Tips for Empowering User Search in the Enterprise
August 22, 2012
Susan Hanley shares some SharePoint tips in her NetworkWorld.com post, “10 Essential SharePoint Search Hints.” Hanley points out that rich metadata is necessary for improved findability, but users also need to be taught how to search for better results.
Aside from using metadata and meaningful file names and titles, the author has this to say about search suggestions:
Use best bets. A great way to ensure that people can easily find the common things that you know they need in your organization is to create a directed best bet for them. Even if you are not monitoring search logs to identify candidate best bets (which you should be doing, by the way), I can promise you that you know something about what people need to find on your intranet.
We agree with the search tips. Empowered users can really add efficiency to their search and overall production. But to save time and training resources, consider adding a third party solution that gives your users a friendly interface with intuitiveness for search.
Here you can read about Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise:
Highly efficient enterprise search and specific connectors link together data sources in companies and organizations. Be well informed – quickly and accurately. The data often lies distributed across numerous sources. Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise gains each employee two weeks per through focused finding of data (IDC Studies). An invaluable competitive advantage in business as well as providing employee satisfaction.
Read more about the full suite of solutions available from Mindbreeze at http://www.mindbreeze.com/.
Philip West, August 22, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
PLM and ERP Merge as Data Management Advances
August 22, 2012
Companies with a lot of data, especially data spread out over various systems and platforms constantly struggle to connect said data. Traditionally, both product lifecycle management (PLM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software has been utilized to manage data but were separate systems without much communication. That is changing as PLM providers are realizing the need for all systems to work together as evidenced in the recent announcement in the IT News Online article, “Arbela Technologies and Saratech, Inc. Announce Strategic Partnership to Deliver Process and Data Integration between Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Product Life Cycle Management (PLM) Business Solutions”.
The article describes the partnership:
“Arbela Technologies Corporation, a leading Microsoft Dynamics AX and CRM Certified Gold Partner, has announced that it is forming a strategic partnership with Saratech, Inc., a national platinum partner of Siemens PLM software, to offer proven process and data integration between Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Product Life Cycle Management (PLM) business solutions to the aerospace and defense, hi-tech, automotive, industrial equipment, and life sciences industries.”
Other PLM providers are also working hard to create new data management solutions that work with existing ERP platforms. Inforbix, an up-and-coming PLM provider, has a unique take on ERP as described in the Engineering Matters article, “Inforbix: Access to Enterprise Information for the Engineer?”:
“Using API toolkits, Inforbix crawlers go into enterprise systems like ERP, PLM, procurement systems and others. It also has crawlers that spider your desktops and share drives. So Inforbix crawlers are unique in that they traverse enterprise systems and drives in your product development IT ecosystem.”
As data management solutions grow in scope we expect to see more PLM providers integrate ERP into their PLM offerings.
Catherine Lamsfuss, August 22, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
ADV Austria Uses Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite to Enrich Web Site Visitor Experience
August 21, 2012
Rapid changes in technology have also brought along changes in Web expectations. Users more and more want informative, aesthetically pleasing sites that are consistently functioning with real-time data, which can be challenging to achieve.
To give your Web site a powerful search feature with a user-friendly experience, consider a third party solution like Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite. MindBreeze InSite understands that an attractive Web site is a company’s digital business card; it’s your shop window. InSite “turns your website into a user-friendly knowledge portal for your customers. Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite recognizes correlations and links through semantic and dynamic search processes. This delivers pinpoint accurate and precise “finding experiences.” With no installation or configuration required, InSite can save you valuable resources that would otherwise be spent on development and training.
In addition, Mindbreeze InSite boasts an impressive lineup of satisfied customers.
Here you can read the case study from ADV (Data Processing Work Group), Austria:
After testing the free 14-day test version, ADV opted for Mindbreeze InSite 500. This allows up to 500 pages/documents to be searched and 25,000 search inquiries per year. After registering for the product Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite and entering the web address, ADV received the embed code…Within a matter of minutes the search was available.
Search results are clearly structured using tabs and correlations are visible due to semantic search inquiries. The website visitor gets an overview of new events and publications without needing to click through the site.
Navigate to http://www.mindbreeze.com/ to read more about Web site architect solutions from Mindbreeze.
Philip West, August 21, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
3D Modeling Aimed at SMEs Growing in Popularity
August 21, 2012
For manufacturers reducing the time of a product from conception to production is one of the top priorities. Another top priority is streamlining processes so that waste and duplication is kept to a minimum. Siemens, one of the leaders in PLM research and development, has recently released RobotExpert as described in the article, “Siemens PLM Has ‘Out of the Box’ Solution for Robotic Simulation and Programming”, on Eureka Magazine.
The article explains how RobotExpert can help small and midsized enterprises (SME):
“Featuring an intuitive 3D environment, RobotExpert combines the ability to optimise robotic paths and improve cycle times with the option to simulate virtual mockups of complete manufacturing cells and systems. It provides an offline programming and simulation tool which helps to minimise downtime by allowing the majority of the programming work to be done virtually while optimising the programme to reduce the cycle time and increase throughput.”
Many PLM providers are realizing the value of 3D capabilities and the demand manufacturers have for such applications. Recently PLM provider, Inforbix, announced it is developing 3D capabilities on its Website:
“Inforbix has been conducting experiments with a few vendors offering 3D viewing. Our goal is to offer our users the option to view product data in 3D when using Inforbix apps.”
Exciting innovations such as Siemens RobotExpert and Inforbix’s upcoming 3D application are ideal for SMEs that traditionally have not had access due to high costs which is changing, however, with new technology.
Catherine Lamsfuss, August 21, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
IntelTrax Top Stories August 10 to August 16
August 20, 2012
This week the IntelTrax blog published some excellent articles on data analytics and search technologies.
One of the most notable analytics developers for Web sites is the search giant Google. “eGoogle Analytics Is No Longer the Only Game in Town” discusses some other options for those companies that are not satisfied with what Google is offering.
The article explains:
“If you operate your own website, analytic software can be crucial in order to track exactly how well your site is doing. Without this software, you can do whatever you want with your site, but you will never know if it is getting more visitors, aside from the amount of comments. When you look at the possible options you have for analytic software, the most popular choice is Google Analytics. However, if you’re not a fan of Google or its Analytics package, there’s no need to fear. There are still a handful of options for you to try out.”
Another article of note discusses the recent dramatic increase of unstructured data in almost every industry. “Growth of Text Analytics in Response to Unstructured Data” discusses the fact that there has also been an explosion of data analytics solution to make sense of all this new data.
When discussing some great solutions available, the article states:
“The Text Analytics market is rapidly consolidating with numerous mergers and acquisitions over the past year. Oracle purchased Endeca for its technology to mash up unstructured data from many different data sources. HP acquired similar technology from Autonomy. IBM picked up Vivisimo and Lexmark for their rich search features. Popularity of Big Data is driving huge interest in the area of text analytics, and that interest is causing the technology to evolve quickly. Text analytics techniques, for example, are becoming increasingly richer and more sophisticated in the information and insight which they can provide.”
While there are a lot of amazing data analytics solutions on the market, many companies are also feeling the effects of a downtrodden economy, so choosing an affordable solution is a very important part of their decision making process. “CFOs Demand a Reduction in Costs and Increase in Competitive Edge” argues that companies are utilizing data analytics solutions as a way to cut costs and create new growth opportunities.
Here are some qualities that companies in New Zealand and Australia are looking for in their products:
“As a discrete process, like CRM, corporate performance management is particularly well suited to a cloud delivery model. It provides organizations greater flexibility, lower capital costs and fast implementations that take weeks rather than six plus months. The end result is customers fast-track uncovering business opportunity. We’re excited about partnering with Host Analytics as it provides our clients a unique value proposition at a time when CFOs and CIOs are telling us that their number one priority is to reduce costs and gain competitive advantage with business analytics.”
The three articles that I have highlighted drive the point home that companies, regardless of their industry, are looking for text analytics solutions that will efficiently make the most of their limited resources and time. Digital Reasoning is a relatively young provider that understand the unique needs of small and midsized companies and offer their Synthesys platform as a solution that provides all the necessary data crunching tools and apps needed for most industries.
Jasmine Ashton, August 20, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Thake Discusses Business Opportunities with SharePoint 2013 Marketplace
August 20, 2012
In “Why We Need a SharePoint 2013 Marketplace,” Jeremy Thake shares his thoughts on the opportunities that lie in the new SharePoint app home. In looking back at the history of marketplaces, Thake credits Apple iOS marketplace as the best example where Microsoft has a number of marketplaces, but they do not share the same platform.
He adds this about potential Web parts:
There is already an app for World Clock and Weather app. I expect a Stock Ticker app to be close behind this also. The big limitations with making web parts available this way is that there is no API to automatically add a web part to the parent site collection homepage at the moment. The metro tiles on the site home pages can’t be manipulated by the apps to add the web part there.
Thake also comments on the possibilities of community involvement, financial rewards, and the light integration hoped for the Marketplace. The new feature for SharePoint is exciting as it may greatly enhance work processes and collaboration. But we also know there are gaps in an out of the box SharePoint deployment. Thake sees some blockers with the expected Web part functionality.
Here you can read about the smooth integration of Fabasoft Mindbreeze with rich Web part capability:
It enables all information that is connected to Mindbreeze to be displayed in Microsoft SharePoint. This takes place smoothly via Web Parts. In this way not only information contained within Microsoft SharePoint, but also all other information that is available within the respective company, can be consolidated within one ‘platform.’ Mindbreeze therefore delivers real additional value to Microsoft SharePoint in the form of an add-on.
Philip West, August 20, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
PLM Market Report Looks Optimistically to Future
August 20, 2012
Over the course of 2012 CIMdata has released and will be releasing five components of the CIMdata PLM Market Analysis Report Series on the state of PLM worldwide. The fourth report was recently released and the results were promising according to the TenLinks article, “CIMdata Publishes 4th of 5 Parts of PLM Market Report”.
The article quoted CIMdata’s Director of Research, Stan Przybylinski, as saying,
“While the global economy sputtered, the PLM economy grew faster in 2011 than in 2010, which was a very good year. Most segments of the market that CIMdata tracks saw high double digit growth, with very strong license sales. Given that new license sales are often precursors to more software and services investment, this is a strong indicator that 2012 could be another solid year for PLM solution and services providers. Strong growth continued in industries with long-time PLM investments, such as automotive, high-tech and fabrication and assembly (F&A). Some other small markets, like shipbuilding and infrastructure also saw increased spending.”
For those in the PLM industry these results were not shocking at all. Several PLM providers have completed highly successful fund raising campaigns and some innovative, new products have been released onto the market over the last year or so. Some of the most notable providers are CIMdata, Inforbix, Dassault and PTC. If the predictions of the PLM Market Analysis Report are accurate we expect big things from these providers in the years to come.
Catherine Lamsfuss, August 20, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
A Plan to Save the Manufacturing Industry
August 17, 2012
“Americans want to see action to help struggling manufacturers. A recent survey by the American Alliance for Manufacturing showed that 53 percent of those polled rated manufacturing as the most important sector of the economy and noted that a large majority of Americans want assistance provided. The Block Grant Program offers a critical, cost-effective, common sense solution to this serious economic problem. Economic recovery in the United States depends on a thriving, healthy manufacturing sector and resources must be targeted achieve that goal.”
Web Content Management in SharePoint 2013
August 17, 2012
John Ross gives us an updated view of web content management (WCM) in light of SharePoint 2013 in his piece, “SharePoint 2013: WCM and Search Go Together Like Peanut Butter and Jelly.” With SharePoint 2013 the FAST search engine has been fully integrated into the platform and will be the primary force behind WCM.
Ross states:
Search will be a far more efficient way to surface content in almost all circumstances. The way we’ll plan and think about WCM in SharePoint will fundamentally change. For example in the past, content needed to be in SharePoint for us to roll it up. With the new model, as long as content is in the search index we can surface it where ever [sic] we need. So the biggest limiting factor we’d have would be whether we’d be able to get SharePoint to crawl a datasource. This has massively huge implications!
While the web content functionality of SharePoint has been improved, there are good third party solutions that integrate search more successfully into the platform without needing additional customization. Fabasoft Mindbreeze is an Austrian vendor worth keeping an eye on. In addition to increasing the intuitiveness of in-house enterprise search with Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise, Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite can also enhance search on public facing Web sites.
Emily Rae Aldridge, August 17, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Global Report Misses a Significant Player in the PLM Industry
August 16, 2012
In a recent Sacramento Bee article, “Global Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Industry” we learn about a recent industry report that will have some significance in the manufacturing market in terms of efficiency.
The report analyzes the global product lifecycle management market measured by US dollars and broken down into product segments including, cPDm, PLM Tools, and Digital Manufacturing Solutions.The article shares the table of contents for this report and it includes a look at specific manufacturers and other providers.
As the article explains, the report has quite a bit of analysis.
The report profiles 84 companies including many key and niche players such as Accenture, Ansys Inc., Aras Corporation, Arena Solutions Inc., Autodesk Inc., Bentley Systems, Inc., Centric Software Inc., Computer Science Corporation, Dassault Systemes SA, Enginuity PLM LLC, Gerber Technology, Hewlett-Packard Development Company, Intergraph Corporation, International Business Machines Corporation, Lectra SA, MSC. Software Corporation, Omnify Software Inc., Oracle Corporation, Parametric Technology Corporation, SAP AG, Selerant, Siemens PLM Software Inc., Tata Technologies Limited, and T-Systems International GmbH. Market data and analytics are derived from primary and secondary research. Company profiles are primarily based upon search engine sources in the public domain.
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