Inteltrax: Top Stories, May 7 to May 11
May 14, 2012
Inteltrax, the data fusion and business intelligence information service, captured three key stories germane to search this week, specifically, hot trends among the industry.
The hottest trend in most businesses is change and “How an Analytic Firm Handles Challenges” highlights the rapidly evolving Petri dish of data analytics.
The law has been a major topic of talk and “Google Indiscretions Prove Need for Secure Data Mining” looks at how the search giant’s analytics arm might be violating laws and trust.
Partnerships have been the biggest trend in big data this year and “Clients Win When Big Data Partners” examines Cloudera’s recent teamwork.
These are just a sampling of the big time changes moving this industry forward at a frantic pace. It’s exciting and you can catch the thrill every day as we cull analytic news from around the globe.
Follow the Inteltrax news stream by visiting www.inteltrax.com
Patrick Roland, Editor, Inteltrax.
May 14, 2012
Inteltrax: Top Stories, April 16 to April 20
April 23, 2012
Inteltrax, the data fusion and business intelligence information service, captured three key stories germane to search this week, specifically, how three of the biggest supporters of analytics are fairing.
Surprisingly, transportation has taken a shine to analytics, as we discovered in “Transportation Analytics Grows Crucial to Success”.
Not so surprisingly, government spending is leaning heavy on analytics. “Intelligence Community Leads Public Sector Analytics” showed how spy agencies love analytics.
Unfortunately, the one-time titan of analytic love, the medical field, is falling behind, as we learned in “Healthcare Analytics Needs a Boost”.
While there are thousands of industries that utilize big data analytics, these three are probably the most visible. Their successes and failures are important elements of the analytic story and ones we’ll be monitoring daily.
Follow the Inteltrax news stream by visiting www.inteltrax.com
Patrick Roland, Editor, Inteltrax.
April 23, 2012
Datameer Explains Its Services
April 20, 2012
SmartData Collective’s Bob Gourley gives his take on a fairly young company in “Datameer Provides End-User Focused BI Solutions for Big Data Analytics.” The company, founded in 2009, supplies a business intelligence platform that runs on top of the open source Hadoop engine from Apache. Gourley writes:
“Datameer provides a big data solution that focuses on perhaps the most important niche in this growing domain, the end-user. . . . I’ve met with the CEO (Stefan Groschupf) and other Datameer executives. I’ve also interacted with them in events like our Government Big Data Forum. Through these events plus demonstrations by some of their greatest engineers has led me to a few conclusions about Datameer. In general, I believe enterprise technologists should take note of this firm for several reasons.”
Those reasons include: familiar and easy-to-use interfaces; the availability of free trials; scalability; software wizards that guide non-techies through accessing and integrating data; the ability to deploy either on premises or in the cloud; and the ease with which capabilities can be expanded through plug-ins and open APIs.
These are all good features, it is true. But we still have one important question: what differentiates this outfit from such fast movers as Ikanow, Quid, and Digital Reasoning?
Cynthia Murrell, April 20, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Algorithms Can Deliver Skewed Results
April 18, 2012
After two days of lectures about the power of social media analytics, Stephen E Arnold raised doubts about the reliability of certain analytics outputs. He opined: “Faith in analytics may be misplaced.”
Arnold’s lecture focused on four gaps in social media analytics. He pointed out that many users were unaware of the trade offs in algorithm selection made by vendors’ programmers. Speaking at the Social Media Analytics Summit, he said:
Many companies purchase social media analytics reports without understanding that the questions answered by algorithms may not answer the customer’s actual question.
He continued:
The talk about big data leaves the impression that every item is analyzed and processed. The reality is that sampling methods, like the selection of numerical recipes can have a significant impact on what results become available.
The third gap, he added, “is that smart algorithms display persistence. With smart software, some methods predict a behavior and then look for that behavior because the brute force approach is computationally expensive and adds latency to a system.” He said:
Users assume results are near real time and comprehensive. The reality is that results are unlikely to be real time and built around mathematical methods which value efficiency and cleverness at the expense of more robust analytic methods. The characteristic is more pronounced in user friendly, click here type of systems than those which require to specify a method using SAS or SPSS syntax.”
The final gap is the distortion that affects outputs from “near term, throw forward biases.” Arnold said:
Modern systems are overly sensitive to certain short term content events. This bias is most pronounced when looking for emerging trend data. In these types of outputs the “now” data respond to spikes and users act on identified trends often without appropriate context.
The implication of these gaps is that outputs from some quite sophisticated systems can be misleading or present information as fact when that information has been shaped to a marketer’s purpose.
The Social Media Analytics conference was held in San Francisco, April 17 and 18, 2012. More information about the implications of these gaps may be found at the Augmentext.com Web site.
Donald C Anderson, April 18, 2012,
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Big Data: The Next Bubble
April 18, 2012
A colleague in Europe sent me information about a new study sponsored by SAS. To tow the line, I have done work for SAS in the past and we use SAS technology for certain types of analytic work. Nevertheless, the SAS report surprised me with its robust estimate of the uptake of big data, which is now the buzzword and trend poster child for 2012. The report was generated by CEBR, which is an azure chip outfit performing various analyses for government entities and enterprisers.
First, you will need to snag a copy of the report “Data Equity: Unlocking the Value of Big Data.” SAS did not “know” me, so I had to register again and you may have to jump through hoops as well. I don’t know if SAS will call to sell me something, but you may get a ringy dingy. Don’t blame me.
The main point of the study is that every industrial sector will be forced to deal with big data. Okay, as news flashes go, this is not one which lit up the Beyond Search editorial team. We did notice a number of interesting charts. The one reproduced below shows how much uptake in big data occurs by industrial sector today and in 2017. The key point is that the numbers and bars show big data becoming a “big” deal.
Source © 2012 Centre for Economics and business Research Ltd.
My view is that the study is interesting. Omitted is obvious weightings which consider:
- Economic downturns in the broad economy
- Facts which suggest even laggard sectors like manufacturing will embrace the big data shift
- Exogenous factors such as war in the Middle East or in the volatile areas bordering on China.
So big estimates go with big data. Big dreams are useful. Reality? Well, that is often different.
Stephen E Arnold, April 17, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Inteltrax: Top Stories, April 9 to April 13
April 16, 2012
Inteltrax, the data fusion and business intelligence information service, captured three key stories germane to search this week, specifically, the ways in which money is dealt with in analytic terms.
Saving money is the focus of “Knowing Needs and Wants Save Tons with Big Data” which aims to help buyers decide what they want in an analytic package before buying.
Making the right investment for you is covered in “Speed is the Analytic Key” which says, above all other factors, spend extra money on speed because that’s the quickest to get outdated.
Finally, “Series-B Investments Expand Analytic Growth” shows how smaller firms and startups depend on private investors to compete with the big names in a big data.
Money makes the world go around and the big data planet is no different. But the ways in which it is saved and spent and acquired could fill a book. We are writing a new chapter every day and hope you’ll join us.
Follow the Inteltrax news stream by visiting www.inteltrax.com
Patrick Roland, Editor, Inteltrax.
April 16, 2012
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
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
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