Palantir Receives Seventh Round of Funding
May 24, 2012
Palantir is in the money again, TechCrunch informs us in “Palantir Technologies Nabs $56M in New Funding, SEC Filing Shows.” According to the article, this is the seventh round of venture capital funding for the data management company.
What is the company doing with this money?
That’s a lot of investment. What are these folks inventing? Writer Colleen Taylor doesn’t seem quite sure, noting that TechCrunch has requested more information from the company. She plans to update her post when she gets a response. For now, she writes:
“The company provides high-powered software platforms that let users integrate, visualize, and analyze large quantities of data. Perhaps most importantly, Palantir specifically has targeted its products to two sectors that need to parse large amounts of classified information, and require super solid security: Government and finance. The company counts governmental organizations such as the FBI and financial institutions such as JP Morgan as customers. Palantir has doubled in size each year since it was founded, according to its website.”
With founding members from such promising pools as PayPal alumni and Stanford computer science grads, Palantir launched in 2004. Its two products, Palantir Government and Palantir Finance, work with a wide range of data types. The company is based in Palo Alto, CA, and has offices in Virginia, New York, and London. Despite its growth, Palantir strives to retain its startup attitude and maintain the highest of standards.
But. . . just what are they working on now? Try turning back to the TechCrunch article to see whether Taylor got her answers. Other companies are able to push forward without sucking tens of millions in cash. Check out www.ikanow.com and www.digitalreasoning.com.
Cynthia Murrell, May 24, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Tips for Implementing PLM for SMEs
May 24, 2012
Now that cloud based technology has lowered the cost of implementing product lifecycle management (PLM) platforms to a level to which most small and midsized enterprises (SME) can take advantage many are still gun-shy when it comes to actually pursuing a suitable PLM solution. A recent article, “Ten Tips for PLM Success”, on CADalyst, helps direct such companies in choosing a PLM solution.
One of the best tips is to hire a professional. The analogy is made that PLM is like a do-it-yourself home repair project. Most of the time one gets in over their head and are forced to call a professional to clean up their mistake making the project more expensive and time consuming than necessary. As for PLM, it explains,
“PLM is no different. You need very specific expertise for these types of deployments, and many companies — out of a desire to save money and reduce the initial investment — think they can manage it internally with their IT team. Without the right level of knowledge on hand, however, deployments can take a lot longer and have a lower chance of success.”
All ten tips are great for small and midsized businesses intimidated by PLM solutions and the entire culture surrounding the once impossible notion of having one’s own PLM platform. Choosing the right professional for the job can be tricky which is why we recommend that companies look for providers with a proven record in customer service. As the article also explains, implementing a PLM solution that no one understands or can use is worthless.
Catherine Lamsfuss, May 24, 2012
Brainware’s Back Office Service Heals Health Care’s Advocate Accounts Payable
May 24, 2012
Advocate Health Care’s office needed a healing hand according to, Advocate Health Care Selects Brainware Distiller for Accounts Payable Automation. The professionals at Brainware have committed to the operation with promises of a painless procedure.
Brainware is a customized provider of intelligent data capture and enterprise search solutions. Advocate Health Care is included in the top 100 hospitals nationwide, with 12 acute care facilities, over 250 outpatient locations, home health, hospice, occupational health and corporate services.
The good news is Advocate’s account payable department promises to be better than before, according Sonia Lewis, Accounts Payable Manager at Advocate:
“I observed a presentation by Anixter International outlining the success they’d had in using this technology to boost productivity and accountability in their accounts payable routine, and it was a real eye-opener in terms of the possibilities intelligent data capture offered for building efficiency in our accounts payable function.”
Executive Vice President at Brainware, Carl E. Mergele stated:
“Through the efficiencies gained by intelligent data capture, Advocate plans to streamline back end processes to drive resources into their core mission of creating the best place for patients to heal, physicians to practice and associates to work.”
Utilizing Brainware in Advocate will greatly increase the efficiency of inner office operations by eliminating much of the manual data entry and increasing productivity. Brainware’s back office service can heal health care’s Advocate accounts payable.
Jennifer Shockley, May 24, 2012
Wolff Howls, The Facebook Is Failing
May 24, 2012
I read “The Facebook Fallacy.” The point of the write up is that online advertising is doomed. Upbeat. Clever. And it certainly seems to be spot on in the wake of the slow sinking of Facebook shares.
Mr. Wolff asserts:
I don’t know anyone in the ad-Web business who isn’t engaged in a relentless, demoralizing, no-exit operation to realign costs with falling per-user revenues, or who isn’t manically inflating traffic to compensate for ever-lower per-user value.
I quite like the word “humper”. It adds some interesting connotations to the person engaged in selling advertising. What does “humper” call to your mind? Keep your thoughts to yourself; otherwise, an online advertiser may insert an advertisement into your once-private life.
The killer sentence in the write up, in my opinion, was this one:
The growth of its user base and its ever-expanding page views means an almost infinite inventory to sell. But the expanding supply, together with an equivocal demand, means ever-lowering costs. The math is sickeningly inevitable. Absent an earth-shaking idea, Facebook will look forward to slowing or declining growth in a tapped-out market, and ever-falling ad rates, both on the Web and (especially) in mobile. Facebook isn’t Google; it’s Yahoo or AOL.
I put the juicy bit in bold. I enjoyed the poignant reference to the value of a New York Times online subscriber, but let’s think a moment about the reality of Facebook.
First, the social trend does not have much impact on me. But for some, Facebook is a must-have application or service. However, Facebook is oozing forward. The company is likely to undergo changes. My view is that the changes will be slow, so the demise of the Facebook blob will take some time.
Second, the problem online advertising faces is in some ways similar to the problem traditional advertising faces. Audiences phase change without warning. The truisms which allowed my account representative from Ketchum McLeod & Grove don’t work too well in today’s wonky business climate. In the absence of proven methods for making sales, there is a desperation marketing phenomenon which I find interesting. Nothing much works, and I don’t think Facebook will crack the code. However, there are enough PT Barnum opportunities to keep the business afloat for a while.
Third, the present financial climate jeopardizes Facebook and a number of other businesses. I am far more concerned about the social consequences of cutting the financial lifelines to those who depend on government largesse to survive. One can advertise and market like the Dickens. If potential customers don’t buy, there is a larger problem.
I don’t have a horse in this race. I don’t care what happens to Facebook or any of the Web outfits. I am reluctant to cry “wolff”.
Stephen E Arnold, May 24, 2012
Sponsored by Polyspot
Facebook Monetization Speculation
May 24, 2012
“It’s free and always will be.” CNet News’ Chris Matyszczyk speculates that Facebook may have to break its famous vow in “Why Facebook May Soon Cost You Money.” Extrapolating from a New Zealand test run of a program that would boost visibility of your status updates for a fee, Matyszczyk sees more charges in the future for Facebook users. He also suspects this may ultimately (ironically) give users more power. He writes:
“This week’s New Zealand experiment comes from the same helpful impulse that spawned fees for your first checked bag at the airport. “In other words, now that we’ve got you, give us something. Of course, one of the difficulties if Facebook succeeds in charging customers for, say, actually having people seeing their updates, is the possibility that its relationship with its users will change. “Currently, Facebook can switch its privacy rules and drag you along because you are aren’t a paying customer. “But once you are, mightn’t people begin to take on a different attitude? A paying customer might expect a higher level of service, of feedback — and, yes, of privacy.”
That is a good point. Certainly Facebook isn’t eager to hand users any control over the site.
I’m sure they aren’t eager to break their promise to always be free, either. After all, that vow is posted prominently on Facebook’s sign in/sign up page, and has always been integral to the company’s philosophy. On the other hand, charging piecemeal for perks (a.k.a. improvements) won’t technically violate their word, and may just help keep those shareholders happy.
Cynthia Murrell, May 24, 2012
Sponsored by PolySpot
Autonomy Bomb Shell: Revenue Miss and Lynch to Exit HP
May 24, 2012
Navigate to “HP Cuts 27,000 Workers.” Here’s the passage I noted:
One person who will be leaving HP is Mike Lynch, the founder of big data software company Autonomy, who came to HP through its $10.24bn acquisition of Autonomy in August 2011 in the short era when Leo Apotheker was CEO at HP. Whitman said that Autonomy had a bad quarter and was disappointing, and added that Bill Veghte, the executive vice president in charge of HP Software as well as the company’s chief strategy officer, will take over Autonomy and that Lynch will leave HP after a transition period. Lynch’s exit follows that of Chris Lynch, the boss of HP’s other big data acquisition, Vertica, who left HP back in March. Whitman said that Autonomy was a “smart acquisition” and a “great product” and that the revenue miss was more a matter of execution than anything else and that it would take a few quarters to fix whatever the problem is.
Interesting.
Stephen E Arnold, May 24, 2012
Sponsored by Polyspot
BA Insight Secures an Additional $4 Million in Financing
May 23, 2012
BA Insight’s lunging up the technical ladder in leaps and bounds. Their ability to offer customers a one stop shop is both impacting and reaffirming their position as an industry leader. As their renown continues to grow, headlines such as BA-Insight Lands $4,000,000 New Round might become a common occurrence.
The generalized BA Insight focus is:
BA Insight provides the technology your people need to find – and act upon – enterprise information quickly and securely. Using BA Insight’s agile information integration platform that allows rapid deployment of context aware, roll based applications, you can provide workers with a single interface through which to search across all enterprise systems, and instantly preview these search results regardless of their source or file type. Armed with these tools, your people can help the organization turn data into insight, transform ideas into action, and recognize opportunities on the winds of every change.”
Enterprise search is a must have for companies today. BA Insight conveniently offers businesses a fast, cost-effective way to optimize their enterprise search. The end result is higher productivity, greater efficiencies, and especially happier end users.
BA Insight emphasizes the importance of customer satisfaction as a key player in their success. That consumer friendly attitude, along with their professional technical support operation ensures their continued evolution in the industry. Given the facts, it was not surprising to see that BA Insight secured an additional $4 million in financing.
Jennifer Shockley, May 23, 2012
Working with SharePoint Active Directory
May 23, 2012
Continuing to following the excellent SharePoint series by Robert Schifreen, our current focus leads us to a discussion of Active Directory. Read Schifreen’s full piece at “Active Directory: Tips from the front line.”
SharePoint can’t look up users’ information in Active Directory (AD) on the fly. Instead, it has a User Profiles database which, alongside each person’s username, holds their full name, job title, location, photograph, boss’s name, and dozens more attributes besides. You need to set up AD Sync to regularly and automatically copy everyone’s up-to-date details from AD into the User Profile database. Unfortunately, despite this being one of the key facets of running a successful corporate SharePoint installation, it’s also buggy as hell.
All of these quirky pieces of SharePoint are what makes it what it is, quirky. However, they are also necessary. That does not mean that they are effective or intuitive. Smart third party solutions such as those offered by Fabasoft Mindbreeze may prove a less painful option that allows the user to achieve the same result.
Consider the federated search options of Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise:
You can use the Account settings to activate data sources from a source directory. If a federated data source needs authentication a dialog will appear. Each user can activate and deactivate the data source he/she needs. Your administrator defines a source directory and everything else is up to your users. No domain level trusts have to be established.
News pieces such as this one by Schifreen are important to keep a running dialogue about the progression of SharePoint and how to make it more usable for a wider audience. However, for many organizations, a smaller, more intuitive solution is more approach. Such organizations should consider Fabasoft Mindbreeze and its suite of solutions.
Emily Rae Aldridge, May 23, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Myth and Reality about Predictive Coding
May 23, 2012
The myth of a technology can often differ from its reality, especially in one that is still evolving. Predictive coding is currently experiencing controversy regarding its cost versus efficiency according to Will Predictive Coding Live Up to the eDiscovery Hype?.
Predictive Coding has been hailed a technology which provides lower costs with lighter burdens. The unfortunate results that deem it myth fall to the process necessary for it to function. It is an evolving technology.
Its reality is evolving as:
“With the promise of transparency and simpler workflows, predictive coding technology should eventually live up to its billing of helping organizations discover their information in an efficient, cost effective and defensible manner. As for now, the “promise” of first generation predictive coding tools appears to be nothing more than that, leaving organizations looking like the cash-strapped “Monopoly man,” wondering where there litigation dollars have gone.”
Reality is that Predictive Coding can’t exist without human’s providing the data, and then the program optimizes it. The process combines people, technology and workflow to find documents referencing keywords. The three basic components are:
- To predict utilizing predictive analytics.
- To code, utilizing a keyword to locate relevant documents.
- To process a proven workflow.
Improvements are possible given the technological advances in the industry. This new technique has potential and may yet evolve into a functional, efficient means to acquire data. For now, Predictive Coding is stuck in between myth and reality.
Jennifer Shockley, May 23, 2012
Cloud SaaS Is as Good as It Seems
May 23, 2012
Anyone can hear companies groan when replacing enterprise resource planning (ERP) software is mentioned and for good reason. Replacing software (recommended every seven to ten years) is a costly and difficult process. All that is changing however thanks to the cheapening-down of PLM solutions and the cloud according to the Works Management article, “Not Brain Surgery”, which asserts that cloud based SaaS solutions are not only trendy but practical.
PLM and ERP’s complicated relationship is explained by the article as:
“PLM for the masses may have taken about a decade longer than most pundits predicted, but it’s here now, and manufactures jumping on board will benefit from lessons learned, and improvements in technology and implementation thinking throughout that period. And did you note that reference to cloud computing as an enabler? If you want to improve the cost/benefits ratio, how about considering a sexy new cloud solution for most of your business, engineering and manufacturing software – including ERP? Not long ago such a suggestion would have been laughed out of court. But now?”
As cloud based PLM solutions are proving themselves across industries and enterprises of all sizes more and more are jumping on board. As the article points out when one stops to think about all the benefits of new technologies it just makes sense. PLM providers basing their solutions on cloud technology are creating affordable, customized platforms for their clients that would have been just a dream a decade ago. It’s time more companies realize their dreams.
Catherine Lamsfuss, May 23, 2012
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