IntelTrax: Top Stories July 27 to August 2
August 6, 2012
Data analytics solutions and other Business Intelligence tools were the primary focus of many of this week’s IntelTrax stories.
Big Data is a continued source of controversy within the analytics community, particularly regarding its existence and whether or not it is something old or new. “Big Data is Analytics for Dummies” argues that big data is simply the rebranding of an old concept.
The referenced article explains the reasoning behind the rebranding argument:
“Cloud computing, for instance, offers much the same thing “ASPs” offered ten years before, with the difference that this time round it is going to work. Similarly, analytics has been available for many years, as a high-cost service using high value supercomputers, and operated by white-coated high priests who have come into the field from linguistics, philosophy and computer science. If you have a big data set, and the money to have it explored, analytics has been there to reveal the secret trends within you information, which might give your business an edge.”
Another notable post from last week is “Data Miners and the Need for Certificates Debunked.” According to the article, due to the fact that every field has been infiltrated by data mining, the need for experts and certifications in the field has come about as a result.
When discussing whether or not certifications have value, the article states:
“The “data mining” definition has been created by marketing industries just to summarize in a buzz word techniques of applied statistics and applied mathematics to the data stored in your hard disk. I don’t want say that tools are useless, but it should be clear that tools are only a mean to solve a problem, not the solution. In the real world the problems are never standard and really seldom you can take an algorithm as is to solve them! …maybe I’m unlucky but I never solved a real problem through a standard method.”
A story that explains the importance of data analytics technology within the insurance industry is “Insurance Doubles Down on Analytics.” According to the article, insurance companies looking to detect fraud are strongly impacted by data and statistics which is one of the reasons why they are embracing the big data revolution.
The story cited:
“The report, which covers the spectrum of tools from business intelligence tools to advanced analytics tools, finds that the average insurer invests 9 percent of the IT budget on data and analytics. This amounts to almost $10 billion per year, and while the insurance industry has long used analytics for traditional risk-centric analysis, there is a shift in the ‘how, where, and when’ the industry leverages data and analytics, according to the report.”
As you can see, text analytics and big data analysis are becoming increasingly important for companies looking to manage their content in a way that makes the most out of a multitude of different types and structures of data. Digital Reasoning is an analytics company with experience providing affordable solutions for both the government and private sector.
Jasmine Ashton, August 6, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Perfecting Web Site Semantics
August 6, 2012
Web site search is most often frustrating, and at its worst, a detriment to customers and commerce. Fabasoft Mindbreeze, a company heralded for its advances in enterprise search, is bringing its semantic specialization to the world of Web site search with Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite. Daniel Fallmann, Fabasoft Mindbreeze CEO, highlights the features of the new product in his blog entry, “4 Points for Perfect Website Semantics.”
Fallmann lays out the problem:
The problem: Standard search machines, in particular the one provided by CMS, are unproductive and don’t consider the website’s sophisticated structure. The best example: enter the search term ‘product’ and the search delivers no results, even though product is its own category on the site. Even if the search produces a result for another term, there’s nothing more than a ‘relatively un-motivating list of links,’ not really much help to a website visitor.
Using semantics in the search means that the Web site is being understood, not just keyword searched. Automatic indexing preserves the existing site structure, while providing hassle-free search for the customer. In addition, InSite benefits the Web site developer, in that he/she can see how users are navigating the site and which elements are most often searched.
The attractive “behind-the-scenes” functioning of Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite means that customers benefit from the intuitive, semantic search without the distraction of a clunky search layer. Satisfy your customers and your developers by exploring InSite today.
Emily Rae Aldridge, August 6, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Research and Development Innovation: A New Study from a Search Vendor
August 3, 2012
I received message from LinkedIn about a news item called “What Are the Keys to Innovation in R&D?” I followed the links and learned that the “study” was sponsored by Coveo, a search vendor based in Canada. You can access similar information about the study by navigating to the blog post “New Study: The Keys to Innovation for R&D Organizations – Their Own, Unused Knowledge.” (You will also want to reference the news release about the study as well. It is on the Coveo News and Events page.
Engineers need access to the drawings and those data behind the component or subsystem manufactured by their employer. Text based search systems cannot handle this type of specialized data without some additional work or the use of third party systems. A happy quack to PRLog: http://www.prlog.org/10416296-mechanical-design-drawing-services.jpg
The main of the study, as I interpret it, is marketing Coveo as a tool to facilitate knowledge management. Even though I write a monthly column for the print and online publication KMWorld, I do not have a definition of knowledge management with which I am comfortable. The years I spent at Booz, Allen & Hamilton taught me that management is darned tough to define. Management as a practice is even more difficult to do well. Managing research and development is one of the more difficult tasks a CEO must handle. Not even Google has an answer. Google is now buying companies to have a future, not inventing its future with existing staff.
The unhappy state of many search and content processing companies is evidence that those with technological expertise may not be able to generate consistent and growing revenues. Innovation in search has become a matter of jazzing up interfaces and turning up the marketing volume. The $10 billion paid for Autonomy, the top dog in the search and content processing space, triggered grousing by Hewlett Packard’s top executives. Disappointing revenues may have contributed to the departure of some high profile Autonomy Corporation executives. Not even the HP way can make traditional search technology pay off as expected, hoped, and needed. Search vendors are having a tough time growing fast enough to stay ahead of spiking technical and support costs.
When I studied for a year at the Jesuit-run Duquesne University, I encountered Dr. Frances J. Chivers. The venerable PhD was an expert in epistemology with a deep appreciation for the lively St. Augustine and the comedian Johann Gottlieb Fichte. I was indexing medieval Latin sermons. I had to take “required” courses in “knowledge.” In the mid 1960s, there were not too many computer science departments in the text indexing game, so I assume that Duquesne’s administrators believed that sticking me in the epistemology track would improve the performance of my mainframe indexing software. Well, let me tell you: Knowledge is a tough nut to crack.
Now you can appreciate my consternation when the two words are juxtaposed and used by search vendors to sell indexing. Dr. Chivers did not have a clue about what I was doing and why. I tried to avoid getting involved in discussions that referenced existentialism, hermeneutics, and related subjects. Hey, I liked the indexing thing and the grant money. To this day, I avoid talking about knowledge.
Selected Findings
Back to the study. Coveo reports:
We recently polled R&D teams about how they use and share innovation across offices and departments, and the challenges they face in doing so. Because R&D is a primary creator and consumer of knowledge, these organizations should be a model for how to utilize and share it. However, as we’ve seen in the demand for our intelligent indexing technology, and as revealed in the study, we found that R&D teams are more apt to duplicate work, lose knowledge and operate in soloed, “tribal” environments where information isn’t shared and experts can’t be found. This creates a huge opportunity for those who get it right—to out-innovate and out-perform their competition.
The question I raised to myself was, “How were the responses from Twitter verified as coming from qualified respondents?” And, “How many engineers with professional licenses versus individuals who like Yahoo’s former president just arbitrarily awarded themselves a particular certification were in the study?” Also, “What statistical tests were applied to the results to validate the the data met textbook-recommended margins of error?”
I may have the answers to these questions in the source documents. I have written about “number shaping” at some of the firms with which I have worked, and I have addressed the issue more directly in my opt in, personal news service Honk. (Honk, a free weekly newsletter, is a no-holds-barred look at one hot topic in search and content processing. Those with a propensity to high blood pressure should not subscribe.)
Brief Recap of Office 2013 Preview Features
August 3, 2012
In “Capturing the Highlights of Office 2013,” some of the main features from the recently released Office 2013 preview are discussed. The author has this to share on new social capabilities:
Microsoft has enhanced the social networking capabilities in SharePoint 2013 and plans to integrate Yammer’s enterprise social networking capabilities when that acquisition closes. Microsoft announced a $US1.2 billion purchase of Yammer in June. There are new social networking features in SharePoint 2013 that provide Facebook-like ways to follow, “like”, and reply to the status of files, sites, tags, and users. The software will suggest items to follow and can aggregate outside feeds from Facebook and LinkedIn.
SkyDrive Pro, team folders, and Case Management site features set for SharePoint 2013 are also discussed. The brief read may be worth a glance to keep up with the new features coming in Office 2013 suite.
SharePoint is a powerful and complex system, and new features are exciting. But an out-of-the-box system is rarely comprehensive. For a lean and complete solution in your SharePoint environment, check out Fabasoft Mindbreeze. Here you can read about the power of information pairing.
Fabasoft Mindbreeze:
. . . 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.
Check out the full suite of solutions at Mindbreeze to see what works for you.
Philip West, August 3, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Customers Value Effective Web Site Search
August 2, 2012
A successful Web site search is essential in today’s market. Customers expect a pleasant appearance, intuitive interface, and effective search in public facing Web sites. Those features can all be added with the least amount of effort by choosing Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite. Fabasoft Mindbreeze has long been a leader in enterprise search, but the newer InSite product enables customers to access effective search, outside your organization’s enterprise.
Registration is easy and includes a free 28 day trial. Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite will crawl your site and complete an index of your content.
Read what one customer, Dr. Manfred Weiss of Computerwelt, is saying:
We want to stand out from the crowd with a top internet presence. Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite is part of this strategy. Our readers value the service of a perfect search. Regardless of which of our portals the information is on, Mindbreeze finds it. Since the search function is operated as a Cloud service, we save time and money.
Do not worry about installation or configuration. Complete your registration now and let Fabasoft Mindbreeze do the work for you. Organizing your enterprise is no longer enough, set yourself apart from the pack by presenting an efficient search on your public facing Web site with Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite.
Emily Rae Aldridge, August 2, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Epic Analysis
August 2, 2012
A unique application of text analytics may hint at a future for English majors, at last! Phys.org News informs us, “Physicists Study the Classics for Hidden Truths.” Scholars at Coventry University analyzed the Illiad, Beowulf, and the Irish epic Táin Bó Cuailnge. They found that, in all three mythological works, character interactions mirror those found in today’s social networks.
The write up describes the study’s methodology:
“The researchers created a database for each of the three stories and mapped out the characters’ interactions. There were 74 characters identified in Beowulf, 404 in the Táin and 716 in the Iliad.
“Each character was assigned a number, or degree, based on how popular they were, or how many links they had to other characters. The researchers then measured how these degrees were distributed throughout the whole network.
“The types of relationships that existed between the characters were also analysed using two specific criteria: friendliness and hostility.
“Friendly links were made if characters were related, spoke to each other, spoke about one another or it is otherwise clear that they know each other amicably. Hostile links were made if two characters met in a conflict, or when a character clearly displayed animosity against somebody they know.”
These interaction maps paralleled those found in real-life networks. On the other hand, the same analysis of four fictional tales, Les Misérables, Richard III, The Fellowship of the Ring, and Harry Potter, turned up clear differences from real-life interactions. (See the article for more details on these differences.)
Interesting—the classical epics are more true-to-life than fiction. This is not to say that everything in them can be taken as facts, of course; no one insists Beowulf slew a real dragon, for example. However, the study does suggest that as the craft of story writing was refined, it moved away from realistic portrayal of societies and the ways folks related to each other. Why would that be? Ask an English major.
Cynthia Murrell, August 2, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
SharePoint 2013 System Requirements
August 1, 2012
Bjorn Furuknap is again hot on the trail of recent SharePoint activity. With the release of SharePoint 2013, much discussion has taken place surrounding system requirements. While Microsoft initially made a report that requirements would not change from 2010, it seems that is not entirely truthful when referring to SharePoint Server 2013.
Furuknap gives the rundown:
Short story: If you plan on doing development work on SharePoint Server 2013, you need a minimum of 24 GB of RAM. That’s assuming you are NOT going to need Visual Studio, which will only add to that number.
Wow, we were overwhelmed by this number. Most small organizations are not going to want to invest in a separate and beefed-up machine just for SharePoint Server work. In addition, customization is discouraged with SharePoint 2013, so developer work will come at more of a premium as well.
For organizations that need to overcome these challenges, we recommend a smart third party solution like Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise. Serving as a compliment to an existing infrastructure, or as a standalone solution, Mindbreeze can run on the Cloud, is highly scalable, and receives an efficiency update every quarter. See what users are saying about Fabasoft Mindbreeze, and why they were not willing to settle for SharePoint.
Emily Rae Aldridge, August 1, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Making Data Easy with Training Wheels? The Nielsen Dust Up
July 31, 2012
In the Honk newsletter, I have been plugging away at some of the flights of fancy that surround big data, next generation analytics, and all things predictive. I am nervous about “training wheels” on complex mathematical processes. Like the fill-in-the-blanks functions in Excel, a person without a foundation in math can fiddle around until the software spits out a number which “looks good.” In one of my jobs, my boss was a master at “the flow.” The idea was that numbers can be shaped to support a particular point. I recall his comment to me in 1974, “Most of our clients are not smart enough to work through the math. We have to generate outputs which flow.” The idea is one that troubled me. I moved on to greener and less slippery pastures and I kept that notion of “flow” squarely in mind. Numbers should not cause the person looking at a chart or a table to say, “Wow, that number looks weird.” Hence, flow allows the reasoning process to be guided.
I just read a story which I hope is not accurate. I want to document my coming across the item, however. I think it will be an interesting touchstone and search and content processing companies race to be come players in big data and analytics. The story appeared in the Hollywood Reporter, a publication about which I know little. The headline caught my attention because it resonates with advertising and advertising automatically evokes the Google logo for me. “Nielsen Sued for Billions over Allegedly Manipulated TV Ratings” carries a hard hitting subtitle too: “In a huge new lawsuit, the business of TV ratings is fingered for rampant corruption by India’s largest TV news network.” I know even less about India than the Hollywood Reporter.
Fancy math underlies the products and services of many analytics firms which offer products and services to licensees that make interacting with data a matter of pointing and clicking. A happy quack for the equation to http://goo.gl/lBlXV
Here’s the passage I noted:
In a 194-page lawsuit filed in New York court late last week, NDTV accuses Nielsen of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by manipulating viewership data in favor of channels that are willing to provide bribes to its officials. According to NDTV, rampant manipulation of viewership data has been going on for eight years, and when presented with evidence earlier this year, top executives at Nielsen pledged to make changes. But the Indian news giant says these promises have been false ones.
Like most litigation, the story will unfold slowly and perhaps not at all. The i2 Group Palantir litigation is a relatively recent example. Based on my experience with the boss who wanted numbers to flow, I can see how the possibility of tweaking could be useful to some companies. However, with the dismal state of math skills, how can I now of the problem was a result of human intent, human error, or a training wheels type system driven over rocky terrain. I can’t and I bet that most people thinking about this situation cannot either.
What is interesting to me, however, are these notions:
- How many other fancy math systems are open to similar allegations from their licensees?
- Will this type of legal action cause some of the vendors pitching fancy math and predictive systems to modify their marketing materials to include more caveats and real world anchors instead of bold assertions?
- How will the legal system deal with fancy math litigation? I don’t know many attorneys. The handful with which I have some experience have been quick to point out that math, engineering, and science were not their strengths. Logic and reasoning were their strong suits.
With many search and content processing companies embracing fancy math, sentiment analysis, smart indexing and other math-based functions, will a search vendor find itself in the hot seat? I hope not but the market wants to buy fancy math. Understanding the fancy math may drive demand for individuals who can figure out if the systems and methods do what the licensee believes they do.
Oh, I like the word “billions.” Big money adds to the drama of analytics risk management in my opinion.
Stephen E Arnold, July 31, 2012
Maximizing the Value in High-Value Engineering Content
July 31, 2012
I read with interest the article “How Inforbix Extends the Value of PDM/PLM Systems.” For companies which create engineering drawings and other types of rich media, the cost and effort required to convert an idea into a digital object can be considerable. In my experience, most non-technical professionals do not understand the effort required to move from an idea into a digital file which, in turn, makes it possible to manufacture a part or an assembly. Not surprisingly, most enterprise information management systems do not handle engineering diagrams, CAD objects, and 3D data files particularly well. In fact, most findability systems ignore these content objects.
In an increasingly competitive world, ignoring high value engineering content can be an expensive mistake. The Inforbix article asserts:
At Inforbix we’ve been working on ways of giving people easy and simple access to data within their PDM/PLM system. That way, anyone in the company, without any special skills or training can get at the data they need within their PDM/PLM system without using touching the actual system.
Professional systems used to produce a CAD object, for example, require training to use. Unlike a Web page or a mainstream office application like Microsoft Word, the interfaces and methods of performing basic tasks such as opening a project file may not be obvious.
Many non engineers do require access to specialized engineering data, information about a component, and data about suppliers. These types of information may not reside within an enterprise search system. If some of the data are present, those items may not be indexed by the project under which the items are organized.
The article continues:
Inforbix lets anyone in a company with a PDM/PLM system access data therein without touching, moving, or interacting with the actual PDM/PLM system and data. By giving anyone in a company the ability to gather and expose data within PDM/PLM systems.
If your organization wants to maintain and grow the value of its high value content, an easy to use findability system is necessary. In our search work, we know the value of the Inforbix system. You can get more information at www.inforbix.com.
Stephen E Arnold, July 31, 2012
Sponsored by HighGainBlog.com
A View from Mindbreeze Management
July 30, 2012
KM World highlights the leadership of Daniel Fallman as managing director of Austrian based Fabasoft Mindbreeze in, “Mindbreeze, Daniel Fallmann Managing Director: View From the Top.” KM World is a respected authority in content, document, and knowledge management as well as all things enterprise.
Fabasoft Mindbreeze has been making headway in the American enterprise market, having already made a name for itself in European sectors.
Fallman highlights some of his company’s latest news in the above KM World piece:
The aim of Mindbreeze is to ensure the maximum possible reduction of manual effort in delivering pinpoint accurate information to the user-eliminating the search process to be replaced with an instant finding experience. Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite is a Cloud service that delegates the searching to an invisible dynamic background process-via semantics and information pairing. The user is simply presented with relevant knowledge. Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise consolidates data from enterprise and Cloud sources. The aim of providing an unprecedented level of information is fulfilled by hybrid scenarios that combine enterprise and Cloud information stores.
For SharePoint users who are hesitate about the upcoming 2013 migration, consider a smart third party solution like Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise. Instead of spending time on advanced customization, and money on developers to do just that, invest in an efficient and intuitive enterprise option.
Emily Rae Aldridge, July 30, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
