited users. Looks interesting. I was surprised to learn that the company has been in business since 2007. The clouds are arriving.
Stephen E Arnold, April 7, 2010
A freebie.
Exalead Powers PagesJaunes.fr and More
March 29, 2010
A happy quack to the reader who alerted me to the new Exalead-powered PagesJaunes service.
The system allows a user to enter a name of a company or a needed service and get a listing, a map, and other information. The Exalead system displays the traditional address and phone number, but the system taps into information on social network on which the person has a public profile.
PageJaunes.fr is high-revenue, high-use service. The Exalead system adds functionality and speed to the PageJaunes service.
The blog post PagesJaunes Integrates Social Networks with Exalead PagesBlanches.fr explains how the social networking content amplifies the listings.
I try to keep pace with innovations in directory systems. Exalead’s push into this market is welcome news. Most of the directory-centric systems I examine struggle when acquiring, indexing, and mashing up content from structured and unstructured sources. Exalead’s system makes this type of next-generation information display part of the firm’s core system.
For more information about Exalead, navigate to www.exalead.com. If you want to read an interview with the technical wizard behind the Exalead system, navigate to the ArnoldIT.com Search Wizards Speak series.
AT&T, check out PagesJaunes.com. Put your existing system out to pasture and let me use an Exalead-powered system from my goose pond in Kentucky. Yo, AT&T, are you listening?
Stephen E Arnold, March 29, 2010
No one paid me to point out that the Exalead directory system is a heck of a lot better than what I have to use from Harrod’s Creek, Kentucky. I suppose I can report this to the ever vigilant FCC. But Exalead is a French company, so maybe I have to report to the State Department. Goodness, compliance is often confusing.
Infrastructure Ripple from SharePoint
March 22, 2010
Navigate to Thor Projects and read the article “Infrastructure Ripple Effect – The Story of Servers, Racks and Power.” I have about 48 inches of screen real estate and I needed all of it to read the article. The layout is – in a word – interesting. The point of the write up, in my opinion, is summarized in this passage from the article:
I am reminded that any change creates a ton of little ripples.
When an information technology pro runs into problems with a single server, I wonder what the impact of more massive on premises changes might be.
I thought about Mauro Cardarelli’s “Where Does SharePoint Still Fall Short?” when I thought about adding hardware. He wrote:
Let’s face it; the interface for security management is confusing and cumbersome… even for people who use it every day. What are the consequences? First, you increase the likelihood of security breaches (i.e. showing content to the wrong audience). Second, you increase the likelihood of giving users permissions greater than necessary. Finally, you increase the likelihood of a having a security model that is highly diluted and overly complex. This is probably why the 3rd party market for SharePoint administration has been so strong… someone needs to pay attention to what these folks are doing! But I would argue that this is reactive (versus proactive) management… and things need to be taken one step further.
Hardware and security. Hmmm.
Stephen E Arnold, March 22, 2010
No one paid me to write this article. I will report this to the Salvation Army, an outfit that knows about work without pay. Perhaps the cloud access to SharePoint will obviate the problem?
InQuira Embraces the Cloud
March 19, 2010
I read “InQuira Puts It Knowledge Solutions in the Cloud” and learned that the approach “is in no way a light weight version.” On premises search systems can be tough to install, tune, and maintain. Blossom has been, in my opinion, one of the trail blazers for hosted search, and it offers a robust, powerful, and customizable solution. InQuira is moving in that direction as well.
According to the write up which quotes an InQuira officer:
InQuira has existing partnerships with Oracle CRM On Demand, Oracle’s Siebel offering, and Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories. The newest on-demand offering will extend the company’s reach…[InQuira] has a really established reputation as the best-of-breed intelligent search vendor that quickly and easily integrates with everyone,” says John Ragsdale, vice president of technology research for the Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA).
One feature of the approach is that storage is provided in an “on demand” model.
You can get more information from www.inquira.com.
Stephen E Arnold, March 19, 2010
Freebie. No one paid me to write this. I will report non payment to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an outfit who tracks work for no compensation each day, every day.
Comets and Dinosaurs
March 16, 2010
I wrote about “newsosaurs” over the weekend, and this article caught my eye: “NetSuite Calls Microsoft ‘ERP Dinosaur.” The write up is not about search, although it could have been shaped to cover that technology as well. I wanted to capture this line from the write up:
The memo, with the subject line “The Netsuite comet officially hits the Microsoft ERP dinosaur,” calls Microsoft’s announcement “an obvious act of desperation as Microsoft’s customers and partners defect en masse for NetSuite and the cloud.” Microsoft’s bid, Nelson wrote, “tries to convince NetSuite customers to move backwards 20 years to try Great Plains, Navision or Solomon”– the names of Dynamics GP, NAV and SL before Microsoft acquired them. “Microsoft has no cloud-based ERP answer to NetSuite, and Microsoft’s statement that ‘hosting’ Great Plains is their response to the cloud is so absurd as to be laughable,” Nelson said in his memo. “This is the old ‘ASP’ approach of hosting client/server products that failed as a delivery mechanism even before we entered the Year 2000.”
Stong words. Ever try to find an item in Microsoft’s ERP solutions?
Stephen E Arnold, March 16, 2010
Free, free as a bird. No one paid me to write this. Since it is an uncompensated bit of work, I must report this to the zoologist responsible for the National Zoo’s aviary ad unit.
Clouds: Fast, Slow, Broken
March 6, 2010
Measuring cloud speed is one of those chores aspiring meteorologists must endure. Here’s a snapshot of what’s involved. My source is Charles F. Brooks, The Use of Clouds in Forecasting, page 1167:
The quickest way of getting cloud motions is with a window-sill nephoscope consisting of a plane, black, horizontal mirror of eight to ten inches diameter, with- out markings on the mirror other than a depression at the center, and a peephole eyepiece through which the observer can watch the motion of the image of a cloud and follow it with a small marker. When followed for a standard period (or easy fraction or multiple), the direction and relative speed are determined with a single placement of a ruler,
Whew. That’s going to take some hunting here in Harrod’s Creek. I wonder if the gun and ammo shop has a nephoscope.
I was thinking about cloud speed when I read “Steve Ballmer’s Memo To Microsoft Staff: “We Must Move At Cloud Speed”. I think the idea is for Microsoft to move quickly. As I said in my SSN Minute today, Microsoft is turning to Cray to help Microsoft with its data center issues. My hunch is that if Microsoft moves too quickly its plumbing might not be able to keep pace. Here’s the snippet that caught my attention in the write up:
We have strong competitors. We need to be (and are) willing to change our business models to take advantage of the cloud. We must move at “cloud speed,” especially in our consumer offerings. And we need to be crystal clear about the value we provide to all our customers. To drive our message home even further, today you will see an ad campaign in the U.S. focused on our commercial and government businesses, a new website with consolidated content and case studies, and ongoing emphasis on the cloud from me and other members of the SLT in our upcoming speeches and presentations.
I will be most interested to see how Microsoft Fast, the enterprise search product, performs as a cloud service. I recall the good old days of the application service providers (ASP) and hosted Exchange. The cloud was moving slowly. Will Microsoft Fast move quickly as indexes update and queries get processed? There are fast clouds and there are slow clouds? Which will be the cloud for Microsoft Fast?
Stephen E Arnold, March 6, 2010
No one paid me to write this. I have to report unpaid writing to NOAA, an outfit that understands but is not yet able to control clouds. Someday I expect. Someday.
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