It Is a Recommended Title
August 24, 2015
Centripetal Networks offers a fully integrated security network specializing in threat-based intelligence. Threat intelligence is being informed about potential attacks, who creates the attacks, and how to prevent them. Think of it as the digital version of “stranger danger.” Centripetal Networks offers combative software using threat intelligence to prevent hacking with real-time results and tailoring for individual systems.
While Centripetal Networks peddles its software, they also share information sources that expand on threat intelligence, how it pertains to specific industries, and new developments in digital security. Not to brag or anything, but our very own CyberOSINT: Next Generation Information Access made the news page! Take a gander at its description:
“The RuleGate technology continues to remain the leader in speed and performance as an appliance, and its visualization and analytics tools are easy-to-use. Because of federal use and interest, its threat intelligence resources will continue to rank at the top. Cyber defense, done in this manner, is the most useful for its real time capacity and sheer speed in computing.”
CyberOSINT was written for law enforcement officials to gain and understanding of threat intelligence as well as tools they can use to arm themselves against cyber theft and track potential attacks. It profiles companies that specialize in threat intelligence and evaluates them. Centripetal Networks is proudly featured in the book.
Whitney Grace, August 24, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Search Does Not Work: Maybe, Sometimes
August 23, 2015
I read “Feds Keep Magically Finding Documents They Insisted Didn’t Previously Exist.” I noted that the US government struggles with finding content, if the article is on the money. I learned:
Gawker had sought the email communications of Hillary Clinton deputy Philippe Reines, focused on his conversations with journalists. The State Department came back with a no responsive records reply, which was clearly bullshit, since Reines was known for regularly emailing reporters. So Gawker sued and guess what just happened: the State Department just magically found 17,855 emails that are likely responsive. How about that?
Obviously the US government is not aware of the search systems which can find documents. But what if the US government has these systems. Isn’t the finding issue an indication that basic search and retrieval does not work? Interesting thought.
Stephen E Arnold, August 23, 2015
The Recursion of Google Forgottenness
August 23, 2015
Short honk: Legal decisions are delightful. I read “Google Ordered to Remove Links to Stories about Google Removing Links to Stories.” The write included this statement:
One obvious question about this kind of recursive request is whether it is recursive itself—in other words, whether news stories that report on this latest removal including details of the criminal offence will also face de-listing from Google’s search results.
What happens if a student writes about a removal, citing examples of stories removed. I bet a 15 year old would mesh nicely with the prison population. The cell mate might ask, “What are you in for, pal?”
The answer, “Research.” I love this legal wizardry. No wonder Messrs Brin and Page did the alphabet thing. How else might one spell, “Wacky”?
Stephen E Arnold, August 23, 2015
Google Does the Tweet Thing
August 22, 2015
I read “Google Integrates Twitter into Its Desktop Search Results.” Meaty stuff.
But, dear, struggling Twitter. You keep trying. Users in hot spots like Sillycon Valley and public relations outfits in New York love the tweeter. Messages about the next big thing, a sleek baby unicorn, and the antics of a media star lubricate the modern world.
Here in Harrod’s Creek, where the failed middle school teachers work at the filling station and where failed webmasters moonlight as fry cooks at the eatery on the Ohio River, the tweeter is not such a big deal.
Consider me: Old, wheezing, and staring at a limited horizon. When I run a query for predictive analytics or dumps about philanderers, I just want an objective list of search results. Links to research papers and presentations about LaPlacian methods applied to mundane data problems are what I need to fry squirrel, kick back, snack, and read.
Now my results will be peppered with information from the tweeter thing. Is this an advance?
I suppose for those who ego surf like certain media stars with lots of children and ad sales reps gathering data to prove their campaigns’ value, the blend of search results and twitter peeps is a thrilling prospect.
The new Google is enchanted with the value of the tweeters’ toots. I understand the Twitter thing. It is the new Google that puzzles me.
Ah, back to revenue. Maybe? Maybe not. More relevant search results. Maybe not.
Stephen E Arnold, August 22, 2015
Do Search and CMS Deliver a Revenue Winner?
August 21, 2015
I spotted a write up called “Look for Enterprise Search, Analytics and These ECM Leaders for Your Transactional Content.” I found the article darned amazing even for public relations about a mid tier consulting firm and one of its analyses.
The main point of the article is that analysts have analyzed enterprise software and identified vendors who provide “ECM Transactional Content Services.” Fabricating collections of objects and slapping a jargon laded label on the batch is okay with me.
Empty calories await you, gentle reader.
What struck me as interesting was this statement:
Forrester Vice President and Principal Analyst Craig Le Clair points to key advancements and opportunities by the leading ECM providers to help enterprises realize greater value in these systems:
- Ramping analytics to drive insight and reduce administrative burden
- Accelerating their move to cloud
- Improved search and content sharing
- Using stronger and more open application program interfaces (APIs) that spur innovation
- Moving quickly to fill gaps in their mobile road maps.
Notice the “ECM”. The acronym refers to software which provides editing, access, and publishing functions to its users. The idea, it seems, is that an employee will write a memo and the ECM will keep track of the document. In practice, based on my experience, the ECM recipe usually fails to satisfy my hunger.
ECM and its close cousins in acronym land are similar to the approach articulated by my kindergarten teacher more than half century ago. She said, according to my mother, “Keep your mittens and lunch in your cubby.” The spirit of the kindergarten teacher lives on in enterprise content management systems.
Unfortunately those who have work to do often create content using tools suited for a specific task. For an engineer, that tool might be Solidworks. Bench chemists are often confused when an ECM is described as the tool for their work. One chemist said to me after an enthusiastic presentation by an information technology person, “I work with chemical structures. What’s this person talking about?” Lawyers in the midst of big risk litigation want to use their own and often flawed document systems. Even the marketer who cheers for ECM for Web content parks some high value data in that wonderful Adobe creative cloud with some back up data on iCloud. I have spotted a renegade analyst with an off the books workstation equipped with an Australian text processing and search system. USA.gov is notable for what is not available because executive brand entities roll their own content solutions.
I was able to review a copy of the consultant report upon which the article was based. Wowza. The write up assembled a grad bag of widely disparate companies, added three cups of buzzwords, and output mixed in one kilo of MBAisms.
To be fair, the report identified “challenges.” These items baffled me. For example, “Deep experience in key transactional applications.” This is a challenge, really?
But the vendors in the report are able to “address emerging opportunities.” Okay, so these are not opportunities. The opportunities are emerging. Hmmm. Here’s an example: “Ramping analytics to drive insight and reduce administrative burden.” Yikes. Ramping analytics. Driving analytics. Reducing administrative burden. Very active stuff this ECM. Gerund alert. Gerund alert.
What companies are into this suite of challenges and emerging opportunities? Here’s the list of the mid tier touted stallions from the ECM stable:
- EMC, a company which is considering having a subsidiary of itself purchase the parent company. Folks, when a company does this type of recursive stuff, the core business might be a little bit uncertain.
- HP. Yep, an outfit which has lost its way, suffered five consecutive quarters of declining revenue, and bought a company for $11 billion and then wrote off most of that expense because the sellers of the company fooled HP, its consultants, accountants, and lawyers. Okay. A winner for the legal eagles maybe.
- IBM. Heaven help me. IBM has suffered declining revenues for 13 consecutive quarters, annoyed me with a blizzard of Watson silliness, and spent lots of time getting rid of businesses. I have a difficult time believing that IBM can manage enterprise content. But, hey, that’s just my rural Kentucky ignorance, right?
- Laserfiche. The company offers a “flexible, proven enterprise content management system. I believe this statement. The company was founded in 1987 and sure seems to have its roots in well seasoned technology. The company has lots of customers and lots of award. The only hitch in the git along is that I never ran across this outfit in my work. Bad luck I guess.
- Lexmark. Folks, let us recall the rumor that Lexmark and its content businesses are not money makers. I heard that the content cluster achieved an astounding $70 to $80 million shortfall. Who knows if this rumor is accurate. I do know that Lexmark is cutting staff, and one does not take this drastic step unless one needs to reduce costs pronto.
- M Files. I never heard of this outfit. I did a quick check of my files and learned that the company “helps enterprises find, share, and secure documents and information. Even in highly regulated industries.” The company is also “passionate about productivity.” The outfit relies on dtSearch for information access. This is okay because dtSearch can process most of the content within a Microsoft-centric environment. But M Files strikes me as a different type of outfit from HP or IBM. As I flipped through the information I had collected, the company struck me as a collection of components. Assembly required.
- Newgen Software. Another newbie for me. The company was in my Overflight archive. The firm provides BPM (business process management), ECM (enterprise content management), DMS (I have no idea what this acronym means), CCM (I have no idea what this acronym means), and workflow (I thought this was the same as BPM). The company operated from New Delhi. My thought? Another collection of components with assembly in someone’s future.
- Hyland OnBase. This is the third outfit on the list about which I have a modest amount of information. The company says that it is a “leader in ECM.” I believe it. The firm’s url is the same as its flagship product. The company was founded in 1991 and created OnBase, which is a plus. After 25 years, the darned thing should work better than a Rube Goldberg solution assembled from a box of components.
- OpenText. Okay, OpenText is a company which has more search engines and content processing systems than most Canadian firms. The challenge at OpenText is having enough cash to invest in keeping the diverse assortment of systems current. Which of these systems is the one referenced in the mid tier firm’s report? SGML search, BASIS, BRS, Nstein, the Autonomy stub in RedDot, Nstein, Fulcrum, or some other approach? Details can be important.
- Unisys. Okay, finally a company that is essentially an integrator which still supports Burroughs mainframes. Unisys can implement systems because it is an integrator. For government work, Unisys matches the statement of work to available software. Although some might question this statement, Unisys can implement almost any kind of system eventually.
Several observations:
First, enterprise content management is a big and fuzzy concept. The evidence of this is the number of acronyms some of the companies use to explain what they do. I assume that it is my ignorance which prevents me from understanding exactly how scanning, indexing, retrieval, repurposing, workflow, and administrative functions work in a cost constrained, teleworker, mobile gizmo world.
Second, open source is knocking on the door of this sector. At some point, organizations will tire of the cost and complexity of collections of loosely federated and integrated software subsystems and look for an alternative. Toss in the word Big Data, and there will be a stampede of New Age consultants ready to step forward and reinvent these outfits. Disruption is probably less of a challenge than the challenge of keeping existing revenues from doing the HP, IBM, and Lexmark drift down.
Third, the search function seems to be a utility or an after thought. The only problem is that search does not work particularly well in an enterprise where the workers log in from Starbucks and try to interact with enterprise software from a Blackberry.
Fourth, what an odd collection of outfits? HP, IBM, and Lexmark along with 30 year old imaging firms plus some small outfits. Maybe the selection of firms makes sense to you, gentle reader. For me, the report make evident the struggles of some experts in ECM, BPM, and the acronyms I know zero about.
In short, this mid tier report strikes me as a russische punschtorte. On the surface, the darned thing looks good, maybe mouth watering. After a chomp or two, I want a paprikahenderl.
This ECM thing is a confection, not a meaty chicken. Mixing in search does nothing for the recipe.
Stephen E Arnold, August 22, 2015
Oh, Oh. Big Data Has Problems. Impossible.
August 21, 2015
A happy quack to the reader who alerted me to “5 Problems with Big Data.” How can this be? Big Data is the new black, the new enterprise search, the new information management opportunity.
The write up states:
But when data gets big, big problems can arise.
The article identifies five issues. Most of these strike me as trivial for MBAs and failed middle school teachers to resolve before lunch. The alleged problems are:
- Storage. Hey, hey. I thought storage and the management thereof were a no brainer. But I have heard rumors that finding useful items and moving them around may contribute to digital heart burn.
- Bias. What! Incredible. I heard an MBA say at a conference not long ago that with Big Data little issues get smoothed out. Imagine. Big Data works like an electric iron with a spritz feature.
- False positives. Yo, dude. Those are things one talks about in Statistics 101. So a method says Tom and Betty have Ebola. After a quick check up at the doc in the box, both seem to be suffering from bad pizza and a sleepless night caused by worrying about the mid term statistics test. So what if a financial model predicts that GOOG and GOOGL shares no upward boundary. Hello, infinity.
- Complexity. Gasp. Layering SAP with SAS components within a SharePoint environment is complex. No way, José. This is century 21. We can crash a lander on an asteroid. We can handle a simple upgrade to an air traffic control system.
- Outputs which answer a question no one asked. Look, gentle reader, we have IBM Watson. That system can answer the question, “What sauce will tamarind enhance?” The answer which made perfect sense to me was barbeque sauce. Who worries if the question was a coded string intercepted from a anonymous post on a Dark Web forum.
Stepping back I have complete confidence in the confidence men and women pitching the Big Data thing. Five speed bumps presented as real, live problems. Big Data is the answer. Enterprise search vendors like Lucid Imagination and wizards like the IDC crowd which sold some of my work without my permission on Amazon (Dave Schubmehl, where are you?) know that Big Data will do the revenue trick.
Problems are just too darned negative. I want a happy face on that flawed, incomprehensible, irrelevant, and expensive report. This is the modern world, not tout at the chariot races pitching Nero’s team.
Get real. We have no “problems.” We have opportunities.
Stephen E Arnold, August 21, 2015
IBM Still Leads. HP Closing the Decline Gap
August 21, 2015
Hewlett-Packard said on Thursday that its profit fell 13 percent in the third quarter, a reminder of the grim challenges prompting a break-up of the company in the coming months. The Gray Lady played it straight, pointing out:
The company said its net income for the quarter, which ended July 31, fell to $900 million, or 47 cents a share, from $1 billion, or 52 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier. Net revenue fell 8 percent, to $25.3 billion, from $27.6 billion a year ago. I read several reports about Hewlett Packard’s financial statements which cushion the impact of revenue decline.
The Register was more insightful. The headline “HP Is Getting So Good Now at Negative Growth, It Should Patent It.” I learned in the Negative Growth article:
The Enterprise Group experienced a modest 2 per cent annual gain, with total revenue for the quarter at $7bn. Once again, sales of industry standard servers were up an encouraging 7.7 per cent. But the higher-margin “business critical systems” saw sales slump 21 per cent, year on year. Technology services revenue was also down 9.3 per cent. Curiously, however, sales of networking equipment were up 22.5 per cent. Things weren’t so great on the Enterprise Services side, however, which saw its revenue dip to $4.98bn, an 11 per cent year-on-year decline. Infrastructure outsourcing was down 13.1 per cent, while application and business services was down 7.4 per cent.
IBM leads in the declining revenue race, however. IBM has 13 straight quarters of decline. HP will split into two companies whose value may be dragged down by the company’s performance. If the split does not take place, HP may have a chance to eat into IBM’s lead in the downhill slide, pro division.
Watson may turn around IBM. HP seems to be wrestling with its Autonomy deal. Both companies bet big on search and content processing. I wonder how the senior managers at each firm views the upside of whiz bang information access technology.
Stephen E Arnold, August 21, 2015
Neural Nets: A Categorical Affirmative Means No Exceptions
August 21, 2015
The opening sentence of “A Visual Proof That Neural Nets Can Compute Any Function” is a Duesy. Here it is:
One of the most striking facts about neural networks is that they can compute any function at all.
I am okay with neural nets, but I struggle against statements which assert universalities like “any function at all.”
There are fancy terms for this type of error; for example, formal fallacy.
What’s troubling is that the use of “all,” “every,” “any,” and other umbrella terms seem to be more common than Ashley Madison customer names.
Textbooks which “teach” that something works for “any function” accelerate generalization as a standard operating procedure.
Untidy? Yep.
Stephen E Arnold, August 21, 2015
Sensible Advice on Content Marketing
August 21, 2015
Here’s a post on structured-content marketing that is refreshingly free of semantic search baloney. Tatiana Tilearcio at Synthesio shares what she learned from a seminar in, “Four Insights from a Content Marketing Crash Course.” The symposium, scheduled to be repeated in October in Connecticut, was presented by content-strategy outfit Content Boost. Tilearcio’s first takeaway promotes a firm foundation; she writes:
“Get Organized And Understand Your Goals Before You Create Your Content Marketing Plan.
Before you sit down to put together your strategic plan, you have to know the answer to the question ‘what’s the purpose for your content marketing, and what will it do to your brand?’ To do this, you need to first create a dream wish-list of what you would like to see for your brand. Next, you need to address how you want to go about enhancing your brand’s content marketing efforts and what your budget is. When creating a content marketing plan, or any marketing plan, a budget is essential. Without a proper budget of what your plan will cost, your ideas will never come to fruition. If you have identified all of this, then you are already well on your way to understanding what your campaign strategy is.”
The article also discusses blending efforts in blogging, social media, and email; co-sourcing content; ensuring users find value in gated assets; repurposing content; and the importance of strong titles. See the post for more details on each of these points. Based in Norwalk, Connecticut, Content Boost is part of the Technology Marketing Corporation, aka TMCnet.
Cynthia Murrell, August 21, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Its Hacker Season
August 21, 2015
One of the quintessential cartoon feuds exists between Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck as they argue whether or not it is duck or rabbit hunting season. Whoever wins gets the lovely prize of having their face blown off, thankfully cartoon violence does not obey the rules of life and death. The ensuing argument ends with hilarious consequences, but everyday another type of big game is always in season: your personal information. Hackers are constantly searching for ways to break into vulnerable systems and steal valuable information.
One a personal level it is frightening to be hacked, but corporations stand risk millions of dollars, customer information, trade secrets, and their reputations if their systems get hacked. There are many companies that specialize in software to prevent potential hackings, but Cybereason offers unique selling points in the article, “Introducing Cybereason: Real-Time Automated Cyber Hunting.”
“This is why Cybereason exists, to bring the fight against hackers off of the frontlines and into the depths of your environment, where they lurk after gaining unnoticed access. Security needs to be about having an ever-watchful eye over your endpoints, servers, and network, and the Cybereason platform will allow you to perform real-time, automated hunting across your entire environment.”
On their Web site they posted a product video that feeds on the US’s culture of fear and they present an Armageddon like situation complete with a female voice over artist with a British accent, a Guy Fawkes mask, and Matrix-like graphics. My favorite bit is when Cybereason is made to resemble a secret intelligence agency of superheroes.
Despite the clichéd video, it does give a thorough visualization of what Cybereason’s software and services can do. The fear factor might be a selling point for some clients, but I’d rather hear hard facts and direct solutions. It takes out the dramatic elements and actually tells me what the product can do for me. You have to love Cybereason’s ending phrase, “Let the hunt begin.” It makes me want to respond with, “May the odds ever be in your favor.”
Whitney Grace, August 21, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
