Will Quora Funding Pay Amazon Invoice?
May 25, 2012
Hmm, does this mean AWS is not free? Popular Q&A site Quora just raised a hefty chunk of change, but Business Insider reveals that “A Lot of Quora’s $50 Million Is Going Straight to Amazon.” The write up explains:
“Amazon.com, besides its vast online store, also rents out computing power to startups like Quora, so they don’t have to buy servers and lease space in data centers themselves. The division is called Amazon Web Services, and one of its key offerings is the Elastic Compute Cloud, or EC2.
“‘We project a large portion of this money to go to EC2 and other AWS bills,’” wrote D’Angelo. “‘It might be replaced by whatever the most appropriate place for us to run our infrastructure is in the future but as of today it’s looking like EC2.’”
I know I’m unfamiliar with the details, but on the surface it doesn’t sound like that deal lives up to AWS’ “low cost” promise. Perhaps Quora should shop around a bit more? Just a thought.
Amazon won’t be getting all of Quora’s cash, though. The company will soon be hiring, and will also save some for a rainy day. This team seems quite thrifty—they still have about half of their first financing round socked away. Very prudent.
Quora began work on their product in 2009, and launched their beta in early 2010. Their innovative system curates content on personal home pages so that users can easily find what is relevant to them—information from those who share their interests, or those with experience in the subject at hand. Last year, the company received the TechCrunch Award for Best New Startup or Product of 2010.
Cynthia Murrell, May 25, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
SAP Big Blue Rides Hana
May 25, 2012
The University of Kentucky‘s business intelligence team has had to make some adjustments after the school implemented SAP‘s HANA system. ComputerWorld declares, “For Univ. of Kentucky, SAP’s HANA is ‘Disruptive’.” Writer Patrick Thibodeau, punning on the term “disruptive technology,” notes that the University is (purposely) using HANA to restructure its BI system to better analyze student retention.
The new in-memory systems like HANA pull data from RAM instead of from hard disks. Speed and relative simplicity are the advantages, but these systems do require a hardware investment. In this case, Dell provided the hardware and developed the school’s student retention data models.
HANA is only a year old, and questions about its longevity are still in the air. Part of the issue is the hardware question—should organizations deploy on the tried and true x86 system or go with an engineered system, like IBM’s new PureSystems. Thibodeau writes:
“Engineered systems offer performance gains, meaning faster time to realize value and ‘less cumbersome’ management, said Alys Woodward, a research director at IDC. On the other hand, ‘software on commodity hardware reduces vendor lock-in and enables the use of cheaper components,’ said Woodward.
“How SAP HANA ‘will play in the broader marketplace — outside SAP’s core install base — against Oracle Exadata and IBM engineered systems, depends to some extent on how these two opposing concepts will play out,’ said Woodward.”
So, x86 or engineered, take your pick. If you are considering HANA, though, the write up notes that you should make sure it will do what you want before buying the pricey software. It will not, for example, make up for poor data quality. It is also more worth the cost and effort someplace where business requirements change frequently than for an organization with a more static environment.
Cynthia Murrell, May 25, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Palantir Receives Seventh Round of Funding
May 24, 2012
Palantir is in the money again, TechCrunch informs us in “Palantir Technologies Nabs $56M in New Funding, SEC Filing Shows.” According to the article, this is the seventh round of venture capital funding for the data management company.
What is the company doing with this money?
That’s a lot of investment. What are these folks inventing? Writer Colleen Taylor doesn’t seem quite sure, noting that TechCrunch has requested more information from the company. She plans to update her post when she gets a response. For now, she writes:
“The company provides high-powered software platforms that let users integrate, visualize, and analyze large quantities of data. Perhaps most importantly, Palantir specifically has targeted its products to two sectors that need to parse large amounts of classified information, and require super solid security: Government and finance. The company counts governmental organizations such as the FBI and financial institutions such as JP Morgan as customers. Palantir has doubled in size each year since it was founded, according to its website.”
With founding members from such promising pools as PayPal alumni and Stanford computer science grads, Palantir launched in 2004. Its two products, Palantir Government and Palantir Finance, work with a wide range of data types. The company is based in Palo Alto, CA, and has offices in Virginia, New York, and London. Despite its growth, Palantir strives to retain its startup attitude and maintain the highest of standards.
But. . . just what are they working on now? Try turning back to the TechCrunch article to see whether Taylor got her answers. Other companies are able to push forward without sucking tens of millions in cash. Check out www.ikanow.com and www.digitalreasoning.com.
Cynthia Murrell, May 24, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Wolff Howls, The Facebook Is Failing
May 24, 2012
I read “The Facebook Fallacy.” The point of the write up is that online advertising is doomed. Upbeat. Clever. And it certainly seems to be spot on in the wake of the slow sinking of Facebook shares.
Mr. Wolff asserts:
I don’t know anyone in the ad-Web business who isn’t engaged in a relentless, demoralizing, no-exit operation to realign costs with falling per-user revenues, or who isn’t manically inflating traffic to compensate for ever-lower per-user value.
I quite like the word “humper”. It adds some interesting connotations to the person engaged in selling advertising. What does “humper” call to your mind? Keep your thoughts to yourself; otherwise, an online advertiser may insert an advertisement into your once-private life.
The killer sentence in the write up, in my opinion, was this one:
The growth of its user base and its ever-expanding page views means an almost infinite inventory to sell. But the expanding supply, together with an equivocal demand, means ever-lowering costs. The math is sickeningly inevitable. Absent an earth-shaking idea, Facebook will look forward to slowing or declining growth in a tapped-out market, and ever-falling ad rates, both on the Web and (especially) in mobile. Facebook isn’t Google; it’s Yahoo or AOL.
I put the juicy bit in bold. I enjoyed the poignant reference to the value of a New York Times online subscriber, but let’s think a moment about the reality of Facebook.
First, the social trend does not have much impact on me. But for some, Facebook is a must-have application or service. However, Facebook is oozing forward. The company is likely to undergo changes. My view is that the changes will be slow, so the demise of the Facebook blob will take some time.
Second, the problem online advertising faces is in some ways similar to the problem traditional advertising faces. Audiences phase change without warning. The truisms which allowed my account representative from Ketchum McLeod & Grove don’t work too well in today’s wonky business climate. In the absence of proven methods for making sales, there is a desperation marketing phenomenon which I find interesting. Nothing much works, and I don’t think Facebook will crack the code. However, there are enough PT Barnum opportunities to keep the business afloat for a while.
Third, the present financial climate jeopardizes Facebook and a number of other businesses. I am far more concerned about the social consequences of cutting the financial lifelines to those who depend on government largesse to survive. One can advertise and market like the Dickens. If potential customers don’t buy, there is a larger problem.
I don’t have a horse in this race. I don’t care what happens to Facebook or any of the Web outfits. I am reluctant to cry “wolff”.
Stephen E Arnold, May 24, 2012
Sponsored by Polyspot
Inforbix: Semantic Technology for Manufacturing Information
May 21, 2012
Inforbix, a company whose focus is product data challenges in manufacturing, will be presenting at the 2012 Semantic Technology & Business Conference in San Francisco this June 3rd through 7th. CEO Oleg Shilovitsky’s presentation will share ways his company uses semantic technology to tackle the growing data complexity plaguing the manufacturing sector. Inforbix will also take part in the Start-Up Competition on the 5th with the pitch, “Solving the Problem of Engineering Data Complexity.”
Regarding the data challenges unique to their corner of the industry, Inforbix’s press release explains:
“Manufacturing companies generate vast amounts of data. These organizations are asking how they will survive tomorrow with such data complexity. Inforbix helps companies solve the problem of data complexity in a new and different way.
1. Inforbix uses smart components (product data crawlers) that scan on-premise data and give users access to data, no matter where it’s located or how it’s sourced. There is no data extraction involved, no data import, and no data conversion. The process is automatic and requires little to no effort to deploy and maintain.
2. Inforbix uses intelligent semantic modeling that infers relationships between disparate sources of data. It combines, links, and connects these data pieces, then exposes that data using product data applications.
3. Inforbix uses the power of the cloud to allow broad and cost-effective data access.”
Founded in 2010, Inforbix is based in Boston, MA. They help their manufacturing clients access mounds of data through a single tool; ease of use, speed, and efficiency are their hallmarks.Inforbix develops intelligent apps– simple tools that address specific product data tasks like searching and accessing product data, organizing and presenting product data, and visualizing product data trends and patterns.
Inforbix’s semantic technology underpins its groundbreaking apps. It automatically finds and infers relationships between disparate sources of structured and unstructured product data. By linking and connecting related product data, Inforbix provides users with the ability to locate and access product data quickly and thoroughly.
While Product Data Management (PDM) systems offer search, their success depends on properly structured and consistent data formats, and those systems can only search within their own infrastructure. Inforbix is product data agnostic: it can access structured and unstructured data located anywhere in a manufacturing company. That’s a huge savings in time and trouble. Though smaller companies may be able to use Inforbix instead of a PDM, the solutions are intended to work with those systems.
Inforbix apps are cloud-based and fast to deploy, require no data migration or maintenance. They also provide data security by preserving the on-premises data without touching it or moving it into the cloud; that is wise.
The company introduced a mobile platform for the iPad for its apps this past January, and no training or prior experience is necessary to make the most of these apps. The software is priced affordably for any size manufacturing company to deploy companywide; a demo is available here. We highly recommend you check Inforbix out.
Cynthia Murrell, May 21, 2012
Sponsored by HighGainBlog
Amazon CFO Cannot Help Some Folks
May 13, 2012
Amazon seems to be losing control of costs, but the CFO proves to be a clever soul.
In an article on TechCrunch, “Amazon CFO Dodges Questions on Antitrust, Patents, Kindle Plans,” Amazon’s first quarter earnings call of the year and CFO Tom Szkutak’s vague answers were discussed. Apparently executives at Amazon are not giving anything away, including sales numbers for Kindle devices or plans to purchase patents. The article states:
“For example, when someone asked him about how the recent antitrust case against Apple and publishers might change the pricing model for e-books, Szkutak said, ‘Yeah, there’s not a lot I can help you with there.’ Then he repeated Amazon’s company line on the case, ‘We do think that the suit was big win for Kindle owners. We look forward to being allowed to lower prices for more Kindle books.’”
Although this pattern of not releasing information at earnings calls is fairly common, the complete lack of responses from the CFO is intriguing. It makes us wonder what Amazon is hiding instead of what Amazon may be working on.
Andrea Hayden, May 13, 2012
Sponsored by Ikanow
Zuckerberg Grip Should Be Choke Hold
May 8, 2012
In 2012, Facebook seems to be shaping up as the “new” Google. I know that apps for Facebook are not behaving the way some would like. The privacy thing is an issue. Facebook pretty much does what it wants, or, perhaps I should say, “Mr. Zuckerberg does what he wants.”
I spotted an important “real” journalistic position in “Zuckerberg Grip Becomes New Normal in Silicon Valley.” The “old” normal was Google. Hewlett Packard, Oracle, and Yahoo seem oddly out of step in the social analytics, big data, and big upside environment created by Facebook. The concept of the “new normal” is an important one, and I think that other Bloomberg and “real” journalists will hop on the bandwagon and cling until the next big thing rolls along.
Here’s the passage I noted:
Companies that have three or fewer outside board members include Pinterest, an online bulletin board; Dropbox, a provider of Web-based storage; question-and-answer site Quora Inc.; Flipboard Inc., the maker of a magazine-like application for the iPad; and Nest Labs, the creator of a technology-powered thermostat. Zuckerberg adopted a dual-class structure in 2009. He has 10 votes for every other shareholder’s single ballot. Facebook plans to raise as much as $11.8 billion in the IPO, the biggest offering on record for an Internet company. The Menlo Park, California-based company would be valued at as much as $96 billion in the deal. “People look at Facebook and see what they have done,” said Stephen Venuto, a partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP in Menlo Park, who helped Facebook set up its initial corporate-governance structure. “It’s become a much more common thing to implement dual-class capital structures in Silicon Valley companies.”
Several observations:
First, Zuckerberg is likely to keep control going forward. As a one-man band, the new normal is more power to the technologist executive. Good for the executive, perhaps no so good for some other constituencies.
Second, the lousy financial climate has shifted the financial firmament. The beneficiaries of the “new normal” may not be financial institutions which, despite protestations to the contrary, prefer to have control. The “new normal” is that power is divided differently.
Third, the implosion of the social media shock wave is likely to take out people, partners, and users. Facebook is a different type of outfit; that is, it is member based and chock full of content with a significant specific gravity. Explode high mass content out of Facebook. Interesting repercussions are likely.
The “new normal” may be fresh and innovative, particularly from a financial vantage point. Stable? I am no so sure.
Stephen E Arnold, May 8, 2012
A Brief History of the Black-Scholes Formula
May 8, 2012
Here’s a story for the math inclined—the story of a formula that transformed the financial industry. BBC News describes “Black-Scholes: The Maths Formula Linked to the Financial Crash.” Writer Tim Harford stretches the tale back to 17th Century Japan, but the formula itself was developed in the early 1970s by Myron Scholes and Fischer Black. The problem it was created to solve? The valuation of options. As the write up understates, “the details are hugely complicated.”
After the formula was published, it took on a life of its own, eventually enabling the development of that confounding instrument, the derivative. The article tells us:
“Scholes thought his equation would be useful. He didn’t expect it to transform the face of finance. But it quickly became obvious that it would. . . .
“‘By 2007 the trade in derivatives worldwide was one quadrillion (thousand million million) US dollars – this is 10 times the total production of goods on the planet over its entire history,’ says [author Ian] Stewart.”
. . . . And we all know how that story progressed. The article goes in depth into why widespread use of the Black Scholes Formula has caused so much trouble in the markets. The issue has sparked debate about not only this formula, but the role of equations in the stock market and the related reliance on computer-directed trading.
Is there any hope that one day investments will again be centered around building things (and jobs) rather than on placing bets? Nah, probably not.
Cynthia Murrell, May 8, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Half of Amazon Cloud Users Overpay
May 7, 2012
Are you an Amazon Web Services [AWS] user? Business Insider reports, “Amazon’s Cloud Is Cheap, but You’re STILL Probably Paying Too Much.” Data from NewVem indicates that about half of Amazon Cloud’s users subscribe to more computing power than they actually use, wasting money. Writer Julie Bort reports:
“[NewVem] found that 53% of light AWS users leave more than half their instances idle. That means they are spending for twice as much as much cloud capacity than they really need. Heavy users do a better job. They are wasting less than 10% of their instances.
“It only costs between 8 cents (Linux) and 11.5 cents (Windows) per hour for an instance for small users, so the wasted ones don’t really add up to a lot of money. About $138 a month apiece. But if you are a budget-conscious startup, there are better ways to spend that cash.”
Indeed. Every little bit counts for small businesses.
NewVem, the company that supplied this data, is founded on an interesting concept. This startup provides a service, now in free beta version, that analyzes cloud operational data and makes recommendations so companies can get the most from their cloudy investments.
Cynthia Murrell, May 7, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
FirstTweet Scours Twitter for Relevant Business Information
May 3, 2012
Technorati recently reported on the a new tool being launched by enterprise customer intelligence and analytics provider FirstRain in the article, “FirstRain Releases FirstTweets, Aims to Glean Business Intelligence From Tweets.”
According to the article, as of April 17, 29012, FirstRain’s new tool called FirstTweets extracts business intelligence data from the full 250 million daily tweets from Twitter and then delivered to customers’ CRM systems, social enterprise platforms, and mobile devices.
Since only about 0.1 percent of tweets are relevant to business, it is very difficult for companies to find the relevant information. In order to remedy this issue, the goal of FirstTweet is:
“Essentially being able to get the benefit out of Twitter without putting in the heavy lifting of posting, cultivating content, scouring numerous twitter search, hashtag and content discovery sites to find the 0.1 percent of relevant information for your business needs. Pretty much getting the benefit of Twitter without having to live a Twitter lifestyle.”
This is definitely a beneficial addition to enterprise search analytics software, it is not an original idea. IKANOW’s infinit.e open analytics and agile intelligence system delivers similar capabilities.
Jasmine Ashton, May 3, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
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