Upcoming Discussion on Big Data and HealthCare
September 26, 2012
GigaOM recently reported on an upcoming round table discussion between several experts in the field of big data analytics in the article, “Using Big Data to Reinvent Health Care.”
According to the article, the panel of experts GigaOM Analyst Jody Ranck and LexisNexis HPCC Systems Data Scientist Joe Prichard will use real world examples to address how big data services are being used in early detection of diseases as well as how to detect fraud through big data software.
When providing some background on the topic, the article states:
“Today’s health care system is challenged in managing data and costs. From the rise of an aging population to the increase of fraud, waste and abuse, health care organizations are challenged to efficiently maximize their resources for legitimate patients who need care. New health care legislation brings challenges and opportunities for health care organizations and their patients. With health care costs projected to spiral into the trillions of dollars in the next few years, many organizations are applying the advances in IT, mobile and other forms of technology to the problem of containing costs and finding new and innovative ways to care for patients.”
Big data reinventing health care is a remarkable claim. This should be an interesting discussion to keep tabs on.
Jasmine Ashton, September 26, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Amazon versus Apple: Is Amazon Stoppable
September 26, 2012
Technology News recently reported on Amazon’s presentation of the new Kindle Line and how it may just take over the tablet market in the article, “How Amazon Stole the Tablet Market.”
According to the article, it looks like Amazon is taking a page from Apple’s book and may be taking over the tablet market. Since Amazon is an online retailer it has been able to turn every Kindle owner into a dedicated Amazon buyer. Since Apple and Microsoft are built around the old IBM model where hardware leads and software and service follows, the competition is unable to compete.
Another way that Amazon is schooling Apple, is through its lower price points:
“Once Amazon figured out the benefits of having a dedicated product pointed at its store and knew how much it could gain from such an offering, it had a subsidization model that would work, and you saw the result last week: two 7-inch tablets priced below where Apple likely can afford to sell product, and a 9-inch tablet that is a whopping $200 less than the comparable iPad.
The products actually have better connections to services and content — that is Amazon’s business, after all — and while they fall short on apps, the price savings during a gift-giving time of the year could have Amazon exit the fourth quarter — at least in the U.S. — as the market leader. (The Kindle won’t be much of an event outside the U.S. this year.)”
So is Amazon stoppable? Since the online retail giant is obviously learning from the mistakes of Microsoft and implementing some industry best practices, it seems that the answer is no.
Jasmine Ashton, September 26, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Concept Searching Enrolls University of California
September 25, 2012
We learned that the University of California has selected Concept Searching technology to process content, automatically classify content, and provide taxonomy management software to the Office of the President. “University of California, Office of the President Using Concept Searching’s Smart Content Framework™” said:
The University of California, Office of the President is the system wide headquarters of the University of California, managing its fiscal and business operations and supporting the academic and research missions across its campuses, labs and medical centers.
The Office of the President is the system wide headquarters of the University of California, managing its fiscal and business operations and supporting the academic and research missions across its campuses, labs and medical centers.
conceptClassifier for SharePoint has enabled the University of California, Office of the President to realize search improvements in SharePoint 2007 and in the recent deployment of SharePoint 2010. The university has integrated with the Term Store and taken advantage of the full support of managed metadata properties provided by conceptClassifier for SharePoint.
Martin Garland, president of Concept Searching said:
Using the first two building blocks of the Smart Content Framework™, Metadata and Insight, the University of California, Office of the President was able to rapidly deploy enterprise taxonomies and build the framework to improve search outcomes. This adoption of Concept Searching technologies continues to show our platform is an important component for any organization that places high value on content assets.
Concept Searching provides software products that deliver conceptual metadata generation, auto-classification, and powerful taxonomy management from the desktop to the enterprise. Concept Searching, developer of the Smart Content Framework™, provides organizations with a method to mitigate risk, automate processes, manage information, protect privacy, and address compliance issues. This information governance infrastructure framework utilizes a set of technologies that encompasses the entire portfolio of information assets, resulting in increased organizational performance and agility.
Concept Searching asserts that it is the only platform independent statistical metadata generation and classification software company in the world that uses concept extraction and compound term processing to significantly improve access to unstructured information. The Concept Searching Microsoft suite of technologies runs natively in SharePoint 2010, FAST, Windows Server 2008 R2 FCI, and in Microsoft Office applications.
A June 2012 white paper explaining conceptClassifier is available at this link.
Stephen E Arnold, September 25, 2012
Sponsored by Augmentext
Moving to SharePoint 2013: Planning Necessary
September 25, 2012
Many organizations will want to take advantage of the new features, services, and functions of SharePoint 2013 and SharePoint Search 2013. “Planning the Infrastructure Required for the new App Model in SharePoint 2013” makes clear that a shift to Microsoft’s 2013 enterprise systems requires planning and preparation.
Because the name of the solution is the same, many SharePoint administrators may feel that SharePoint 2013 is a routine upgrade. The article points out: “SharePoint 2013 brings with it a brand new application model, which we euphemistically refer to as the ‘app model’ or ‘cloud app model’. “
The scope of the planning required, according to Steve Peschka, includes, the development model, the security model, and the infrastructure. The article jumps from broad themes into quite specific information about modifications to url formation. For an administrator with this specific concern, the information is useful. The recommendation focuses on creating additional Web applications.
Comperio, one of the world’s leading specialists in search and content processing, approaches SharePoint planning by considering the context of the client’s needs, the existing SharePoint implementation, and the requirements the client has which can benefit from the 2013 solution. Comperio’s search engineers can handle the technical details of an implementation, but these are integrated into the roll out of a SharePoint system which considers budget, timetable, and existing resources.
According to Jørn Ellefsen , CEO and founder of Comperio:
Search matters. Our approach is to gather information, analyze the data, and develop a migration plan which focuses on meeting client requirements. Our engineers specialize in the search element of SharePoint for SharePoint migrations. However, our capabilities embrace the preparation and post-migration work that are important to SharePoint licensees.
Comperio’s approach to SharePoint Search reduces the time and cost of a shift from an existing SharePoint installation to the latest version of SharePoint. For more information about Comperio Search’s SharePoint 2013 planning and implementation services, visit www.comperiosearch.com.
Stephen E Arnold, September 25, 2012
Sponsored by Augmentext
The Community Weighs in on SharePoint 2013 Sans Design View
September 25, 2012
The SharePoint community has no doubt noticed the absence of design view in SharePoint 2013 with many MVPs wondering about support for existing applications, as well as what the future of building full-scale applications will look like. Caroline Marwitz continues the conversation in the WindowsITPro.com post, “Will You Miss SharePoint Designer Design View in SharePoint 2013?” Marwitz shares a fellow MVPs perspective on the change:
Ironically, one of the most realistic responses came from a SharePoint MVP who has built his recent professional life around SharePoint Designer. Asif Rehmani wrote, ‘Design View is not coming back and that’s a fact. Now the question becomes: What do we do with all of the solutions that we have made using the Design View? How do you support it going forward? That’s the Million dollar question on everyone’s mind who is close to this functionality change.’
Marwitz explains she leans toward those who want Design View back, but mainly because she can sympathize with those who are losing a tool they’ve come to count on. But some in the community have also voiced their belief that SharePoint Designer is part of what’s wrong with SharePoint.
As the community adjusts to the changes, it highlights that for some users there will be gaps in the SharePoint system. Adding a third party application is one way to extend SharePoint capabilities, such as with the Information Pairing feature from Fabasoft Mindbreeze. Here you can read about increased SharePoint efficiency with Mindbreeze, “A survey by German market analysts has shown that practically every second company uses SharePoint. However, in SharePoint only one facet of a company’s knowledge can be presented. Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise 2012 puts an end to this shortcoming.”
Philip West, September 25, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Google Reaches New Milestone for Android
September 25, 2012
With the launch of the sixth generation iPhone upon us, it seems only natural that Google would feel a little neglected. So in order to give Google’s Android a little love, CNET News has covered a milestone worth noting in the article, “Google: 500 Million Android Devices Activated.”
According to Hugo Bara, Android’s director of product management, as of September 12, 500 million Android devices have been activated globally. That is 1 million more than the number that had been activated as of June at the rate of 1 million per day.
When looking towards the future of what Google has in store for Android 4.0, the article states:
“Indeed, the transition to Android 4.0 aka Ice Cream Sandwich is still grinding along slowly, with the earlier Android 2.3 aka Gingerbread still claiming 57 percent share of usage. Gingerbread is looking more and more like Windows XP: an operating system whose wide use means developers will have to support old technology for a long time. Ice Cream Sandwich has 20.9 percent of usage, now finally increasing steadily after months of little movement following its 2011 debut. Jelly Bean is at 1.2 percent, according to Google’s measurements.”
We are interested to see what Google has in store for the next generation Android, but for now we will just congratulate them for achieving this feat.
Jasmine Ashton, September 25, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Amazon Introduces New Virtual Computer Marketplace
September 25, 2012
WIRED recently reported on a new service put out by Amazon in the article, “Amazon Opens Marketplace for Virtual Computers.”
According to the article, the online retail giant has historically operated two distinct services that never really fit together. One the one hand it is an online retailer and on the other it is a massive cloud service. Now, Amazon has come out with a service that bridges the gap. Earlier this month Amazon introduced an online marketplace where you can buy and sell virtual servers called Amazon EC2 Reserved Instance Marketplace.
When explaining the new service, the article states:
“EC2 is short for Elastic Compute Cloud. Akin to services such as Microsoft Azure and Google’s Compute Engine, it lets you access processing power over the net — so you don’t have to buy your own physical servers. Originally, EC2 was a place where you spun up and paid for virtual servers as you needed them. But about two and half years ago, Amazon introduced what it called reserved instances. In short, you could reserve virtual server instances for use in the future — at a cheaper price.”
While Amazon is not the first company to combine cloud computing services with an online marketplace, it does seem to be a natural fit.
Jasmine Ashton, September 25, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Small Businesses Falling Short in Monitoring Online Conversations
September 25, 2012
The multitude of data needing to be analyzed by marketing professionals on a daily basis is currently coming from an overwhelming number of different channels. This makes it very difficult for marketing professionals to manually track all the disparate data coming in. Therefore, no one should be surprised that a recent survey conducted by PR Newswire found that “Only 37% of Small Business Communicators Monitor Conversations on a Daily Basis.”
According to the article, the majority of marketing and communications professionals agree that in order to maintain an online following and relevant online conversations, it is important to listen to a variety of relevant social media channels.
However, the survey found:
“Fewer than 40% of small business communicators monitor conversations daily, despite the speed with which conversations and rumors can take hold online. The good news is that only 3% of communicators reported that they don’t do any monitoring. Another 18% indicated they monitor conversations weekly.
One reason why the majority of communicators aren’t listening on a daily basis likely stems from the simple fact that many people find themselves relying upon multiple channels in order to keep tabs of key social networks and online groups.”
As big data analytics technology becomes more readily available and affordable, small businesses are going to have to invest in these products in order to stay abreast of the needs of their clients and constituencies.
Jasmine Ashton, September 25, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
The Blame Game: Civility and the Lousy Economy
September 24, 2012
I read “Frustrated with Poor Mobile Sales, Publishers Blame Ad Agencies.” The main idea is that mobile devices have become the go-to source of information for may people. The article puts the content consumption shift in perspective:
Mobile makes up a fifth of reader traffic for 87 percent of publishers, but only 29 percent of them are seeing the same proportion of revenue come from mobile, according to respondents to a census issued by the UK’s Association of Online Publishers (AOP).
The article includes charts and graphs which point out some of the reasons for the revenue challenge. For example, device fragmentation and expertise are two important factors.
Let’s step back.
There are a number of shifts going on simultaneously. Analysts have to pick one and then try to quantify it or put the shift into perspective. But no one factor is going to fix a problem with revenue shortfall.
Publishers are finding themselves caught like personal computer makers in a situation which is different from the business environment of five years ago. Change is an organization comes slowly. Humans want to learn how to perform a task or tasks smoothly and efficiently. In the last five years, the tension between organizations having systems which keep on ticking while they take a licking have been stressed.
How many people today want to read or can afford a book like this one?
In publishing, the loss of the traditional role as the makers of information has been altered. The publishers have been experimenting, innovating, and developing new products. At the same time, others have been changing, often more quickly and without the friction of cannibalizing revenues from the Old Faithfuls in the product line up. Maybe high value information is for the elite? Money for online content may go to those with the lowest common denominator for value?
Coming Article Series to Focus on SharePoint 2013 Features from the Executive Perspective
September 24, 2012
Descriptions and highlights of the coming SharePoint 2013 features have been a hot topic in the community. Symon Garfield takes another look at how these features might be used in the organization in his upcoming series of articles on the topic at CMSWire.com. The series starts off with, “The Executive’s Guide to SharePoint 2013: Understanding Communities.”
Community Sites provide a forum experience in the SharePoint environment which enables members to contribute information and ask for help from fellow members, according to the Microsoft TechNet Web site. Garfield explains that communities of purpose share a common objective while networks share loose associations with the main goal to just stay in touch. And with a community of purpose, members can make contributions and develop ideas and solutions for the purpose. Garfield explains how it relates to SharePoint 2013:
SharePoint 2013 includes a template to use as the basis for creating community web sites. At the heart of a community site is a discussion board which members can use to begin conversations on a specific topic, or to post questions to the rest of the community. Site moderators can create categories to organize the discussion threads. This supports the contribution element of the community process. Members can post replies to topics, or to other replies, and they can rate topics and replies…This facilitates the feedback element of the community process.
Collaboration capabilities are imperative as businesses develop rich community cultures. To tap into the new possibilities, consider a third party solution to complete your enterprise search system. Fabasoft Mindbreeze provides comprehensive access to business knowledge for everyone on the team and is backed by a customer focused support team that shares your purpose.
Philip West, September 24, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
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