Google and India: Pragmatism 2012
February 14, 2012
India is a juicy market. Google knows this, and my hunch is that Google is aware that it dropped a Super Bowl pass when it informed China that it had to do Googley things. Well, how did that turn out? In my opinion, not so well, but Google will undoubtedly find a way to glom onto the world’s largest market. While that kiss-and-make-up activity is underway, Google is demonstrating some pragmatic thinking about the world’s second largest market—India.
Navigate to “Google Bows to Censors in India”, a story in Google’s home town newspaper. The San Jose Mercury News gently asserts:
A Google representative, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Monday that while the company recently declined a request by a government minister to pre-screen content considered politically or religiously offensive, Google now faced a court order and had no choice but to follow it. Google would not release details about what content it had taken down or explain how it planned to respond to the government’s demand for a self-policing action plan.
I think this means that Google is doing what India wants. Good move. Now I must ask, “Is the article accurate?” I will monitor Overflight to see if Google does the Shanghai shuffle and tells the government of India what it should do. With costs creeping up and the competitors getting frisky, Google may find that being Googley is okay in certain situations and not so useful in others. Management maturity or an act of revenue enhancement? Worth monitoring the censorship thing, however.
Stephen E Arnold, February 14, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
MapMaking Used to Prevent Public Health Threats
February 10, 2012
Science Blogs recently reported on a new tool that blows Google Maps out of the water in the article, “New Mapping Tools Bring Public Health Surveillance to the Masses.”
According to the article, HealthMap is a team of researchers, epidemiologists and software developers at Children’s Hospital Boston who use online sources to track disease outbreaks and deliver real-time surveillance on emerging public health threats. They also utilize the help of local residents to help with research.
Blogger, Kim Krisberg writes:
“HealthMap, which debuted in 2006, scours the Internet for relevant information, aggregating data from online news services, eyewitness reports, professional discussion rooms and official sources. The result? The possibility to map disease trends in places where no public health or health care infrastructures even exist, Brownstein told me. And because HealthMap works non-stop, continually monitoring, sorting and visualizing online information, the system can also serve as an early warning system for disease outbreaks.”
Mapmaking and public health are hardly strangers. Public health practitioners use maps to guide interventions. Despite the complexity of most disease outbreaks, maps can still help health professionals raise public awareness about prevention and target interventions in ways that make the most of limited resources.
Jasmine Ashton, February 10, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Data Management for Search Wizards
February 8, 2012
Over the last couple of years data management has become a hot button issue for many corporate enterprises.Tech News World recently reported on data management best practices in the article “The 5 Pillars of Master Data Management.”
According to the article, there are five principles that should be adhered to in order to achieve master data management success. These principles will help one understand how to quantify success, track ROI and communicate the business impact.
In order to succeed the article advises that companies: define their business problem, plan beyond phase one, have a strong governance program in place, recognize that the most important word in MDM is management, and partner with a vendor who has significant MDM and information governance experience.
The article states:
A single trusted view of information provides the clear insight and transparency that organizations need to have effective business processes and interactions with customers and partners. Particularly at a time when social media and new information platforms are becoming pervasive, organizations now have access to new resources offering rich customer insights. However, businesses and governments must recognize that governance has to be part of this information gold rush.
While this write-up has some helpful tips on why it is important to prioritize master data management, we found it to have some painful generalizations. Just the ticket for the search wizards to keep projects running into sandbars and sometimes sinking.
Jasmine Ashton, February 8, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Inteltrax: Top Stories, January 23 to January 27
January 30, 2012
Inteltrax, the data fusion and business intelligence information service, captured three key stories germane to search this week, specifically, how certain industries are gaining a foothold via big data analytics.
One story, “Marketing Analytics Makes for a Wide Open Field,” showcases how smart marketers are getting a better understanding of potential customers with BI.
“Human Resources is Not Helpless With Big Data” acts as a rebuttal of sorts to a spate of news saying HR offices aren’t properly utilizing big data. We think they are and can do even more with a little help.
However, not all the news is positive. “Avoiding Obsolete Analytics” deals with SPOTS, an acronym for obsolete analytics, of which some say are more prevalent than we think. We, though, disagree, and showcase some finely evolving tools.
Big data is storming the castle of industry, changing the way nearly everyone does business. From the cutting edge HR work to stepping around potentially obsolete tools, there is an entire world of news waiting for you. We’re going to give you all you need to stay current in the big data world.
Follow the Inteltrax news stream by visiting www.inteltrax.com
Patrick Roland, Editor, Inteltrax.
January 30, 2012
Enterprise Search: Cruising on the Concordia
January 19, 2012
I keep my eyes peeled for useful management examples. Whilst recovering from a minor hitch in the goose liver, I watched the drama of the Concordia cruise ship unfold. The horrific event reminded me of several enterprise search deployments I had analyzed. I was not the “captain” of these enterprise search voyages. I was able to do some post-crash analysis.
To get the basics of the event, you will want to familiarize yourself with the write up in the UK’s Daily Telegraph, “Concordia Disaster: Should a Captain Go Down with His Ship?” In my opinion, the key passage in the Daily Telegraph’s story was:
…leadership entails an obligation to be courageous – morally, physically or both. It is the price of leadership; it is why leaders are more highly regarded and rewarded than the rest of us. But even subordinates in certain professions have the duty to be brave, as the rest of us do not. A soldier is expected unquestioningly to put himself in the way of bullets as a civilian is not.
(But my favorite news item was Cruise Captain Says He ‘Tripped’ Into Lifeboat, Couldn’t Get Out.”
Not Taking Responsibility
The alleged behavior of the captain shares one similarity with enterprise search implementations that sink. The person running the operation shirks responsibility for the disaster. My view is that ego plays a part. The more important factor may be the person’s character. I have reviewed a failed search implementation and had a difficult time determining who was responsible. The procurement team has the thick linen of committee think under which to hide. The information technology manager often keeps well away from search, a behavior conditioned by knowledge that making information findable is often impossible. The chief financial officer just counts the dissipated dollars. Accountants are not implementers. The person charged with the failure is often a young engineer whom those ultimately responsible deem expendable.
The first similarity is that in big disasters those who are responsible do whatever is needed to avoid responsibility. In enterprise search, there is a ship captain. Pretending that a captain does not exist is one interesting characteristic of today’s organizational life. Think Jerry Yang at Yahoo. Recall Leo Apotheker. You get the idea. What about the search system at your company? The National Archives? Amazon’s online store? There are captains responsible. Unfortunately these captains do not get global news coverage for their behavior.
Show Boating
The crash and sinking was a consequence of show boating. The idea is that doing something fancy is appropriate and within the perimeter of the job description is allowed. In enterprise search, the show boating becomes visible when one or more people make suggestions along these lines:
- We need to deliver answer to users, not laundry lists
- Natural language processing is essential to the success of our search system
- We need a taxonomy and semantic technology to make information accessible
- Our system has to work just like Google.
Each of these is similar to the Concordia’s buzz close to shore. Few of those involved in an enterprise search implementation realize how downright expensive, complicated, and resource intensive these “suggestions” become. Vendors go along to keep the contract. The deployment team is thinking about making search headlines and maybe getting a raise and a promotion. Great idea but when the effort sinks the search project, the result is a disaster.
The second similarity between the Concordia and the ill fated enterprise search system deployment is that getting cute can wreck havoc. Now you may say, “Hey, semantic methods will only help our search system.” Maybe, maybe not. My view is that show boating is one characteristic of doomed enterprise search system. The fix? Just do the basics well, then add some special sauce.
Amazon: Will DynamoDB Electrocute the Big Boys?
January 18, 2012
I want to capture a few business related observations about Amazon’s now public DynamoDB. The blog post by Amazon’s chief technical officer provides a good overview of the home grown NoSQL data management service. Navigate to “Amazon DynamoDB–A Fast and Scalable NoSQL Database Service Designed for Internet Scale Applications.” For a run down of some of the features, point your browser at “Notes About Amazon DynamoDB.” The basic idea is that Amazon has created its own NoSQL database, matched it to the Amazon cloud environment, and packaged it with taxi meter pricing.
Why didn’t Amazon use Hadoop or some other NoSQL, open source, Codd free systems? My hunch is that Amazon sees big money in a ready-to-role, automatic sharding, solid state disc base data management solution. Rolling its own solution gives Amazon control. In fact, Amazon is cranking up the dial on its Controlometer.
The issue that interests me is the business angle of the DynamoDB. Here are several preliminary thoughts.
First, Amazon is getting frisky but slowly. My sources report that work on the DynamoDB system began several years ago. Microsoft picked up wind of the project and was unable to respond. Right now, Amazon’s an engineering magnet, attracting talent from outfits once considered the best in the soggy city. With higher quality engineering horsepower, the dowdy retailer is shifting from a horse and wagon to a far more capable vehicle.
Second, MarkLogic had the idea that it could impinge on Oracle. Well, we know how that turned out with AtomicPR (the content fallout kids), management change, and wild and crazy marketing. Now Amazon is on the path to make life tough for Oracle. Amazon had Oracle as a steady date, but senior year is coming. Amazon may be marrying the DynamoDB, leaving Oracle without a homecoming date. If Amazon pulls off this new hitch up, Amazon may be ready to go for the enterprise gold. I think this is better than a 50-50 deal but I may change my mind.
Third, Amazon has demonstrated the value of a “Google Legacy.” Google plunged forward, diffused its resources, and ended up with its lovely self snared in legal and social thorns. Amazon, on the other hand, has avoided some of the traps into which Google threw itself. In the process itself, Amazon used Android to move its branded hardware forward. There is nothing like a friend who plans on evicting you from your home. Amazon is, once again, going beyond Google.
I have a number of other thoughts, but the goose’s liver needs a rest. Oh, oh, here comes a scowling nurse. Will she rescue the electrocuted big boys of database? I doubt it.
Stephen E Arnold, January 18, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Life Fix: Take More Breaks, Get More Done
December 31, 2011
Get ready for the New Year!
Can you get ahead by taking a nap at your desk every day? That’s what Tony Schwartz advises in Harvard Business Review’s “How to Accomplish More by Doing Less.” Actually, Schwartz doesn’t advise napping per se. It’s about combining focused ninety-minute work sessions with breaks throughout the day.
He illustrates his point by comparing two theoretical workers. The first, Bill, spends the day straight through at his desk, even eating lunch there. Nick, however, takes a fifteen minute break after every hour and a half of work, takes forty five minutes for lunch, and even takes a nap of up to twenty minutes each afternoon. While it may appear to the casual observer that Bill is the better worker, Nick actually gets better results because he isn’t burning himself out. The article insists:
It’s not just the number of hours we sit at a desk in that determines the value we generate. It’s the energy we bring to the hours we work. Human beings are designed to pulse rhythmically between spending and renewing energy. That’s how we operate at our best. Maintaining a steady reservoir of energy — physically, mentally, emotionally and even spiritually — requires refueling it intermittently. Work the way Nick does, and you’ll get more done, in less time, at a higher level of quality, more sustainably.
Schwartz boosts his conclusion with studies of pilots and violinists, as well as with his personal experience. He seems to understand, though, that such patterns aren’t widely tolerated, much less encouraged; he appeals to managers to embrace intermittent renewal for their employees.
Good luck with that in 2012 as you race to fix a search system which has indexed employee medical and employment records.
Cynthia Murrell, December 31, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
The AOL Shuffle
December 27, 2011
Cyber space gossip: more trouble at AOL? Crunched declares, “AOL Looking for New Huffpo Media Group President.” Blogger Michael Arrington admits that the news is “being whispered,” not official, but his sources say AOL has engaged recruiter Spencer Stuart to find a new business leader for the Huffington Post Media Group. AOL bought Huffpo earlier this year.
Arianna Huffington, founder of the media group, is now running the business side as well as the editorial side since AOL’s Jon Brod was reassigned. Arrington finds the reported change in the chain-of-command to be the juiciest part. The write up asserts:
By far the most interesting part of all this, though, is it’s not clear that Arianna Huffington is aware that the new position will report to Tim Armstrong, not Huffington. Whatever happens, I’m pretty sure I won’t be getting my old job back.
I hope Arrington doesn’t actually want his old TechCrunch job back. He seems to have pretty thoroughly burned that bridge. Just saying. One thing is for sure: Googlers make interesting managers.
Cynthia Murrell, December 27, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Construction Ahead for AOL
December 26, 2011
Shareholder pressure, poor financial performance, and staff defections—now that’s a Kwanzaa gift with quite a few goodies inside. Will Google-inspired management reverse the Yahoo-ization and Research in Motion approach to corporate progress?
Once again, AOL is about to restructure itself, reveals Steven Musil at CNET News in “AOL to Announce Company Reorg, Report Says.” Is this really necessary? Reorganizations make for lost time, after all. True, AOL has suffered for being behind the curve on Internet trends; its share price has fallen over 40% over the last 52 weeks. But will it gain more than it loses with this rework?
CEO Tim Armstrong believes so. The article notes:
AOL hired Armstrong away from Google in 2009 with hopes that the Web giant’s advertising sales guru would help revive the ailing AOL. However, Armstrong, who is best known for developing Google’s online advertising business, has had trouble competing for ad dollars with his former employer, as well as Facebook and Yahoo.
I’m sure he knew it wouldn’t be easy. Now he hopes consolidating AOL services into one division will help. The company is also creating dedicated units for advertising, local services, and the Huffington Post media group.
Speaking of the Huffington Post, where’s the Huffington rescue squad? Can’t Arianna do anything she sets her mind to?
Cynthia Murrell, December 26, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Google Jets and a Place to Park
December 25, 2011
Too bad for Larry Ellison. He has to park his jets somewhere other than Google Air Force Base. Since mid September, Occupy Wall Street protesters have used the memorable slogan “We are the 99%” to reference the growing disparity in wealth in the U.S. between the richest 1% and the rest of the population. Google executives are not exempt from these attacks.
According to the TechCrunch article “Google’s 3 Top Executives Have 8 Private Jets,” Google executives, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Eric Schmidt own eight jets. 2.6 jets per person, for the 2 co-founders and the executive chairman? That seems a bit excessive.
The article states:
The jets are not owned or operated by Google. Instead, the 3 Google leaders operate the fleet through an LLC called H211. Google has no official relation with H211. Ken Ambrose, the Director of Operations for H211, announced the funding offer at a public meeting this week. He also complained that NASA, which owns Hangar One, has taken too long to respond to the offer.
While it is not abnormal for CEO’s and executives to own private jets, owning eight seems extreme. I guess this is just another example of how the 1 percent lives. Hopefully it will not add too much fuel to the Occupy Wall Street fire. The deal may also pour fuel on Mr. Ellison’s ire.
Jasmine Ashton, December 25, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
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