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
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
Critical Patches Fend off Microsoft Active Attacks
June 22, 2012
Internet Explorer has long been a vulnerable target to cyber attacks, malware and the like, but Microsoft has just announced a large batch of patches in order to address vulnerabilities across a wide variety of their software offerings. ComputerWorld UK provides a complete breakdown in, “Microsoft Patches 26 Bugs, Warns Users of Active Attacks.”
Giving attention to all of the vulnerabilities, the author reports on what may be the most critical update, the one in need of adoption first. He quotes Andrew Storms, director of security operations at nCircle Security:
‘Certainly, [MS12-036] makes it to the top of the worrisome list,’ said Storms. That update, also rated critical, patches just one vulnerability in the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), a Windows component that lets users remotely access a PC or server. RDP is frequently used by corporate help desks, off-site users and IT administrators to manage servers at company data centers and those the enterprise farms out to cloud-based service providers.
Implications for those organizations that use Remote Desktop Protocol in any manner in their infrastructure, but especially in their enterprise SharePoint deployment, are obvious. There is need for concern and quick action in order to plug the security gap. However, it’s also reported that oddly, the updates must be manually downloaded.
The author continues:
All of the patches must be downloaded manually from Microsoft’s Download Center. They’re not served up through the usual Windows Update service or the enterprise-grade Windows Server Update Service (WSUS) software.
It seems that such critical updates, especially for those who use ubiquitous SharePoint, would be made more readily accessible and users would receive prompt notification.
For enterprises that are concerned about their security needs, consider a smart third party solution like Fabasoft Mindbreeze. Smaller and more agile, these companies can devote greater attention to security needs. Additionally, in the interest of being fair, Microsoft is always going to be a target for malware and viruses because of its sheer size. It is truly a huge target. However, adding Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise to an existing SharePoint infrastructure will not only make the whole enterprise more secure, but also more easily accessible.
Read more about the security adherence of Fabasoft Mindbreeze, including relevant ISO standards. Just one example is as follows:
ISO 27001: The ISO standard 27001 is a worldwide recognized standard for the evaluation of the security of IT environments. For customers the certification means the adherence to clearly defined technical and security-based standards regarding all IT and business processes as well as all the company’s confidential information.
Sometimes bigger is not necessarily better, and this is one instance in which it definitely proves true. Move away from Microsoft, the major target of viruses and malware, and move toward a more agile, more secure solution. Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise, and the whole suite of Mindbreeze products, can not only ease your security concerns, but also provide a more satisfying user experience.
Emily Rae Aldridge, June 22, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Another Award for Fabasoft Mindbreeze
June 12, 2012
One of the greatest strengths of the Fabasoft suite of solutions is their interoperability. Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise is a wonderful compliment and/or alternative to SharePoint. But the flagship product is not the only product getting attention. “Fabasoft Wins EuroCloud Austria Award 2012,” tells us that Folio Cloud is the best Cloud service product in Austria. We would argue that the product can hold its own internationally.
The article reports:
Karl Mayrhofer, Managing Director at Fabasoft Distribution GmbH accepted the award together with Fabasoft Folio Cloud Product Owner Mag. Harald Pfoser: ‘We are pleased to receive this award as the best Cloud service product in Austria. The expert jury showed a clear focus on more security in the Cloud and particularly highlighted the Cloud access with Digital ID, state-proofed identities. In Austria Folio Cloud supports this with mobile signature, in Germany with the digital ID card and in Switzerland with the SuisseID. Because business partners want absolute clarity concerning whom they are collaborating with online in Europe.’
More information about the Folio Cloud product can be found on the Fabasoft web site:
Folio Cloud stands for security and agility. Folio Cloud is the optimal online tool for efficient data management on all devices and secure online storage. Whether at home on your PC or on the move with your smartphone. Folio Cloud has established itself as the best solution for your mobile, secure data exchange. Agile data management and secure online collaboration are hereby guaranteed. Folio Cloud stands for a secure alternative to FTP Server.
So for SharePoint users who are struggling with Cloud service and mobile accessibility features, an implementation of Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise, teamed up with Folio Cloud may just offer the needed solution. The award-winning combo is definitely worth a second look.
Emily Rae Aldridge, June 12, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
IBM Concerned with Personal Mobile Device Security
June 8, 2012
In an age where technology is moving completely towards mobile, including enterprise and content management solutions, concerns about security are valid and growing. General security awareness regarding mobile technology has not yet caught up to the level that is assumed for desktop or in-network computing.
David Roe gives a full report for CMS Wire in, “IBM Curtails Use of Personal Mobile Devices Over Unsecured App Fears.”
According to an article in the MIT Technology Review, IBM is stopping employees from using their own portable devices in the IBM workplace.
Some of the concern is about business intelligence and keeping a tight lid on proprietary information.
Public file transfer systems like Dropbox have been banned as has Apple’s iCloud; instead, employees use an IBM-hosted version called MyMobileHub as, Horan says, there is the possibility that internal, sensitive information will get loose and into the wild. Also getting the chop is Apple’s personal assistant Siri based on fears that confidential information will get out. It seems that the licensing agreement says that anything recorded using the app will also be recorded by Apple servers so you can see why IBM might be nervous.
However, this opens up a broader discussion about the security of mobile devices and software, and its continued usage for business essentials such as enterprise search. SharePoint deployments are common, but secure means to access the farm remotely are plagued with security concerns. Some third party solutions are doing a good job of anticipating the need and bridging the gap.
We like Fabasoft Mindbreeze and their attention to the mobility needs of the enterprise.
Smartphones and tablets allow you to act quickly in business matters – an invaluable competitive advantage. Fabasoft Mindbreeze Mobile makes company knowledge available on all mobile devices. You can act freely, independently and yet always securely. Irrespective of what format the data is in. Full functionality: Search results are displayed homogenously to the web client with regards to clear design and intuitive navigation.
Keep an eye on Fabasoft Mindbreeze and their ability to adapt quickly to the ever changing needs of SharePoint users or enterprise newcomers.
Emily Rae Aldridge, June 8, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Google and Enterprise Search: The Eichner Vision
June 7, 2012
Google has a new head of enterprise search, Matt Eichner, Yale, Harvard, and Endeca. Computerworld UK ran an interesting article on on June 5, 2012 by Derek du Preez. “Matt Eichner: Bringing Google.com to the Enterprise” walks through what appears to be the game plan for the enterprise search unit for the next three or four months, maybe longer if Google generates more traction than it has in the previous year or two.
The article reports that Google “commands over 90 percent of the UK’s online search market.” Mr. Eichner allegedly said:
If you look at Google in the search space, we are taking that consumer expectation that we developed on Google.com and packaged both the user interface and the algorithms behind it into an enterprise appliance.
The GSA as the Google Search Appliance is presented has been available for about a decade. Based on chatter at conferences and opinions floated by assorted search experts, Google has placed upwards of 55,000 GSAs in organizations worldwide. Autonomy, by contrast, is alleged to have about 20,000 licensees of its search and content processing systems. Microsoft SharePoint, which includes a search system, is rumored to have more than 100 million licenses. It is difficult to know which enterprise search vendor has the most customers. The numbers are not audited, and each vendor in the enterprise search market tiptoes around how customers many customers are signed up, how many customers are paying their bills, how many customers are dropping licenses, and how much revenue flows to the vendor from enterprise search service and support. In short, it may be difficult to know how big any one vendor’s share of the enterprise search market is or if there is even a market for enterprise search in today’s mash up and fluid business environment.
A block diagram showing a GSA in an enterprise installation. Note the presence of “OneBox” units. Authorized Google partners may be needed to get this type of implementation up and running. If this is accurate, then Mr. Eichner’s assertion about an “out of the box” solution may require some fine tuning. Image source: DevX at http://www.devx.com/enterprise/Article/33372/1954
Google believes there is a market, however.
The pointy end of the spear for Google is its search appliance. The idea is that a customer can order an appliance and get it up and running quickly. The GSA can scale by plugging in more GSAs. The GSA understands “enterprise context”.
According to Computerworld’s write up, Mr. Eichner asserted:
At Google we have billions of queries from Google.com coming in every day that we are able to analyze and deliver an enterprise tool that balances human behavior and search relevance.
Google’s enterprise services are cognizant of big data, which most vendors suggest can be managed by their search system. Google is no exception. Mr. Eichner, according to Computerworld, observed:
Big data is in the eye of the beholder. If I gave you 500,000 documents, which doesn’t sound like a lot, and I said to you find something in there – you would look at me and say, ‘can I use a search engine?’ From your perspective, 500,000 would be big data. We often lose sight of that. Insight needs to be delivered when you have more data than you can process. This can come in the form of 500,000 documents or hundreds of millions of documents. The real mandate in the world today is to get up the competitive stack by being more knowledgeable about what you are doing more quickly – that’s the nature of the information economy. The imperative is to get better at assimilating the knowledge you have and acting on it. The inverse of this is if you have big data and you don’t have insight. That’s the equivalent of saying ‘I’ll take a guess, I won’t use the information and I’ll take a guess.”’
TIBCO News: Hadoop Support added to Spotfire Analytics
May 21, 2012
Organizations around the globe are experiencing challenges with managing the explosion of big data and meeting the demands of digital consumers. Tech entities are eagerly stepping up and collaborating to develop solutions for these big data challenges, including innovative alternatives to industry standards, like SharePoint.
TIBCO Software Inc. is a provider of infrastructure software for companies to use on-premise or as part of cloud computing environments. Chris Kanaracus recently discussed some TIBCO news in the ComputerWorld.com post, “Tibco adds Hadoop Support to Spotfire Analytics Tool.” The new release is explained:
Spotfire 4.5 will become generally available this month and features a data service connector to Hadoop, which is known for its ability to handle unstructured data such as weblogs, sensor information and text. The connector will allow users to combine and analyze information from Hadoop clusters along with structured data from business applications such as an SAP or Oracle ERP (enterprise resource planning) system.
But some analysts, such as Boris Evelson of Forrester Research, are less than giddy. Evelson adds, “However, other aspects of the release, such as the management tooling and iPad support, are less than earth-shattering.” According to Evelson, mobility has become a basic requirement of any BI platform.
TIBCO’s new partnerships are another indication that enterprise search is the hot new market for competition and development. While acquisition and development news is exciting, you may want to turn to an established search solution that already understands the value of federated search and mobility. We like the feedback we’ve seen about Fabasoft Mindbreeze. Here you can read about the mobility solutions from Mindbreeze,
Fabasoft Mindbreeze Mobile makes company knowledge available on all mobile devices. You can act freely, independently and yet always securely. Irrespective of what format the data is in. Full functionality: Search results are displayed homogenously to the web client with regards to clear design and intuitive navigation.
And with information pairing of your cloud and on-premise data, users can easily access important business information on the go from their smartphones and tablets. The well-established and cost-effective solution is worth a second look at http://www.mindbreeze.com/.
Philip West, May 21, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Funnelback Demo Video
May 17, 2012
The Cloud Harvester is hosting a new demo video for Funnelback‘s flagship product. The video is short but sweet—in less than a minute and a half, it clearly conveys how to create a new faceted navigation filter in Funnelback Enterprise Search.
Funnelback was grew from technology developed by CSIRO, Australia’s premier scientific research agency. The company was established in 2005, and was bought by UK content management outfit Squiz in 2009. They offer Enterprise and Website Search, both of which include customizable features. Both local and SaaS deployment options are available.
Regarding their Enterprise Search product, Funnelback’s Web site promises a comprehensive product:
“Funnelback Enterprise makes information available via a single web interface in a timely, consistent and convenient manner, leading to faster, more informed decision-making. Funnelback Enterprise can search across a myriad of corporate content repositories including websites, intranets, shared drives, document management systems, email systems, SharePoint and databases.”
Curious about the name? Their About page shares this:
“The name Funnelback is a play on the name of two spiders; the funnel-web and the redback, both native to Australia. The name was also chosen because of Funnelback’s ability to rapidly ‘funnel’ relevant information ‘back’ to the user.” [links added]
Quirky, clever, and memorable. And quintessentially Austrailian, just like Funnelback.
Cynthia Murrell, May 17, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Arnold Columns: Update May 2012
May 9, 2012
We have continued to produce Stephen E Arnold’s for-fee columns. Due to some minor health excitement involving Mr. Arnold, his monthly update about what and for whom he has been writing for money has been on hold. The content continued to flow. Here’s a run down by publication of the for fee columns submitted through May 8, 2012:
Enterprise Technology Management, IMI Publishing, London, UK. ETM publishes my Google column which originally appeared in KMWorld.
- January 2012, “Google Enterprise: The Berkeley Analysis.” The article discusses why a noted university chose Google’s apps, not Microsoft’s. The point is that price cutting is playing a major role in information technology decisions.
- February 2012, “Google Enterprise: Is There a Poison Apple in Paradise?” The column reviews the new version of the Google Search Appliance. The question becomes, “Could Apple pose an alternative to Google, an alternative Google is not anticipating?”
- March 2012, “Google Privacy and Enterprise Licensing.” This write up explores how recent revelations about Google’s approach to privacy may put barriers in place which could slow or block some Google enterprise license deals.
- April 2012, ”Google’s Cloud: Building and Threatening.” The essay considers that Google has been left in the starting blocks by Amazon’s cloud services. Google may catch up, but the pricing of cloud services, regardless of vendor, can be slippery to estimate.
- May 2012, “The Google Myth: Poetics and Glass.” The story considers Mr. Page’s role with Wall Street and Mr. Brin’s assignment to promote Google’s virtual reality “glasses.” Will these modern day Romulus and Remus billionaires continue to coexist in a positive relationship?
Information Today, Information Today, Inc. The Information Today column covers search-related topics for the an information specialist, competitive intelligence researcher or database publishing professionals.
- January 2012, “Augmented Reality: I’ll Be Back”. Autonomy, best known for enterprise search and content processing, has emerged as a leader in augmented reality or AR. The column discusses Aurasma, the company’s AR solution.
- February 2012, “By Jingo: Search Catchphrases 2012.” This article considers the role and implications of marketing phrases used by enterprise search vendors. The majority of the buzzwords have more to do with competitive jockeying than communication to an organization looking for a findability solution.
- March 2012, “Health and Medical Research: Drying Up the Bones.” Web-accessible, public medical information is tough to use. The essay looks at several services, including Quertle.
- April 2012, “Are Analytics the New Way to Search?” Most users don’t search particularly well. Some do not want to formulate search queries. The write up considers the question, “Can analytics deliver search results without asking the user to formulate a query?”
- May 2012, “Google and Microsoft: Interface Flipperoos.” The story points out that the new Google interface looks more like Excite 1996 than Google in 2007. Microsoft, on the other hand, looks almost exactly like Google.com’s interface in 2007. Are flips like this the new approach to search interface innovation?
KMWorld, Information Today, Inc. The column for KMWorld discusses enterprise information from the angle of semantic technology.
- January 2012, “Insight from the Information Tsunami.” The column discusses Microsoft SharePoint and BA Insight, a software complement to SharePoint designed to address some of the “issues” associated with Microsoft’s flagship content management system.
- February 2012, “Bitext: Engaging in the Semantic Arena.” The article profiles Madrid-based Bitext, a company emerging as a leader in the enterprise semantic market.
- March 2012, “Xyte and Insight into Online Behaviors.” The write talks about Xyte’s approach to market research and discloses some interesting findings about Facebook. These items suggest Facebook is a more potent online force than some believe.
- April 2012, “Consumerizing Knowledge Management.” The essay considers that analytics programs with training wheels deliver some benefits to enterprise users. However, acting on auto-generated reports without understanding the assumptions behind the report can lead to bad decisions.
- May 2012, “Big Data, Cows, and Cadastres.” The write up looks at specific business pay offs from the analysis of big data. The biggest benefits come from analysts who understand the data and the math behind a particular numerical recipe.
Online Magazine (published six times a year). Information Today, Inc. The features written for Online Magazine focus on open source search in the enterprise. For more than a year, Mr. Arnold’s column has explored a range of subjects related to open source search.
- February 2012, “Open Source Search: Clarity with Lucid Works.” The feature discusses Lucid Imagination’s newest release of Lucid Works Enterprise 2.0.
- April 22012, “Open Source: Fascinating Uncertainty.” The feature takes a look at some of the jockeying which takes place in the open source world involving “foundations.”
If you are a public relations person, an azure chip consultant, or an unemployed middle school teacher, Mr. Arnold does not accept story suggestions for these for fee writings. His policy is to contact people with regard to a question or issue. Mr. Arnold is not a journalist. In a previous life, he indexed medieval sermons in Latin. He does not understand “real” journalism, marketing, public relations, investment bankers, private equity firm owners, and sales people.
These articles are available from the publishers who purchased work for hire. At some point, Mr. Arnold’s staff may post versions of some of the essays on one of the reference Web sites Mr. Arnold operates. For copies of these articles, please, contact the publishers. For a briefing on one of the topics addressed in Mr. Arnold’s for fee writings, please, contact us at seaky2000 at yahoo dot com.
Donald C. Anderson, May 9, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Yammer Embraces Search
May 2, 2012
An enterprise social vendor is jumping into search: BrainyardNews announces, “Yammer Update Emphasizes Enterprise, Cloud Search.” Since search vendors are jumping into almost anything with the merest whiff of money, I guess it makes sense for enterprise social network provider Yammer to pursue search. BrainYard editor David F. Carr writes:
“Yammer is introducing ‘universal search,’ along with an option for project or interest groups within a Yammer enterprise social network to sign up for services without necessarily enlisting the company as a whole. . . . To Yammer, universal search makes it possible to search across connections to both enterprise and cloud-based systems integrated with a Yammer network. For example, a search by customer name might turn up automated updates from Salesforce.com, SAP, and a Microsoft SharePoint site, as well as posts by users about that company.”
Uniquely, Yammer saves space by indexing only the metadata coming into a feed, rather than the underlying data, though full-text indexing may appear in the future. The basic social network service is free, and a la carte pricing for premium options gives customers some flexibility.
The new features are part of the spring update Yammer released this month. Other components include: a new tagging method; a Web part that integrates with MS Office 365; updated mobile apps; and the Yammer Embed feature, now moving up from its beta existence.
Launched in 2008, Yammer pioneered the use of secure, private social networks for the purpose of collaboration. More than 80% of Fortune 500 companies currently use the company’s services.
Cynthia Murrell, May 2, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
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