Organizations See ROI with Big Data Solutions Focused On Information Delivery
December 3, 2012
Much money is expected to come from big data in terms of the vendors profiting from technological solutions to allow companies to utilize big data. Additionally, there are the firms extracting useful insights from big data who hope to gain huge ROI. Forbes points out that ROI is key in “Spending Wisely on a Big Data Strategy.”
Some organizations fall into the trap of throwing money at anything related to big data without looking fundamentally at the resources they currently have on hand and where to need to extend their reach. The constant question should revolve around where ROI is possible.
According to the article:
But strategizing must precede striving, according to John Weathington of San Francisco-based consultancy Excellent Management Systems. Each firm’s top decision makers should spend the time and money to evaluate the return of a Big Data solution. ‘Some organizations are obsessed with spending money on Big Data without any concern for the value it represents,’ Weathington said in TechRepublic’s Big Data Analytics blog.
We could not agree more and we encourage organizations seeking a big data solution to employ resources into research on finding a solution that fits their needed purpose. The direction that we have seen several businesses achieve ROI with is a solution that enables information delivery across the enterprise such as Information at Work from PolySpot.
Megan Feil, December 3, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Possible SharePoint and Lync Server Price Increases
November 30, 2012
It is rumored that SharePoint and Lync Server prices will increase, but Caroline Donnelly says enterprise users may end up better off. She discusses the claim in the ITPro article, “Microsoft Users Warned of Upcoming SharePoint and Lync Server Price Hikes.” Richard Gibbons, software manager at Microsoft reseller Bechtle Direct says that SharePoint prices may go from £4,000 at the moment, so an extra £1,500 for 2013. This is added:
Gibbons was quick to point out that end users who stump up for the 2013 versions of Sharepoint and Lync from 1 December will be rewarded with extra functionality, which might make the price hikes a little easier for some end users to swallow.
For instance, Microsoft has introduced changes that mean end users will no longer need to purchase additional SharePoint for Internet licenses, which allow external users to access the software.
And while the added functionality comes at a cost for Standard users, enterprise users already having the features could end up paying less. The price hike doesn’t necessarily come as a surprise, but the amount may be hard for many to justify. To save resources, consider evaluating your third party tools and streamlining your systems. Fabasoft Mindbreeze offers Enterprise Search with SharePoint Connectors so to easily snap into your existing farm. In addition to all-inclusive search, Mindbreeze creates relevant knowledge by storing data according to type and relevance while processing data in a comprehensible form at a fair price.
Philip West, November 30, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Amazon CloudSearch Features and Pricing Explained
November 29, 2012
Amazon Web Services Blog aims to bring tools to the table that helps build powerful Web sites and applications with little time and cost. In “Amazon CloudSearch – Start Searching in One Hour for Less Than $100 / Month,” the author explains the importance of Web site search and Amazon CloudSearch capabilities. This is given about search challenges:
Search plays a major role in many web sites and other types of online applications. The basic model is seemingly simple…Needless to say, things can get very complex very quickly…We know that scaling a search system is non-trivial. There are lots of moving parts, all of which must be designed, implemented, instantiated, scaled, monitored, and maintained. As you scale, algorithmic complexity often comes in to play; you soon learn that algorithms and techniques which were practical at the beginning aren’t always practical at scale.
The author also highlights Amazon CloudSearch’s advanced searching and programming features. And while Amazon CloudSearch touts search scaling capabilities, it is hard to overlook the complex pricing model based on the number of running search instances, hourly costs, batch upload charges, and per Gigabyte prices. You might first want to take advantage of the Mindbreeze InSite free trial for a truly powerful search feature with no install required. In addition, their pricing model is straight-forward.
Philip West, November 29, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Top 25 Most Influential People in the Microsoft SharePoint Community
November 28, 2012
In “These are the Top 25 Microsoft SharePoint Influencers for 2012,” Mark Fidelman discusses the community around SharePoint and those influencers leading the way. The top 25 were chosen based on the social scoring system outlined in the book, Socialized!. Numbers one and two on the list are discussed:
Joel Oleson (number one on the list this year) created a public facing micro-community on Yammer called SPYam to discuss and support SharePoint and Yammer. The community rallied around the Microsoft acquisition and in an attempt to learn about it – then quickly started using it in a highly visible way. You can’t buy community members like him.
Mark Miller number #2 on the list, helped organize a world SharePoint promotional tour which helped to expand the community base.
The SharePoint community is a major benefit of the software platform. The article points out that the community has grown stronger and more influential given increase in numbers and strength from year to year. Along with using the SharePoint community, you may also want to use a third party tool to fill in any gaps in the software. Fabasoft Mindbreeze offers a proven enterprise search solution with the benefit of a SharePoint Connector. The Connector links systems for enterprise-wide information access with faceted search, a familiar user interface, search results that can easily be processed into actionable information, and more.
Philip West, November 28, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
PolySpot Speaks More Than 50 Languages
November 27, 2012
Due to the ever increasingly globalized workforce, it is more important than ever that data analytics providers are able to appeal to a multitude of countries and languages and corner the polyglot market. Matthew Aslett of the Too Much Information blog recently reported on this topic in the article, “The Dawn of Polyglot Analytics.”
According to Aslett, the emergence of a polyglot analytics platform exemplifies a new approach to data analytics that is based on the user’s approach to analytics rather than the nature of the data.
The article states:
Polyglot analytics explains why we are seeing adoption of Hadoop and MapReduce as a complement to existing data warehousing deployments. It explains, for example, why a company like LinkedIn might adopt Hadoop for its People You May Know feature while retaining its investment in Aster Data for other analytic use cases. Polyglot analytics also explains why a company like eBay would retain its Teradata Enterprise Data Warehouse for storing and analyzing traditional transactional and customer data, as well as adopting Hadoop for storing and analyzing clickstream, user behaviour and other un/semi-structured data, while also adopting an exploratory analytic platform based on Teradata’s Extreme Data Appliance for extreme analytics on a combination of transaction and user behaviour data pulled from both its EDW and Hadoop deployments.
One company that is currently excelling in polyglot analytics is Polyspot. In the recent blog post, “Polyspot is Polyglot” we learned that Polyspot offers its services in over 50 languages. Language is no longer a hindrance to data management success. PolySpot warrants a close look. The company offers high value technology within the reach of most organizations’ budgets.
Jasmine Ashton, November 27, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Structured and Unstructured Data Join Forces Through PolySpot Technology
November 27, 2012
It was not surprising to learn of the large amount of spending towards big data in 2011 from a new study by the Experton Group. Over $4.3 billion dollars was spent, according to that study. It will not stop there, either. Spending is expected to increase at a rate of 36% each year for the next four years according to the Smart Planet article, “What Makes Big Data So ‘Big’”
Of course, we have seen venture capitalists dote over vendors in this arena and that will continue too. Traditional technologies involved in the data management realm are not to be forsaken, however.
We learned:
Organizations with their relational database systems — built up and tweaked and perfected over the past two decades — would have no issues amping up the amount of transactional or structured data, even if it did go into the petabye or even exabyte range. But today’s data environments are simply not ready for the deluge of unstructured data — all those tweets, all those log files, all those videos. And it’s unstructured data that will drive new capabilities, new collaboration and new innovation.
Opportunities and insights come from a variety of data types – both structured and unstructured. That is precisely why organizations need a big data solution such as PolySpot that connect all types of information and data in order to churn out important knowledge to departments all over the enterprise.
Megan Feil, November 27, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
EPiServer Adds an SEO Manager Tool to Product Suite
November 27, 2012
In “EPiServer Gets SEO Manager Add-On for Web CMS,” Anthony Myers discusses the recent release from EPiServer to add to its Web content management suite of offerings. SEO Manager as a commercial add-on for EPiServer CMS is now available. The new tool is explained:
URL management in particular can be tricky because it has to be done on the server side for things like changing page names, changing section names and moving pages around a website.
SEO Manager is the tool that optimizes a site’s URL’s, one of the things many Web properties lose sight of while focusing on keywords, headings and content (see: Content Strategy: The Perils of Search Engine Optimization). Those are obviously key to improving on search results, but more is needed to bump that all important Google ranking.
New features include renaming pages without rank loss, URL history memory, and optimized results in Google Analytics. The new tool may be worth looking at for SEO. But it doesn’t take away the need for good content and a user friendly Web site. InSite illuminates all of your information from documents to Web pages to social media networks with the power of semantic search for your Web site visitors.
Philip West, November 27, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Enterprise Productivity Can Only Climb With Information At Work
November 26, 2012
A recent article from Slashdot mentions the increasing convoluted nature of the big data industry and the likelihood that it will only increase from here on out. The article, “How To Be Successful with Big Data Integration,” offers up a few pieces of advice for organizations primed and ready to begin their exploration of big data tools and processes related to extracting insights and opportunities from the bytes and bytes of information out there.
Hadoop and Hadoop variations make up a fairly large chunk of the resources available. Many organizations also turn to other NoSQL databases and high-performance relational analytic databases. Still others seek a fully comprehensive big data solution that reaches the entire enterprise.
We learned from the article that in order to find success with this method an organization should:
Facilitates integration with enterprise data—even big data cannot thrive on its own. Ultimately, enterprises need to integrate their big data platform with the rest of their data stores. To make this happen, they need effective tools to connect their Hadoop and NoSQL databases with traditional relational databases, data exchange formats, and enterprise applications.
Tools like PolySpot’s Information At Work have a library of over one hundred connectors, and thus little chance that information will not be delivered quickly, securely and with integrity. Productivity was never this easy.
Megan Feil, November 26, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Nextag Troubleshoots Declining Google Web Traffic
November 26, 2012
Relying on Google alone for Web site traffic is tricky business. In the New York Times article, “Google Casts a Big Shadow on Smaller Web Sites,” Steve Lohr and Claire Cain Miller look at the comparison shopping Web site Nextag.com’s bout with declining Google traffic. After Nextag engineers tested their side of the matter and found no issues, they doubled their spending on Google paid search advertising in the last five months. The move was seen as a necessity considering the amount of Web traffic Nextag received from both free and paid search ads. The issue has also gotten the attention of the US government because of possible antitrust violations. The author’s add this about Nextag’s next move:
His Google traffic now costs more. Two years ago, 60 percent of Nextag’s traffic from Google was from free search and 40 percent paid — people clicking on ads Nextag bought. Today, it is 30 percent free and 70 percent paid.
But his company has also shifted its strategy to become less vulnerable to Google’s charge into commerce. It has invested heavily in its underlying technology to help Web sites attract visitors, especially ones most likely to buy their goods.
The article is a good overview of the pitfalls when relying on Google advertising and what direction the issue is headed. One way to shift strategy from advertising is by enriching your Web site experience for visitors with a powerful search feature. InSite from Mindbreeze is one cost-effective and no-install required option worth looking at. InSite gives a custom searching experience unique to the user with the added benefit of mobile capabilities.
Philip West, November 26, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Protecting and Maintaining Web Site Search Rankings
November 23, 2012
Web site search rankings are important. There is no denying that search engine optimization (SEO) is an important and necessary endeavor for those who earn their livelihood on the Web. But getting there is only half the battle when it comes to SEO. Simply achieving the rankings isn’t enough – you must hold onto them. Entrepreneur tells us how in, “3 Steps to Protecting Your Website’s Search Rankings.”
The author begins:
You’ve worked hard to follow search engine optimization (SEO) best practices to earn high rankings for your website in the search engine results pages (SERPs). After weeks or even months of content creation, customer outreach and link building efforts, you’ve finally reached a coveted spot in the rankings. Unfortunately, your hard work isn’t over. To understand why, think about the difficulty of maintaining your ideal body weight. While taking off pounds can be a challenge, keeping the weight off is often an even bigger struggle. Similarly, maintaining high rankings in the natural search results can be even more of a challenge than obtaining them in the first place.
One way to add a level of currency and usability to your Web site (both of which improve SEO) is to add an effective Web site search function like Fabasoft Mindbreeze Insite. Insite comes from a trusted leader in enterprise, Fabasoft Mindbreeze, and its automatic indexing is maintenance free and requires no installation. Insite is just one way to ease the heavy burden of Web site maintenance and the struggle to achieve and maintain high search engine rankings.
Emily Rae Aldridge, November 23, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
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