Exclusive Interview: Paul Doscher, President of Lucid Imagination
April 16, 2012
The Search Wizards Speak features Paul Doscher, the new president of Lucid Imagination. Mr. Doscher joined Lucid Imagination in December 2011. He had been president of Dassault Exalead USA prior to assuming the top spot at fast-growing, customer- and community-centric Lucid Imagination.
I spoke with Mr. Doscher when he was working for the Dassault Exalead organization. When he shifted to Lucid Imagination, I spoke with him about his views of open source search. After that brief initial conversation, I met again with Mr. Doscher and probed into his views about the impact open source search is having on traditional for-fee, proprietary search systems.
When I asked about the shift from proprietary search systems to open source search, he told me:
Today organizations need the flexibility to adapt and make changes. A proprietary solution may not permit the licensee to make enhancements. If a change is made, the proprietary search vendor may “own” the fix and will add that innovation to its core product. The licensee who created the fix gets nothing and may have had to pay for the right to innovate. As corporate information technology struggles to keep up with escalating business information demands and an ever increasing mountain of growing content of all types, open source search provides a cost effective and efficient way to develop applications to address the challenges and opportunities in today’s enterprise.
Mr. Doscher has strong views about how licensees of enterprise search systems have learned about costs, the time required to deploy a system, and the effort needed to keep a search system up and running. I asked him about Lucid Imagination’s approach to a search engagement. He said:
Our approach to an engagement is to listen to what our customers need, prepare an action plan, and then deliver. In a sense, our approach is the type of involvement that many software companies have stepped away from. We have an enthusiastic group of engineers and professionals who work with clients to meet their needs.
The full text of the interview appears on the ArnoldIT.com Web site. For more information about Lucid Imagination’s open source search system, you will want to explore the company’s Web site and its blog. In addition, an interview with one of the founders of Lucid Imagination, Marc Krellenstein, and with Eric Gries, a former executive at Lucid Imagination, is available in the Beyond Search archives.
Stephen E Arnold, April 16, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
New Open Source Search Information Service Available
April 16, 2012
Open source search was not a viable option for the enterprise in 2003 when ArnoldIT started work on the first Enterprise Search Report. Stephen E. Arnold wrote two more editions before he decided that proprietary search solutions were becoming “look alikes.” In the ArnoldIT 2011 study, The New Landscape of Enterprise Search, Stephen E Arnold and his editorial team decided not to cover open source search solutions because the sector was moving rapidly and no large players had emerged. Now almost a year after the New Landscape of Enterprise Search, the pace of innovation has increased significantly and there are some significant commercial open source search ventures in the US and elsewhere.
The ArnoldIT editorial team, which consists of librarians and technologists, recommended that we begin the task of identifying important articles to determine if there were sufficient mass to warrant a Beyond Search type of publication focused on open source search. We concluded that there was an increasing flow of information about open source search. Therefore, we want to share this information with others who have an interest in what is shaping up to be a disruptive force in information retrieval.
We want to help document that there is a new approach to enterprise search. The solutions involve the cloud, toolkits, and ready-to-run services available with a mouse click. The vendors pushing forward range from companies which have an established profile in the business community; for instance, IBM and Lucid Imagination. There are some open source search solutions which are not widely known in certain organizations; Xapian and Summa Summix come to mind. In between there are dozens of open source search, content processing, and hybrid services.
ArnoldIT recently completed a study of open source search option. After finishing our research for a client, we decided to move forward on a new information service. OpenSearchNews.com will discuss big data search solutions, including Amazon’s CloudSearch service, Basho Riak, and Constellio. If you are not familiar with these solutions and have an interest in search, you will want to check out OpenSearchNews.com.
The new microsite, now publicly available, publishes Monday through Friday and provides critical commentary, information about products, and highlights additional sources about open source search. The information service will report about the companies, trends, and products which offer an alternative to the seven figure solutions from proprietary enterprise search solutions. The approach of the service will be similar to that taken by researchers who want information that provides essential facts and links to high-value sources of information. The service will provide up-to-date news and analysis about the dynamic market for open source search and will publish Monday to Friday at www.opensearchnews.com. Additional information about the new information service is available on the site’s About page. Keep in mind that we don’t do “real” news. We have more in common with researchers and analysts than those who work for organizations embracing the tenets of Mr. Murdoch.
Recent stories include:
- Enterprise Adoption of Solr Lucene Rises
- In the Future, Enterprise Search Will Be a Service
- Lucid Works 2.0 Attracts Enterprise Suitors
Emily Aldridge, the editor of the publication, is an MLS and expert searcher who demonstrated exceptional capabilities in tracking down information about products and projects with names like Hounder, Oxyus, and Piscator.
Emily Aldridge, editor of the new information service, said:
“Open source search has become a fast-growing segment of the enterprise search and big data markets. The number of companies competing in this segment is growing. Large commercial enterprises are embracing open source and providing useful software to anyone who wants to use it. Two good examples are the contributions of Lucid Imagination and LinkedIn. The Danish government has supported an open source search initiative which provides search features for libraries looking to provide a patron with a single search box for a range of content in different collections.”
The information service will cover cloud solutions, open source search appliances, and mention commercial services which have open source software under the glossy exteriors of products and services from Amazon and IBM. We will also cover related subjects such as proprietary cloud search services. Comments will be accepted, and like other ArnoldIT information services we hope to combine useful information with some pointed observations.
Like Beyond Search, we will roll out new features and functions over time. We plan to use Google’s AdSense to help offset the cost of producing the service. If you want to learn more about the publication, contact us at seaky2000 at yahoo dot com.
Don C. Anderson, Senior Engineer, ArnoldIT, April 16, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Kontagent Ksuite Enhanced
April 15, 2012
The Kontagent Blog recently reported on their new enhanced suite of their social/mobile analytics platform in the post “Kontagent’s New Ksuite DataMine Changes Social/Mobile Analytics Game for App Developers.”
According to the article, the enhanced kSuite platform, now includes a data mining option that equips data analysts with unlimited query powers to help social gaming and mobile app developers better engage and monetize users. As one of the only app analytics solutions available on the cloud that allows for big data exploration. It also allows more flexibility and power than ever before.
Jeff Tseng, Kontagent Co-Founder and CEO said:
“Until now, data mining in our market has been largely unaffordable. You had to build or license expensive proprietary software, buy the servers, load the data, and hire engineers to maintain the database. With the kSuite DataMine solution, we are literally changing the game as well as dramatically reducing costs by providing a turnkey, 100% hosted solution with no customer overhead whatsoever.”
As technological progression moves towards apps rather than individual products, Kontagent’s DataMine is certainly a game changer.
Jasmine Ashton, April 15, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
An Adobe Core Competency: Analytics
April 14, 2012
Buy a company and you are an expert in what that acquisition does. I think that is how former middle school teachers, MBAs, and azure chip consultants perceive their expertise.
Media Post News Online recently posted the article “Adobe’s Project Midas Expands Predictive Marketing Tools,” which reports on Adobe Systems’ plan to push deeper into online marketing by adding software that can predict consumer behavior to the Adobe Digital Marketing Suite.
According to the article, the new product was tested around Black Friday, but sales fell short of Adobe’s other electronic offerings. So they have adjusting their advertising spending to compensate for this setback.
The article states:
“Adobe, which captures more than six trillion transactions yearly for more than 5,000 digital customers, collectively represents more than 27 petabytes of data. The company runs software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings through 23,500 servers and networked devices in 19 data center co-location sites. Aseem Chandra, vice president of marketing for Adobe’s Digital Marketing Business, calls the new feature “predictive marketing” to analyze events throughout the entire funnel to help marketers analyze the data to determine any concerns.”
It’s good to see that Adobe is keeping up with the times by adding predictive analytics software to their solutions. Will the analytics interface be designed to be difficult for 67 years olds to read? Oh, Adobe is an expert in interface design. Will this blend of art and math roll out a market steamroller? We watching.
Jasmine Ashton, April 14, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Analytics Firm Humanizes Web Traffic Analysis
April 13, 2012
BetaKit recently reported on a new product put out by the data analysis firm known as Mixpanel in the article “Mixpanel Launches Flow to Humanize Web Traffic Analysis.”
According to the article, Flow is a free tool that gathers user information in real-time. It will hopefully raise awareness about the Mixpanel brand while driving more customers to the companies paid offerings.
The article states:
“The immediacy of feedback, combined with a focus on usable, attractive design are what help it stand out from competitive offerings. Insights that can be gleaned from the kind of information Flow provides are sometime obvious; users tend to click on links from left to right when they appear next to one another, for instance, with the left-aligned links often being clicked more frequently than the rest in navigation bars.”
While this product has some very exciting new features, it also has some limits. Unlike competitors like Google Analytics, Flow doesn’t yet provide information about the source of traffic coming into the website. Although it plans to eventually include that information. Where Mixpanel is setting itself apart is by putting significant emphasis on design and accessibility of information.
Jasmine Ashton, April 13, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Enterprise Search Finds a Place in Higher Education
April 13, 2012
Enterprise search is no longer a fad, but a business and organizational necessity. Other information technology programs in higher education are not specific enough to address the intricacies of enterprise, so enterprise is being added to the curriculum. The San Francisco Chronicle reports in, “Microsoft SharePoint 2010 and OneNote 2010 Added as Electives for MOS Master Certification.”
“Microsoft SharePoint and OneNote are both integral parts of the MOS 2010 certification suite – the world’s most recognized, standards-based credential chosen by individuals seeking to validate their skills on Microsoft Office. MOS 2010 is the next generation of Microsoft’s industry-leading business certification program that accounts for the delivery of over one million certification exams annually.”
While the certification is offered through Microsoft, outside the confines of traditional higher education, it is a validation of the importance the industry places on enterprise and SharePoint knowledge.
While everyone is made better by increased knowledge and understanding, we wonder if the training is necessary for everyone or if it most users could instead consider the addition of a third-party solution to make enterprise simpler. Fabasoft Mindbreeze is one such third-party offering. Their suite of solutions is optimized for user experience, efficiency, and simplicity.
Hermann Löberbauer of Ferngas AG (Austria) offers the following endorsement of Fabasoft Mindbreeze products:
“We have been using Mindbreeze for fast information search since 2005, starting with the desktop version for individual workstations. Now we use the Enterprise Search solution throughout the company. Our knowledge base currently comprises more than 10 million documents from various data sources, plus the captured metadata. Finding the relevant information in file systems or Microsoft Exchange without Mindbreeze would be very time consuming.”
Training is good, but sometimes costly. Consider taking an easier way out and explore smart third-party offerings from Fabasoft Mindbreeze.
Emily Rae Aldridge, April 13, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Complexities of Enterprise Search
April 12, 2012
As more enterprise options flood the market, one would expect the task of tackling enterprise search to be simplified, but it has not been the case. Alan Pelz-Sharpe dives into the complexities of enterprise search infrastructure in the aptly named, “Enterprise Search Is Not Easy.” Three major players dominate the search market: Google, Microsoft, and Apache Lucene. However, a big ship can be hard to turn:
“The enterprise search market can well be described as ‘slow moving.’ Though the names change over the years, the underlying technology remains much as it was a decade ago. On the one hand, this is a positive thing because it has delivered mature, scalable, well-tested offerings that generally work well. On the other hand, we have search engines that continue to fall short of end users’ expectations (no matter how unrealistic those expectations may be). As has become the norm, expectations are set largely by Internet search experiences via the likes of Google and Bing – a very different search paradigm with few of the necessary restrictions or challenges of enterprise search.”
So if employees are truly end-users, and demand a good user experience for their enterprise appliance, how does an organization choose the right fit? Pelz-Sharpe weighs in again:
“For IT managers faced with updating or replacing existing search technology, I advise you to look at the different options available; it’s not just a two or three-horse race. There are many interesting options to explore from vendors including Endeca, Vivisimo, dtSearch and Exalead, each with differing strengths and weaknesses. Whichever option you finally decide upon, if your ultimate goal is to provide a single point for search within your organization, do not underestimate the complexity and potential cost of your project.”
We would add another up-and-coming industry success story to the list of third-party vendors above, Fabasoft Mindbreeze. Many customers offer their recommendation for Mindbreeze, especially regarding its flawless Cloud capabilities. Wolf Hengstberger of ADV Austria says:
“As head of IT and organization at ADV, I found the solution particularly impressive. After registering for the service on the Mindbreeze website, we immediately received the necessary embed code for the integration in our website. The search was available straight away. Exactly what I expect a contemporary modern Cloud service to be: Quick. Flexible. Easy.”
Check out the suite of enterprise and search solutions offered by Fabasoft Mindbreeze and see if they can simplify the complexities of enterprise for your organization.
Emily Rae Aldridge, April 12, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
English Majors Rejoice: WolframAlpha Does Willy
April 11, 2012
I know that quite a few search engine optimization wizards, most MBAs, and probably two thirds of the attorneys love William Shakespeare. From the wonderful days in those teen years all the way through English 410 at a top-notch school like the University of Phoenix. Willy’s passion is that which passes show to the glass of fashion, text mining. Ah, analytics, how use doth breed a habit in a man.
Well, not the entire corpus of Shakespeare. “Rape of Lucrece” warrants a “WolframAlpha doesn’t understand your query.” So for my own part, it was Greek to me.
Navigate to “To Computer or Not to Compute—WolframAlpha Analyzes Shakespeare’s Plays.” I thought immediately about Vivisimo’s academic vertical search demonstrations. These were great fun, but I am not sure that academic subjects hit the Instagram jack pot. The service may be useful to those trying for figure out which character was Desdemona’s mother’s maid, and I think the service helps educate some graduate students into the virtues of doing close reading by scanning outputs from a set of algorithms little understood. Here’s the passage in the write up I noted:
Entering a play into Wolfram|Alpha, like A Midsummer Night’s Dream, brings up basic information, such as number of acts, scenes, and characters. It also provides more in-depth info like longest word, most frequent words, number of words and sentences, and more. It’s also easy to find more specific information about a particular act or scene with queries like “What is the longest word in King Lear?”, “What is the average sentence length of Macbeth?”, and “How many unique words are there in Twelfth Night?”.
Literature teachers will face essays in which words fly up. What is below is a numerical recipes. And close reading? We have heard the chimes at midnight.
Stephen E Arnold, April 11, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Woopra Educates Users about Web Analytics
April 11, 2012
We paid attention in statistics class. The quality of the data and the questions one frames are key to making any analytics exercise work. Punching buttons and generating pretty charts and graphs are not too helpful if the underlying data and the questions are off base, incorrect, or training wheels for a hassled MBA.
Quora recently posed the question “Web Analytics: Most companies don’t use the full potential of their Web Analytics tools. What do you think?” and received eight answers.The most thought provoking response came from Natalie Issa, the Marketing Director of the web analytics company Woopra.
According to Issa, there are four key points one should keep in mind when tackling the web analytics challenge. These are: Google analytics, marketing vs. developers, large companies vs. small, and educating users.
When discussing the importance of educating users, Issa writes:
“Web analytics services need to invest and devote resources to educating users. The company I work for, Woopra, is tackling this head on by hiring individuals whose job it is to teach and create learning materials for our users to make sure they have all the support they need (if this sounds like your kind of job, feel free to message me :)). We’re also seeing more and more marketing firms and consultants helping small and medium size businesses with their web analytics needs.”
Does this mean that customers are making decisions without an appropriate understanding of what the math behind the system actually delivers? Our view: training wheels on analytics can produce some interesting consequences.
The reality is that analytics will not solve problems reliably unless the users understand the data and frame the correct question. Statistics 101. It is not the training; it is the fact that people want a silver bullet, not mental effort. Just our view, of course. Marketers have a different goal, and it is not education, is it?
Jasmine Ashton, April 11, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
New Book Helps Organizations Increase the Value of SharePoint
April 11, 2012
Frequent SharePoint blogger and author Christian Buckley has co-authored a book devoted to SharePoint 2010. Market Watch provides full details in, “Axceler Product Evangelist Christian Buckley Co-Authors New Book on Microsoft SharePoint 2010.”
“Christian Buckley, Director of Product Evangelism and a Microsoft SharePoint Server MVP, has co-authored a new book titled, ‘Microsoft SharePoint 2010: Creating and Implementing Real-World Projects.’ Buckley and co-authors Jennifer Mason, Brian T. Jackett, and Wes Preston help readers build effective business solutions with Microsoft SharePoint 2010 by following repeatable business analysis and design principles from real-world projects. This hands-on book, published by Microsoft Press, focuses on a different business scenario in each chapter, using a standard template to guide the reader through the solution-building process from start to finish. Readers can also learn how to utilize SharePoint out of the box to develop a corporate intranet, a media hub, a system to support distributed teams, and solutions to many other scenarios.”
Buckley often focuses his efforts on getting the most out of a SharePoint deployment, knowing that most organizations will not be satisfied with its out-of-the-box functionality. This book will no doubt improve the quality of life for many a SharePoint developer.
However, we wonder if there is not a simpler solution. Third-party solutions like those offered by Fabasoft Mindbreeze provide a seamless and intuitive add-on to an existing SharePoint installation. Bringing together semantic pairing, mobile capabilities, and a scalable solution for the Cloud or an on-site installation, Fabasoft Mindbreeze can save organizations from the cost of customization suggested by Buckley.
“Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise understands you, or more precisely understands exactly what the most important information is for you at any given moment. It’s a center of excellence and simultaneously your personal assistant for all questions. The information pairing technology brings enterprise and Cloud together.”
The more information, the better, and Buckley’s book is worth a read. However, do not neglect smart third-party options like Fabasoft Mindbreeze when analyzing the customization needs of your organization.
Emily Rae Aldridge, April 11, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
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