Concept Searching Set to Sponsor SharePoint City Party at 2012 Conference
October 23, 2012
Concept Searching, a provider of enterprise-grade software products that aim to deliver conceptual metadata generation, auto-classification, and taxonomy management from the desktop, is sponsoring the ‘SharePoint City’ Party, to be hosted by Axceler exclusively for attendees at the SharePoint 2012 Conference, on November 14th in Las Vegas. Concept Searching provides basic enterprise-search capabilities, and this is explained about their additional product:
Going beyond a technology solution, Concept Searching’s Smart Content Framework™ for information governance is a toolset based on conceptClassifier for SharePoint that provides the enterprise infrastructure framework to mitigate risk, automate processes, manage information, protect privacy, and address compliance issues. The result is one set of technologies, running natively in SharePoint, which improves search, provides an enterprise metadata repository, automates records management, ensures compliance, protects and secures data, and facilitates migration.
If you plan to attend the conference, the party held at Tryst Nightclub may be worth checking out. A link to register for the party is provided in the article. If you’re weighing enterprise search applications for your existing SharePoint investments, you may also want to look up Mindbreeze. Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise gains each employee two weeks per year through focused finding of data, a competitive business advantage and added bonus to employee satisfaction. In addition, their suite of solutions includes mobile and Web site search, a variety of connectors, and certified security.
Philip West, October 23, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Bitext Cracks the Sentiment Code for Salesforce Cloud Insights
October 22, 2012
Salesforce went social years ago. First, the company hired Steve Gilmore, a widely respected futurist and technology expert. Next, the company added various commenting and collaboration functions to the Salesforce platform. Now the company has taken the next logical step. Sentiment analysis has been added to the Salesforce Cloud Insights system.
The sentiment analysis capability answers such questions as:
- In a licensee’s content pool, what’s hot, what’s a problem, and what’s going right?
- How are customers’ sentiments trending over time or now?
- What customers are unhappy and why?
The Salesforce Marketing Cloud Command Center solution is the next generation of social engagement. By leveraging insights from the Marketing Cloud and more than 25 social analytics leaders, customers will derive deeper meaning from the millions of social conversations happening every day. The industry’s most comprehensive solution for managing social media engagement, the Social Command Center will provide customers with a new level of social media intelligence that will allow them to filter through the noise and quickly analyze large volumes of social data to generate actionable social intelligence and connect with customers in entirely new ways.
The engine for this innovative sentiment capability was developed by Bitext, based in Madrid, Spain. Unlike most companies, Bitext was designed to operate across languages. In one sense, Bitext approached semantic methods to operate without requiring the user to specify what language is being analyzed.
Bitext is a leading provider of OEM text analytics technology. Bitext develops semantic services for major European languages using a data-driven symbolic natural language processing system. Alongside integration into partner solutions including search, business intelligence and analytics, these services are available through two different channels: Bitext Consulting and the Bitext API, which provides a web service to open up the Bitext semantic technology to third-party developers.
As a result, Bitext Sentiment enables customers to harness the power of social intelligence and connect with customers in entirely new ways. Unlike the academic charts and often incomprehensible dashboards of confusing graphics, Bitext’s system outputs data which can be used to answer basic business questions quickly.
Any developer for Salesforce Marketing Cloud Insights or users of the system can tap the power of the unique Bitext innovations. Bitext Sentiment delivers multilingual sentiment analysis. The system is fueled by sophisticated semantic analysis. According to the founder of Bitext, Antonio Valderrabanos:
“We keep the technology behind the simple reports a business person or analyst needs. We focus on usability and delivering real time results, not confusion.”
Bitext’s system uncovers key insights or “info nuggets” from the millions of conversations that take place every day in social media.
He said in Madrid today:
Bitext can deliver information which can transform a company’s future. Our multilingual sentiment analysis in a real-time environment gives companies the opportunity to understand their customers better and faster than ever before.
ArnoldIT’s view is that most of the high profile industry solutions for sentiment analysis that are based on keyword spotting or machine learning. Stephen E Arnold, founder of ArnoldIT, said:
Most of the systems asserting intelligence based sentiment analysis simply fail to handle most of the subtleties of human language. This is especially true of complex languages like Spanish or Portuguese and even more so when the Latin American varieties of these languages are considered. Our research revealed that Bitext Sentiment was built from the ground up using processing techniques designed to handle the complexity of natural language. Bitext represents morphological variation and syntactic analysis via its proprietary rule-based system, Bitext Sentiment capture nuances of meaning more effectively than other systems we have examined.
Bitext Sentiment allows an organization to gauge whether their customers have concerns about the message they are receiving or are reacting positively. Such focused, easily understood information allows users of the Bitext system to act swiftly to engage in the most effective manner.
Selected Features of Bitext Sentiment
Bitext Sentiment is a robust solution. Of particular interest to organizations seeking to leverage their “big data” from customer support and social media are:
Sentiment analysis that works using sophisticated rule-based language analysis to solve challenges such as identification of positive or negative words that do not relate to the brand in question and sentiment words that change their meaning when combined with other words
Entity extraction collects as a single Insight all of the brands, companies, people and so on that people have referred to positively or negatively, making it easy to see which are the most important subjects in a set of online conversations.
Entities context (brands, companies, people etc.) that have the strongest positive and negative sentiments are extracted into separate Insights, making it easy to compare brands, people or products and see the majority of positive or negative comments are directed.
The dictionaries and grammars that power Bitext Sentiment are built specifically for each language and language variety. Sentiment analysis is customized for each different language, not built with a one-size-fits-all technique.
The initial set of languages for Salesforce will be Spanish and Portuguese. All varieties of Spanish (Latin America and European) and Portuguese (Brazilian and European). Upon request, the system can support English, French, Italian, Catalan, Basque, Dutch and German. Other languages can be added as required.
Stephen E Arnold, October 22, 2012
Beyond Search, the “real” beyond search I might add
Tips for Creating a Unique Web Site Experience for Visitors
October 22, 2012
Sticky sites are considered engaging and well-designed so that visitors find it hard to leave the site. In “Making Your Site Sticky for Both Search & Social Users,” Jordan Kasteler discusses the differences between search and social users and how to design a site with both in mind. He points out that search users are keyword based whereas social users begin with a click on a social network. Kasteler shares this tip on creating a unique experience for the user:
Personalized. We’ve come a long way since the days of sales-brochure websites. Your website shouldn’t look like every other site out there; rather, your audience should be able to instantly get a sense of what makes you different from your competitors.
He goes on to add this about in-site search capabilities:
Easy-To-Navigate, Easy-To-Use. For the search crowd, this means having an easy-to-navigate site with prominent menu options and an effective in-site search function. The social crowd should be attracted to these key features on your site: sales, promotions, popular blog posts, etc.
When you’re weighing options for Web site search solutions, consider Mindbreeze InSite to add a powerful and customized search experience for your Web site visitors. InSite is powered by semantic search and is customizable so you can give your site the most intuitive features and add some ‘stickiness’ to your site.
Philip West, October 22, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
IntelTrax Summary: October 12 to October 18
October 22, 2012
This week the IntelTrax advanced intelligence blog posted some informative stories regarding the state of big data analytics technology and its impact on marketers and retailers.
“Big Data Particularly Useful for Marketers” examines businesses can mine data that they are already collecting in order to increase revenue. The pressure to create a marketing strategy that is both customer and market driven is intense, and it has caused many marketers to turn to analytics solutions for aid:
“Marketing analytics used in conjunction with big data will help many organizations properly evaluate their marketing performance, gain insight into their clients’ purchasing habits, market trends and needs and make evidence-based marketing decisions. As one example, look at how politicians are using big data to identify their target audience and reach out to the so-called “silent majority.”
“Using Big Data Analytics to Predict Consumer Behavior” is another article that discusses the impact that big data analytics has on marketers. It examines changes in consumer behavior. Now, instead of marketers running the show, it is the customers who are leading market trends.
The article predicts:
“In the not-too-distant future, you will be able, for example, to change your contact information with many vendors at once, rather than many times, over and over, at many different websites. You will declare your own policies, preferences and terms of engagement—and do it in ways that can be automated both for you and the companies you engage. You will no longer have to “accept” agreements that aren’t worth reading because, as we all know, they cover the other party’s butt but expose yours.
In addition to your personal tool kit, you’ll have software that can knit together your apps with the services offered by companies, saving work for you and creating business for them—all in real time.”
Many smaller companies that are new to the analytics scene are choosing to invest in Google Analytics over some other solutions. “Google Analytics for Dummies” shares an article that provides a step-by-step look at how to use Google Analytics to determine the success of your sight.
However, the author explains:
“Google analytics are meaningless if you can not take the information it gathers and make necessary changes on your web site. Not everyone realizes this, but there are other companies out there that offer even more comprehensive analytics services than Google. Digital Reasoning has spent the past decade creating automated understanding for big data. Its flagship product Synthesys addresses big data challenges in the enterprise market – including Financial Services, Healthcare, Insurance Fraud, Electronic Discovery, and Enterprise Risk.”
Digital Reasoning is a company that has been working in the data analysis and management field to create a solution that takes the pressure off employees and automates the process. Synthesys is used by marketers worldwide to understand market trends and gain valuable insights into customer behavior.
Jasmine Ashton, October 22, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Zeppelin looks to enter the Ring with Other Social Business Tools
October 19, 2012
In “Yammer, Jive, Microsoft SharePoint are ‘Blank Pieces of Paper,’ says Zeppelin,” Meghan Kelly relays comments from Zeppelin on the social business tool’s potential to connect employees in the workplace. Zeppelin co-founder Anze Vodownik voiced opinion at the DEMO Conference that Yammer, Jive, SharePoint, and the like claim to be a new Facebook or Twitter but are installed in a company and become underused. She had this to say about the Zeppelin service:
Zeppelin lets employees put quick blurbs about their day in front of coworkers. It connects with Google Analytics, Basecamp, Microsoft, and customer relationship management systems, and allows employees to upload files and photos. You can also sign up for a daily or weekly summary of what is happening on your team.
The company launched its private beta today. Right now, Zeppelin is only going after the small to medium-sized business market.
SharePoint is a ubiquitous platform that is only increasing adoption rates. When it comes to encouraging collaboration in the business environment, consider a third party application that also taps into all of your information, including social media channels. Mindbreeze facilitates the comprehensive incorporation of all electronic data repositories and connects seamlessly with SharePoint. Social business and employee collaboration fueled by efficient and comprehensive access to information is possible with Mindbreeze.
Philip West, October 19, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Search Technology Delivers Enterprise Information
October 18, 2012
Generic server markets are desperately trying to hang on to their hardware margins but the new competition comes with some renown. Corporations like IBM and Cisco are seizing opportunities to create a unified computing system that might just drive the smaller servers out of business according to GigaOM’s article “Does Big Data Really Need Custom Hardware?”.
IBM is using their built in expertise and reputation as leverage in attempt to corner the Big Data market:
There are many who think that data processing will require something above and beyond a typical x86 set up, such as a box from SeaMicro or Calxeda machine with low-power cores that are networked to work in parallel to parse many bits of data in small chunks. Others are thinking farther ahead and envision new architectures that mimic the human brain. These boxes aren’t about the whiz-bang tech inside; they’re an admission that services wrapped in a box are the main opportunity ahead for larger vendors.
Information management software already exists that can effectively and securely extract and enrich raw data within an enterprise-wide environment. The hook for IBM is to draw users to their other PureData services and push out the smaller companies. Enterprises have been relying on smaller scale developers such as Polyspot for information delivery solutions so it is unlikely that these innovative companies will be bullied out of their field of expertise, even by someone as colossal as IBM.
Jennifer Shockley, October 18, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Making Connections between Data with Semantic Search
October 18, 2012
In “Google’s Knowledge Graph: Implications for Search & SEO,” Bharati Ahuja discusses Google’s hopes for the Knowledge Graph to help deliver a more perfect search engine, or in Google’s Matt Cutts’s opinion, a knowledge engine. The Knowledge Graph aims to help users find the right thing, get the best summary, and go deeper and broader to discover more about the search to potentially answer the user’s next question before it is asked. Ahuja explains its impact on SEO:
The Knowledge Graph is also paving the way to new approaches toward SEO. Semantic search isn’t just about the web. It’s about all information, data, and applications. Data is the foundation on which such a web and search world can exist. Data in itself is meaningless, but when data gets linked because of its relationships with various data sets available on the web, it becomes useful and meaningful. So when users type in a query, these inter-connected relationships add context and the related information more powerful.
The power of semantic search in addition to relevant content is key to gaining and retaining an audience. A powerful search system that can make connections among vast amounts of data can also help deliver a better search experience for users. One solution worth taking a look at is InSite from Mindbreeze. InSite is capable of searching a wide variety of specific documents, including PDFs, Excel sheets, and Word documents, as well as searching social media sites and Web sites.
Philip West, October 18, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
PolySpot Releases New Administrative Console
October 17, 2012
PolySpot’s latest video explains the features and functions of Version 6 of its Administration Console. With this latest release, PolySpot leapfrogs of the administrative interfaces available from many other vendors. PolySpot Information At Work includes a configuration and administration console that covers the entire process, from connector management to search service creation.
The company has provided a video demonstrating the uses of this new administrative console and detailing these high-value enhancement; for example, the ability to configure views with a click, modify the document view with a single click, and autocomplete.
PolySpot, leader in information access solutions, has released a brand new administration console as part of the company’s infrastructure component, Information at Work. Information at Work is a cost-effective component that can help users develop applications to access the information they need.
The updated console provides quick and easy-to-use intermodule navigation with new navigation menus and focuses on providing guidance during the workflow of configuration. Other features of the interface include:
PolySpot Silo Breaker: Distributed data extraction framework.
PolySpot Sense Builder: Dedicated, asynchronous structuring and semantic enrichment platform.
PolySpot SearchMart: Service based on PolySpot InfoWarehouse used to publish index-linked search services. Can be accessed via a range of different applications using an XML/HTTP API.
The video can be viewed here. We think the video demonstration is useful and worth checking out.
Andrea Hayden, October 17, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
How a Sitemap Can Enhance a Web Presence
October 17, 2012
Business2Community covers the importance of Web site indexing in its piece, “How To Build Your Own Sitemap in Five Minutes, and Why You Need To.” In it, the author discusses differences processes for simply creating an effective sitemap. However, he begins with an introduction.
When you ask most business owners and beginning online marketers what a ‘Sitemap’ is, you usually get two responses. ‘What’s that?’ or ‘That’s just too complicated for us.’ Sitemaps for your website aren’t impossible to make, and they certainly aren’t a waste of time. To understand why you need to make your own Sitemap today, you need to understand what they are and how they work.
The author then goes on to recommend various tools and techniques for effectively creating a sitemap. However, there are other solutions that not only automatically generate sitemaps, but also automatically crawl and index any organization’s site in order to enable effective Web site search. One highly awarded option is Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite. Fabasoft Mindbreeze takes the guesswork out of indexing and mapping, reaping high results with little effort. Explore how Fabasoft Mindbreeze might enhance your organization’s online presence today.
Emily Rae Aldridge, October 17, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
What Does Attivio and Its $34 Million Mean for Other Vendors?
October 16, 2012
Boston.com’s “Attivio Collects $34 Million in New Funding to Help Companies figure Out What They Know” caught the attention of the goslings here in Harrod’s Creek. I have spoken with several senior managers in the content processing and analytics space, and I can report that none of these individuals had his or her arms around the broader meaning of the $34 million Attivio landed.
Boston.com reported:
“One thing our software does is correlations,” Riaz explains. “You may have an unpaid invoice that belongs to Cisco, and we help you figure out that the reason its unpaid is that you may have all these support issues with them that you need to address.” Riaz says part of the appeal of Attivio’s software, which it calls the Active Intelligence Engine, is that “we can merge into their existing information infrastructure so that we’re adding value in days.”
What the reports of Attivio’s funding omits is the possible impact of the money on the search and content processing sector. Let me outline four consequences of this funding deal:
First, the competition is going to have to find a way to cope with Attivio’s marketing and sales activities. Attivio is a pretty good marketing operation. However, with additional funding, Attivio will be able to compete against its traditional competition and push into sectors which are more familiar with IBM- and Oracle-type solutions.
Second, the prospect pool for Attivio will grow. Money today works like catnip. Companies looking for a way to cope with distributed and fractionalized data will include Attivio in their short lists. Money works this magic.
Third, people who are working at smaller analytics firms or who are in a cube at a Google-type operation will consider Attivio as a job hop option. This means that smart people will gravitate to Attivio because it offers a green field opportunity.
Fourth, innovators are likely to knock on Attivio’s door. Raw invention is one thing, but turbo charging comes from learning about hot new systems and methods. I think Attivio will benefit from a flow of ideas from small outfits looking for a mover and shaker.
Good news for Attivio. Maybe some other investment firms will look at the information delivery sector and another hot prospect. Exciting times.
Stephen E Arnold, October 16, 2012
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