Tableau Collaborates with Google Cloud
October 24, 2013
Considering that Google has a stake in Recorded Future, which has visualization capabilities, this is an interesting development: The Sacramento Bee shares the press release, “Tableau Software Partners with Google to Visualize Big Data at Gartner IT Symposium.” The partnership mixes Tableau’s analytics with the Google Cloud Platform. Recently at Gartner‘s convention in Orlando, attendees were given a demonstration of the project. The write-up tells us:
“Tableau and Google created a series of dashboards to visualize enormous volumes of real-time sensory data gathered at Google I/O 2013, Google’s developers’ conference. Data measuring multiple environmental variables, such as room temperature and volume, was analyzed in Tableau and presented to attendees at the Gartner event. With Tableau’s visual analytics, Gartner attendees could see that from the data created, I/O conference managers could adjust the experience and gain insights in real time, like re-routing air-conditioning to optimize power and cooling when rooms got too warm.”
The project will also be demonstrated at Gartner’s upcoming events around the world; see the article for dates and places (though I’ll go ahead and tell you that Orlando was the only location in North America.) We wonder—is this Gartner/Tableau/Google trio a marketing play, or a significant step forward in data visualization?
Founded in 2003 and located in Seattle, Washington, Tableau Software grew from a project begun at Stanford University. Their priority is to help ordinary people use data to solve problems quickly and easily. The company is fully invested in their own philosophy; not only does Tableau use their own products, but they also rely heavily on data analysis for their business decisions.
Cynthia Murrell, October 24, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
SharePoint Does Not Function as Stand Alone ECM
October 23, 2013
SharePoint was one of the first enterprise content management systems, and is definitely the most well known. But many people still think of it as an all-encompassing solution. CMS Wire Joe Shepley says that SharePoint may be a lot of things, but in his most recent story he contends that, “SharePoint Will (Almost) Never Be Your Sole ECM System.”
He boils it does to the main point:
“The short answer for why SharePoint will almost never be your sole enterprise content management (ECM) system is that, simply put, the vast majority of organizations have ECM needs that go beyond what SharePoint on its own can deliver. Full stop.”
Shepley goes on to back up his argument and list shortcomings for certain industries as well as shortcomings in general. He then goes on to explain that SharePoint with add-ons is not SharePoint on its own. In fact, add-ons have become so essential and so popular with SharePoint, that some may take this statement for granted. But add-ons are necessary, and keep SharePoint from being a standalone solution. In fact, Stephen E. Arnold of ArnoldIT, has long reviewed and discussed SharePoint add-ons, realizing that most enterprises have to have an add-on to meet their enterprise needs. In a recent article, Arnold explains that SharePoint is even weak in its key functions, collaboration and search. Add-ons are necessary and SharePoint alternatives may be even better.
Emily Rae Aldridge, October 23, 2013
New Predictive Analytics Dashboard By Recorded Future
October 23, 2013
Predictive analytics is the hot topic on hand and we discuss many of the processes we find in the news headlines, but we have written very little about the involved user interface. We pulled up “Three Insanely Great Dashboards From Recorded Future-Predictive Analytics Part 4” from The FusionCharts Blog that takes a look at that very topic. Recorded Future is regarded as the leader in predictive analytics and they have designed three dashboards that make the process simple and interesting.
Writing about these dashboards does not give you a complete glimpse about what they have to offer. Follow the jump for screenshots to get a complete picture about the dashboards. They present data in an easy to read, interactive way: web analytics, mapping, and bubble visualization chart. Each visualization offers rich and fun ways to display data. Recorded Future has more than these three ways to share information and only represent a snippet of the new ways people view data:
“…[T]hese types of visualizations are becoming popular, and are the new breed of visualizations stemming from the big data revolution. While nobody seems to have figured out exactly how to put them to use, they can’t be discounted as useless either. As we get familiar with unstructured, and semi-structured data, these types of visualization could become mainstream, and change the way we consume data.”
As consumer habits change, so must the way data is fed to them. Recorded Future has numerous ways to share the data, but we wonder which one will become popular.
Whitney Grace, October 23, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Forrester Wave Available For Public Reading
October 23, 2013
In the world of business process software, it can be tricky deciding which one to deploy at your organization. That is when one resorts to research and relying on opinions and experiences of others to help them make a choice. Forrester is always a great resource to turn to for business matters and in March 2013, they released “The Forester Wave: BPM Suites, Q1 2013,” detailing the top ten business process management vendors. Bitpipe archives the report.
Ten vendors were reviewed: Appian, Bizagi, Cordys, HandySoft, IBM, OpenText, Oracle, Pegasystems, Software AG, and Tibco Software. Each software has their positives and negatives, what is really interesting is if they are compatible with the leading data content managers, such as Kofax:
“All of the vendors in this evaluation can support the three most common use cases for BPM: dynamic case management, human workflow, and straight-through processing. However, this does not mean that all vendors must or can offer exactly the same approach or the same functional depth for each use case.”
They are Kofax compliant, which is wonderful because Kofax owns Kapow Software –the big data integration platform. Big data is one of the primary concerns of organizations and a business management software that does not have the capability to handle said processes is useless in a competitive market.
Whitney Grace, October 23, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Spotter Details Revealed
October 23, 2013
Spotter is the new way information management professionals can spot data (pun intended). Questions have been flying, however, about how exactly it works have papered the Internet, but we found details from the Spotter Web site itself: “Methodology For The CB News-Spotter #AdBossDigitalBuzz Barometer.” The barometer is a bit confusing. How can an Internet use a tool for meteorologists? The official descriptions explains it better:
“With its propriety web tracking technology, Spotter harvests mentions of the personalities (directors of advertising agencies) followed in the barometer, as well as their quotes and statements, in real time, from a panel of 1000 online media sources / blogs and social networking sites such as Twitter (entire stream), Facebook, Google+, Viadeo and LinkedIn including the public accounts of the personalities themselves (trusting they are clearly identifiable).”
Think of Spotter as more of a marketing/advertising tool to gauge an Internet profile. Spotter gathers data with specific expressions to identify the followed figures and then it is put through the its semantic technology to filter our irrelevant documents. The barometer calculates information based off the pooled data and published on the first Tuesday of every month in the CB Newsletter and available through the CB News Web site. The figure’s profile not simply a machine product. Spotter uses a team of expert media analysts to perform quality checks to guarantee accuracy.
Internet reputation social monitoring tool? Not a bad idea, but instead of focusing on publishing the results solely on their Web site, Spotter may fair better in creating a software package that they can sell.
Whitney Grace, October 23, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Delphes: A Linguistic System That Went Away
October 22, 2013
I have posted a profile of the now offline enterprise search vendor Delphes. You can access the write up at www.xenky.com/vendor-profiles.
Delphes is an illustration of what happens when academic research becomes a commercial search system. From the notion of “soul” to the mind boggling complexity of a Swiss Army knife system, Delphes draws together the threads of the late 1980s and early 1990s best ideas in search. The problem was that selling, supporting, and making the many functions work on time and budget were difficult.
How many other vendors have followed in the trail blazed by Delphes? Quite a few. Some have largely been forgotten like DR Link. Others are still with us, but subsumed into even more complex, over arching systems like Hewlett Packard’s blend of print management and Autonomy.
Reviewing a draft of my analyses of Delphes, several points struck me:
First, Delphes was one of the first search system to combine the almost mystical with the nuts and bolts of finding information in an organization.
Second, Delphes included a number of languages, but it was French language centric. Many search systems are English centric. So the approach of Delphes makes some of the linguistic issues clear.
Third, Delphes’ explanation and diagrams are quite fresh. I have seen similar diagrams in the marketing hoo-hah of many 2013 vendors.
Keep in mind that these profiles will not be updated or maintained. I am providing the information because some students may find the explanations, diagrams, and comments of interest. The information is provided on an “as is” basis. If you want to use this for commercial purposes, please, contact me at seaky2000 at yahoo dot com.
Remember. I am almost 70 years old and some of the final versions of these profiles commanded hefty fees. IDC, for example, charges $3,500 for some of the profiles I have created. Are my views worth this lofty price? In my view, that is an irrelevant question since some vendors in Massachusetts just sell the stuff, keep all the money, and leave the addled goose floating in the pond.
A reader reminded me that some big outfits have taken my work and reused it, sometimes with permission and sometimes not. Well, these are for your personal use. As for the big firms, those managers are just so darned skilled any action they take is admirable. Don’t you agree?
Enjoy the tale of Delphes.
Stephen E Arnold, October 22, 2013
Open Source BPM Comes to SharePoint
October 22, 2013
Business Process Management is a missing function in SharePoint, and one that many users supplement with an add-on. Intalio is now offering an open source option, which is featured in the Globe Newswire story, “Intalio brings the power of open source BPM to SharePoint.”
The article begins:
“Intalio, the leading provider of solutions for businesses to build modern, agile business process applications, and Swiss partner JPL Informatique, announce the release of the Intalio|bpms Portlet for Microsoft SharePoint Web Parts. SharePoint users benefit from the automation power and functionality of Intalio|bpms, the leading open source BPM solution, natively integrated with their enterprise application portal architecture.”
This is just another example of an additional area in which SharePoint does not fully function or meet users’ needs and expectations. Most organizations have to supplement their SharePoint deployment with multiple add-ons in order to meet their needs. Stephen E. Arnold, of ArnoldIT, is a longtime search industry leader and expert. He recently wrote that only 6% of SharePoint users find their SharePoint deployments successful. For that reason, he covers many SharePoint alternatives and add-ons, and Intalio might just go on the list.
Emily Rae Aldridge, October 22, 2013
The War Of The Officers
October 22, 2013
It is time for a another geek vs. geek or nerd vs. nerd, battle depending on your preference, says Guided Wire in the article: “Chief Data Officer (CDO) vs. Chief Science Officer (CSO).” Christina Colby, the author, noticed that in last October’s Harvard Business Review that data scientists are considered to be one of the “sexiest jobs” of the twenty-first century. She was delighted to hear that her love for data was finally being recognized and how people were realizing information’s power. She also pointed out that two key jobs are gaining prominence: chief data officer (CDO) and chief science officer (CSO).
AIG is a major company that has recognized these two roles and is actively working on how to grow them. These two data related jobs were once merged, but they have grown distinct, as data has become more complex. How do they differ?
Let us take a look:
“Chief Data Officer (CDO) – Think of this role as the structure and the rigor. It may not be very stimulating, but you can’t do the big stuff without first getting the fundamentals right. Responsibilities for the role can include:
- Oversees Data Management Office (DMO) and related shared services
- Accountable for Data Governance
- Defines data standards and policies
- Manages standard business taxonomy and data dictionary
- Provides common tools and platforms
- Responsible for data quality monitoring and management
- Drives prioritization, provides budget, and oversees execution for related business and technology initiatives
- Oversees data audits and largely supports regulatory compliance requirements
Big stuff, though rather basic to many in management who can misunderstand its importance. What about the science officer?
Chief Science Officer (CSO) – Now things start to get a bit more exciting… The CSO role is focused on what you can find in the data, not what you may think you’re looking for. But, it’s important for the organization to set expectations about what should be and what can be achievable in terms of outcomes. The CSO:
- Manages an emerging capability of data exploration, often utilizing techniques atypical in the Insurance industry (i.e., beyond actuarial sciences)
- Seeks patterns and trends in structured and unstructured data through big data initiatives
Responsible for R&D activities and data-driven proofs-of-concept (POCs), including topics like social media analytics, usage-based insurance (UBI), and speech analytics (e.g., Verint / Nice)”
Similar to the data officer, but it works more on the analytical and metadata. As I mentioned above, there is a big lag in companies understanding the importance of information and how to properly use it. These roles play an essential role companies, but few comprehend it. We hope they do soon.
Whitney Grace, October 22, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Hadoop Marries Two Big Data Companies
October 22, 2013
How long has it been since we discussed a new partnership based on big data? It has been a while, so let us bring to your attention “The Zementis Partnership With Karmasphere” via the Zementis Blog. Zementis is the developer of a predictive analytics engine for Hadoop users who need to harness data across its various incarnates such as Hive, Datameer, and Karmasphere. Zementis and Karmasphere have teamed up to combine their powers.
How will the two companies improve big data for their customers? The partnership is described as making the big data process faster, easier, and more cost-efficient:
“Zementis makes PMML-based models available as standard Hive User Defined Functions (UDF’s) that can be readily consumed and managed by users of the Karmasphere Workspace for Big Data Analytics. Practically speaking, it is now easier than ever to move models from your favorite model-building environment for scoring in Hadoop. If you use R, for example, simply save your models in PMML-format and use Zementis and Karmasphere to deploy them natively on Hadoop, across all your data and dimensions.”
The entire goal is to make an out-of-the-box analytics solution that can be deployed with little hassle and allow users to get to work faster. In other words, a custom solution that fits everyone. Great idea, but will it work? No two types of data are the same and individually tailored solutions are what is hot now.
Whitney Grace, October 22, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Disconnect for Privacy Online
October 22, 2013
Interesting. If this works as advertised, we may no longer need to keep track of which search engines track users and which don’t: Disconnect Search promises to decouple your information from all of your searches. This development is a new addition to the Disconnect site, which already offered a browser extension to protect privacy while surfing the web. The video on the homepage, just over a minute long, describes their services. Their About page tells us:
Why Disconnect
Your personal info should be your own. But today thousands of companies invisibly collect your data on the Internet, including the pages you go to and the searches you do. Often, this personal data is packaged and sold without your permission.
What we believe
Understanding online data collection and controlling access to your personal info should be easy. You should be free to move about the Internet without anyone looking over your shoulder and without fear that your online activity might be analyzed, your searches scrutinzed, or your security compromised.
You can use Disconnect by going through their site, or you can install their tool in your address bar. They also offer a Wi-Fi encryptor to protect data shared with other sites, like Facebook, LinkedIn, Yahoo, Twitter, and Google‘s ecosystem. Another tool is called Disconnect Kids, though its features seem like they would appeal to adults as well. This tool specifically prevents data about activities performed on iPhones and iPads from leaving those devices.
Check out the site for more details on how Disconnect works. The company was founded in 2011, and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. They say their top priority is to facilitate change in the way personal information is handled online. Disconnect proudly sports their B Corp certification, and functions on contributions.
Cynthia Murrell, October 22, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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