IntelTrax Top Stories August 24 to August 30
September 3, 2012
This week the IntelTrax advanced intelligence blog provided readers with some interesting stories regarding the state of technology and the big data trends.
“Automation Hot Trend in Business Intelligence” discusses the growing industry of business intelligence to help organizations manage their data. Automation has been an important part of many BI solutions that are currently on the market:
“One company that’s scouring the social web specifically for business-specific data is FirstRain, a startup with Penny Herscher at the helm. Her company extracts the hard-to-find nuggets of relevant Twitter data for sales and marketing professionals. The big perk with FirstRain is the automation–the heavy lifting. It adds context to the data it’s found and packages it up for business use so a sales professional can immediately understand their customers. Working with the broad range of companies seeking big data and analytics solutions, FirstRain has clients in the pharmaceutical industry, finance, insurance and beyond.”
Another post, “VMware Acquires New Data Solutions Technology” highlights the recent acquisition of a small tech start-up as a way to continue innovating and growing.
The CEO of Pattern Insight wrote in a recent blog post:
“Ever since we started Pattern Insight, our vision has been to change how people search, mine and analyze their vast amounts of IT and Engineering data. Log Insight, a log analytics product, is the culmination of our efforts aiming at management and real time operational analytics for IT data regardless of scale. Today, I am very pleased to announce that Log Insight, together with its technology and team, have been acquired by VMware. We are very excited for the opportunity to accelerate our vision and maximize the impact of our technology.”
“Data Analytics Is the New Tech Bubble” discusses some potential issues with those involved with big data analytics. The writer fears, that like the bursting of the tech bubble, Big Data can expect a similar reaction.
According to the article:
“We’re in the middle of a Big Data and Hadoop hype cycle, and it’s time for the Big Data bubble to burst….Yes, moving through a hype cycle enables a technology to cross the chasm from the early adopters to a broader audience. And, at the very least, it indicates a technology’s advancement beyond academic conversations and pilot projects. But the broader audience adopting the technology may just be following the herd, and missing some important cautionary points along the way.”
Sometimes it is important to cut out the middleman and invest in small companies that have more flexibility for innovation. Digital Reasoning understand the importance of automation and innovation and their flagship product Synthesys reflects that.
Jasmine Ashton, September 3, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
SharePoint Customization for NonDevelopers
September 3, 2012
Customization in SharePoint is always a hot topic, as it can be difficult, costly, and non-intuitive. However, Ricardo Wilkins at the Microsoft SharePoint Blog believes it can be possible even for the non-developer. Read all of his ideas at his post, “Fake It ‘til You Make It – Alternatives to Custom Application Pages for Non-Developers.”
Wilkins begins:
SharePoint is a versatile tool meant to empower end-users. So, for me it seems such a shame when end-users feel powerless when it comes to their ability to ‘create’ in SharePoint. Sometimes for a non-developer, it can seem like the only way to make something interesting in SharePoint (besides a fancy list or some Wiki pages) is to get help from a Developer or Web Designer. But I submit that, with a little creativity (and maybe some smoke-n-mirrors), non-developers can make an ‘application’ that looks and feels like a Developer’s custom application page.
Wilkins goes on to provide a good list of not only techniques for customization, but also software add-ons and apps to make that possible. An alternative is to invest in a smart third-party solution that streamlines the customization process simply by being inherently more intuitive. One such solution is Fabasoft Mindbreeze, which boasts an entire suite of effective solutions for the enterprise. However, in regard to SharePoint, Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise can serve as a standalone alternative, or a compliment to an existing SharePoint infrastructure.
See for yourself if your SharePoint customization woes might be eased by the simple addition of Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise.
Emily Rae Aldridge, September 3, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Clearing Up or Adding to the SharePoint 2013 Rumor Mill
August 31, 2012
As rumors continue to fly regarding SharePoint 2013 it is hard to say at this point whether they are being dispelled or expounded. ShareMuch is adding their two cents with a Screencast video specifically targeted at SharePoint search and FAST search. Watch the full video, “Screencast: Clearing Some Rumors Around Sharepoint 2013 Search and FAST Features.”
The author gives us some points to be on the lookout for as we watch:
Here are some highlights of the video:
1. Search service is still a service application
2. Configuration options in Central Admin UI are pretty much the same as in SharePoint 2010 search
3. Content sources can be defined on the site and tied to a rendering template
4. Query Builder is a neat feature to create query transformations and preview them before publishing
5. Importing and exporting search configurations is great
SharePoint 2013 is exciting. The enterprise search community can hardly wait to see what’s around the corner. But for some smaller enterprises, a smart idea might be a third party solution. Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise can work as a standalone solution or compliment an existing SharePoint infrastructure. Updates are released quarterly and require no maintenance or hassle on the part of the organization.
Philip West, August 31, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Semantics and Facets in Mindbreeze InSite
August 30, 2012
Fabasoft Mindbreeze will not only meet your internal enterprise search needs, but can also meet external needs in terms of your public facing Web site. Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite can provide your users with intuitive search on your Web presence. The Fabsoft Mindbreeze blog entry, “Semantics and Facets: Mindbreeze InSite Makes Your News Cosmos ‘Sexy,’” pays attention to the topic.
The author begins:
The key term is semantic search, which means ‘understanding content.’ And I’m proud to be able to report that Mindbreeze InSite can do this perfectly. But how does it work? It’s not magic code, just statistical mathematics and sophisticated content analysis. Both aspects molded together in one program give Mindbreeze its power to ‘think.’ Through content analysis and statistics, Mindbreeze InSite really can be tailored to meet the individual needs of each website operator. Essentially the result is always the same: The perfect search results you need quickly. You can also search, for example, according to author, topic, tags and terms.
The semantic and faceted search can pay real dividends for your business. Users appreciate a hassle-free and intuitive experience when navigating a Web site. This can be especially useful in retail contexts. In addition, Fabasoft Mindbreeze backs all their products with outstanding customer support and frequent updates.
Emily Rae Aldridge, August 30, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Fabasoft Mindbreeze Even Better with Summer 2012 Release
August 29, 2012
One of the many positives to the Fabasoft Mindbreeze suite of solutions is the company’s dedication to quarterly updates. Fabasoft Mindbreeze ensures that customers keep up with current trends while never having to bother with disruptive overhauls. Unlike Microsoft, famous for its three-year cycle of software updates, Fabasoft Mindbreeze ensures that products are constantly improved instead of infrequently replaced. The summer 2012 release of Fabasoft Mindbreeze pays a lot of attention to social media needs.
The Fabasoft Mindbreeze blog says:
Nowadays almost every company uses social media tools such as Twitter and Facebook just as much as a document management system. So why not use these tools to collect our search results? The new Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise 2012 Summer Release offers exactly this possibility: Collect from all open interfaces. This helps a company’s employees to save time and energy for the most important tasks, thereby increasing customer satisfaction.
In addition to paying attention to Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise, Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite also gets some attention. InSite gets a facelift with federating capabilities.
Individualism also applies to federated data sources with Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite. Your website visitors can find what they’re looking for quickly and easily. Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise and Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite make you ready for the future. Connect Enterprise and the Cloud. Conveniently and easily.
Regardless of your enterprise technology needs, Fabasoft Mindbreeze has a solution to help you meet it.
Emily Rae Aldridge, August 29, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
SharePoint Updates and Versions
August 28, 2012
SharePoint followers understand the constant battle in terms of keeping up with SharePoint versions and updates. Microsoft is notorious for its three-year cycle of highly-anticipated updates. In the meantime, small tweaks and patches normally focus on capability with emerging technologies as well as fixes and security patches. On the Material SharePoint blog, James Sturges helps sort out the details in, “SharePoint Versions and Updates.”
Sturges begins:
Thus far I haven’t found a simple official chart by Microsoft on TechNet or otherwise that shows not only the version number for each SP version. Even more, the few resources I’ve found only cover 2010 individually, and certainly not WSS/MOSS. However, Todd Carter has a brilliant blog post on all major SP versions for 2007 and 2010 I’ve referred to so many times I copied here below. I refer to it so much in fact that when he recently moved his blog and the page was unavailable for a day or so I was completely lost.
The remainder of the post is equally helpful for those who follow SharePoint. However, for enterprise users who are tired of keeping up with changing versions complicated updates, a switch to a smart third-party solution might be a good bet. Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise serves as a stand-alone enterprise solution or compliments an existing SharePoint infrastructure. Most importantly, Fabasoft Mindbreeze provides ease of use and an intuitive interface, both of which SharePoint lacks.
Emily Rae Aldridge, August 28, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
IntelTrax Top Stories August 17 to August 23
August 27, 2012
This week the IntelTrax advanced intelligence blog published some innovative articles regarding the state of analytics solutions and the various industries that they are permeating.
“Analytics Providers on Roll with Online Marketing” discusses how data analytics is slowly but surely breaking into the online marketing industry through partnerships that offer customers online marketing analytics.
The article highlights a recent partnership between Emory Digital and National Analytics:
“The platform includes a daily website audit, competitive position and gap analysis, website analysis, keyword analysis, link analysis, conversion analysis, benchmark tracking and ROI tracking, and project management. The software tracks Key Performance Indicators that go far beyond search engine rankings. It measures brand engagement, pages bringing traffic, page view per visit, new visits, time on site, bounce rate, goal conversions, ecommerce transactions and revenue and lead generation.”
Another industry that is starting to rely as heavily on data mining as rock mining is the field of geology. “Big Data Teams with Geologists to Mine the Earth” discusses how there is a new tool that speeds up the process of data mining and exploration for geologists.
The article details:
“GDD’s Field Data Integrator combines best-of-breed technologies for collecting, managing and analyzing data more rapidly. The end-to-end solution enables geologists to collect samples in shorter time frames, and then quickly analyze large volumes sample data for complex scenarios such as such as project timings, cash flows and profitability with greater sensitivity levels….GDD’s Field Data Integrator automatically synchronizes sample data from various field instruments, GPS, and cameras onto a ‘tough’ tablet using Bluetooth. Geologists enter notes directly onto the tablet using on-screen or wireless keyboards, enabling all data on samples to be collected automatically into a single source. The tablet then automatically synchronizes with a master database running Vectorwise whenever in mobile range, saving geologists time in manual data entry.”
The Financial industry is also being highly impacted by data analytics, according to “Cloud Makes Financial Analysis Easier.” The post discusses a new cloud based data visualization system called Adaptive Discovery. Adaptive Planning, the creator of the new product, claims that it has an intuitive visual interface that will appeal to business managers, allowing them to more easily access, analyze, and explore key financial and operational data.
The article states:
“Adaptive Discovery, the visual discovery application within the Adaptive Planning suite of performance management solutions, allows companies of all sizes to quickly and easily understand and take action upon their companywide data. Business users can easily compile, display and explore data from multiple systems and lines of business with highly visual, interactive dashboards and scorecards. The application presents data in ways that managers can easily grasp, so they are able to make better day-to-day decisions. Adaptive Discovery delivers an exciting new level of capability and interactivity that is far superior to both static data in spreadsheets and the limited reporting options available in existing enterprise applications.”
While Adaptive Discovery is one solution that improves data mining, there are also other affordable data analytics solutions on the market. Digital Reasoning has a long standing reputation of bringing data analytics to a variety of industries, including the financial world.
Jasmine Ashton, August 27, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Boost a Public Facing Web Site with a Design to Find
August 27, 2012
When it comes to providing users with a powerful search and getting the most from your content, look to experts in the field. At Fabasoft Mindbreeze, they have developed a suite of solutions that combines the power of search with information pairing, the Cloud, and smartphone and tablet mobility.
It is clear that Cloud hosting is becoming a go to data solution for organizations around the globe. Fabasoft Mindbreeze understands the need for expanded information access the save users valuable time when it comes to search. The same principle holds true for your Web site. Here you can read about the Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite solution:
An attractive website serves as an effective digital business card. Surprise your website visitors with an intuitive search.
Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite…
* is intuitive and user friendly.
* is instantly ready for use as a Cloud service. It turns your website into a user-friendly knowledge portal for your customers.
* recognizes correlations and links through semantic and dynamic search processes. This delivers pinpoint accurate and precise “finding experiences”.
* is the perfect website search for your company.
No installation, configuration or maintenance required.
We also like Mindbreeze’s impressive portfolio of references and customers. Dr. Manfred Weiss of Computerwelt, Austria has this to say about the InSite solution:
We want stand out from the crowds with a top internet presence. Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite is a part of this strategy. Our readers value the service of a perfect search. Regardless in which of our portals the information is available, Mindbreeze finds what you’re looking for. Since the search function is operated as a Cloud service, we save time and money.
Read more at www.Mindbreeze.com.
Philip West, August 27, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Hardware and Software Requirements for SharePoint 2013 Explained
August 24, 2012
In his post, “SharePoint 2013: A Look at Hardware, Software and Other Requirements,” Wictor Wilen explains some requirements users should expect with the upcoming SharePoint 2013 release. Wilen summarizes:
A few new requirements and increased hardware resources compared to SharePoint 2010. But this is all about planning – you cannot just take the requirement and apply that onto your SharePoint 2013 farm, you need to evaluate your farm design and test it. Over the next few months I expect to see some great design samples including metrics from MSIT and of course gain experience from the 2013 engagements starting now…
As far as operating systems, SharePoint 2013 will support Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2012. Database servers, .NET Framwork, and hardware requirements are also discussed. If you are thinking to migrate or adopt the new release, you may want to check out Wilen’s summary as you make your plans.
And while SharePoint adoption continues to grow and the platform develops, you may want to consider a cost-effective solution available now to boost your farm. A comprehensive third party application worth a second look is the suite of solutions available from Fabasoft Mindbreeze. With clear navigation and a self-explanatory interface, Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise facilitates findability. No install solutions are also available, including Mindbreeze InSite.
Philip West, August 24, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Mindbreeze InSite Delivers Powerful Search for Computerwelt Austria
August 23, 2012
Collaboration and advanced social technology is inevitable as business gets social. To keep up in the game, boost your Web site with a search feature that connects users to the right information efficiently and effectively every time. To tap into the possibilities consider looking into a third party solution with references to back up their product to complete your search system.
We like Fabasoft Mindbreeze. The Mindbreeze solution:
smoothly integrates itself into your website so that the user doesn’t even realize that Cloud services are working in the background. Furthermore, InSite always knows what a user is interested in. Navigation behavior on the website serves as the basis for recognizing their interests. If the user finds themselves on one of your sub-pages on the topic mobility for example, even at this level Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite still displays further information such as blogs, news, Wikipedia etc. on the relevant topic.
To learn more, check out Computerwelt, Austria’s case study. Here you can read about the task at hand for Computerwelt:A professional internet presence is a quality criterion for a leading IT publication. COMPUTERWELT is published on different websites, such as the company database www.top1001.at/ and the portals www.seitenclicke.at, www.itheads.at and www.it-termine.at. Each week brings more than 300 new articles. The existing search was database-based, static and incapable of displaying semantic connections. With Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite…the user finds relevant information at split-second speed thanks to the program’s semantic capabilities. Moreover, the search is easy to use, intuitive and requires no maintenance effort on the client side.
Check out the full suite of solutions at Mindbreeze to see what works for you.
Philip West, August 23, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
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