TeraText
August 30, 2009
TeraText is a search and content processing system that has a low profile. The company that licenses TeraText is SAIC, a large consulting firm with revenues in the $11 billion range. If you take a look at information about TeraText in the Overflight service, you see that the company has zero information in the current news stream. A visit to the TeraText Web site and a look at the news reveals that the most recent news was a May 2008 item about the TeraText SAFE Symposium in Washington, DC. Yet last week, I heard that one Federal agency is using TeraText. Obviously the product is still in the channel, just invisible.
So what’s going on with TeraText?
My email to my contact at SAIC bounced. I fired off an inquiry to the “contact us” link but heard nothing as I write this short news item.
Let me round up the bits and pieces of information that I have. As I get more information, I will keep you informed.
First, TeraText is an umbrella product name. SAIC uses the repository-based system for a wide range of client applications. Examples range from email archiving to data and document management in environments where security is job number one. SAIC has wrapped output functions around the data management system. A licensee can use TeraText to output documents and reports for print or electronic dissemination. Keep in mind that the word “tera” is designed to connote the system’s ability to handle terabytes of information.
Second, the company offers search and retrieval as a core service. If you zoom into the firm’s email archiving system, you will find that email can be indexed as it is created. As a result, TeraText offers a real time email search system. The roots of this product variant are deep in the US intelligence community.
Third, the product was evolved from research conducted in Australia. The original technology dates from the early 1990s. Although the technology has been updated on a regular cycle, the core principles of the system are now beginning to show their age. Nevertheless, for large-scale information processing where security is of great importance, the TeraText system will do the job. For the system, expect to pay six to seven figures to get the show on the road.
One of the last announcements in my files was a 2004 item about TeraText’s tie up with Hewlett Packard for Federal sales. Since that deal was announced, HP has purchased an enterprise publishing system company. I am not sure if HP is actively marketing the TeraText systems at this time.
Stephen Arnold, August 30, 2009
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