Gartner and the Business Intelligence Magic Quadrant: Lots of Explaining, Lots of Subjectivity It Seems
March 13, 2016
I read a downright weird article/interview called “Big Data Discovery may put Oracle back in BI Magic Quadrant.” The title contains the magic word “may”, which does not promise to make Oracle a big dot in a Gartner Magic Quadrant, but it suggests that Gartner is doing some explaining.
As I understand the situation, the mid tier consulting firm analyzed the business intelligence sector and figured out which companies were winners and losers. Well, that’s the lingo that the original Boston Consulting Group quadrant used, and that’s how General Eisenhower used his quadrant. So those approaches override the Garnter words like niche players and visionaries. (Is it not possible for a niche player to be a visionary? Does Gartner know “Venn” to check it logic?)
The point of the write up is that Oracle, one of the big dogs in the Department of Defense’s DCGS-A and DCGS-N mash up analytics initiative is not in the Garnter magic square thing. Nope. Deleted.
Why may be a question which some folks at Oracle have been asking. The article/interview appears to be an “explainer” to make the Garnter mid tier method appear more near the top drawer in the cabinet of analytics collectibles.
I noted this passage:
Question: It sounds like the change isn’t coming from something Oracle did, but from Gartner.
Gartner’s R&D Big Dog, Josh Parenteau: Right, OBIEE is still there. It’s still being sold as their platform, but it does not meet the modern definition of the Magic Quadrant right now.
The acronym OBIEE means Oracle analytics. You, gentle reader, knew that.
Oracle was excluded because “they didn’t fully participate,” says Parenteau. He adds:
I do think that they’re late to the game by quite a bit… For Oracle, it’s recognizing the signals a bit earlier. It’s responding to customer needs and, I think, realizing that it’s not just about product. You can have the best product in the world, but if customers don’t want to work with you because they don’t like the relationship, it’s not going to matter.
So what companies of note made the Magic Quadrant? Since I don’t pay Gartner to advise me, I checked Bing and Google to locate the 2016 Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence. It did not take long, because this MQ report appears to be a marketing item, not a confidential study like a report about the AVATAR program.
Check out these outfits who have met the Gartner criteria, objective and subjective:
- BeyondCore
- Domo
- Logi Analytics
- Platfora
- Sisense
Okay, some names of note.
These outfits made the list as well:
- IBM
- Microsoft
- SAS.
I highlighted this paragraph as particularly suggestive:
But I would say that, if you are a member of the install base of Oracle, know that they do have offerings in the space. They just didn’t have enough traction to get on the quadrant. If you have a big data Hadoop initiative going on, of course look at Big Data Discovery, because that’s exactly what it’s focused on. If you are looking for a tool to do data discovery, of course look at Visual Analyzer, which is part of the cloud service. If you have an initiative to get into the cloud, look at BICS. I wouldn’t say that, just because they’re not on the Magic Quadrant, if you’re an existing Oracle customer that you shouldn’t continue to look at them for solutions. This doesn’t mean that they are gone forever or off the MQ forever. It’s a transition. We’re in a market that is transitioning. Next year, it may be a new ball game.
Very mid tier. I liked the “you shouldn’t continue to look at them for solutions.” Are those words a positive or a negative? Worth watching the interaction of the Oracle folks at the Gartner experts.
Stephen E Arnold, March 13, 2016
Google: The Dutch Do Not Think Much of Fake Reviews
March 13, 2016
I read “Google Ordered to Hand Over Names of Fake Reviewers in Dutch Court Case.” Let’s assume that the story is accurate. For me, the notion of Google providing the names of individuals who created “fake” reviews is interesting. For the affected small business, the victory is not likely to generate a jump to the top 25 sites in traffic. For the Google, the court decision is another indication of the legal hurdles Google may face in the present day European community.
The write up said:
While the case appears to be a landmark ruling — it’s the first time that Google has been required to provide contact details and IP addresses for Google reviewers — it also highlights the challenges for a search platform like Google when navigating questions of freedom of speech and more recent developments that touch on user privacy. The ongoing “right to be forgotten” mandate in Europe, where Google and other search engines are removing links that people request to be removed if “inadequate, irrelevant, no longer relevant or excessive, and not in the public interest,” have proven to be tricky waters for the company amid its default position of making the world a more searchable place.
My thought is that Google is likely to find itself under increasing legal scrutiny to deal with alleged abuses carried out within its content generating functions; for example, people or robots which generate fake reviews.
Sometimes I wonder if the Google we once knew and loved is going to become a much less exciting search and retrieval service.
Stephen E Arnold, March 13, 2016
Weakly IBM: Watson, Where Are the Revenues?
March 12, 2016
I read “What’s happening at IBM (It’s Dying).” The article has a quote to note. I highlighted this snappy phrase:
Things aren’t going well at all in cloud, analytics, mobile, social and security land. When those kick-in (if they kick-in) IBM will be just one company in a crowd with no particular advantage over the others. IBM used to be able to count on its size, its people, its loyal customers, but all of those are going or gone.
If accurate, the observations in this paragraph are likely to trouble IBM’s stakeholders, partners, and employees.
I noted “KPMG Will Use the Power of IBM’s Watson.” Like the recipe play and the flow of information about curing disease, this tie up appears to unite two important companies in a stirring high technology activity. The article introduces an interesting idea:
IBM and KPMG have announced a partnership today, bringing IBM’s Watson supercomputer to KPMG’s professional services offerings.
Notice that IBM Watson has morphed into a supercomputer. Perhaps the author is exercising a bit of metaphorical freedom? Perhaps Watson is more than Lucene, home brew scripts, and a collection of disparate technologies which IBM acquired?
How will KPMG use the Watson supercomputer? I learned:
Watson will allow KPMG to analyze massive amounts of data with greater ease, delivering insights more quickly. It will also eliminate judgment-driven processes that usually happen in KPMG’s audit, tax, advisory and other professional services.
Google is making its system beat the pants off a human Go player. But Google continues to generate money from its advertising business. The company, in general, seems to be doing the science and math club projects without making headlines with massive layoffs and giving me a flow of material which Jack Benny’s comedy writers could have converted to entertainment gold.
IBM had technology which could have delivered on this Watson promise. Has anyone at IBM exploited the potential of the i2 platform, Cybertap, and other high value information systems? The answer is, “A little bit.”
Unfortunately a bunch of little bits don’t make a bite in the problems Mr. Cringely has identified and been pointing out for years.
Weakly moves IBM. Watson is not much of a bench presser in the heavy revenue gym it appears.
Stephen E Arnold, March 12, 2016
Big Data Adoption Rate
March 12, 2016
I read “More Companies Walking the Big Data Walk.” The highlight of the article was information from a survey by an outfit called CompTIA. Also, there is some detail about the size of the sample, but not much about how the sample was selected. But that’s not surprising in a world when Survey Monkey has to retool.
Here’s one passage which I highlighted with my trusty yellow marker:
…the fraction of companies embarking upon big data initiatives continues to accelerate. In its 2015 Big Data Insights and Opportunities study, the research organization found that 51 percent of survey respondents report having big data projects in place today, up from 42 percent in 2013. In a corresponding shift, just 36 percent report having a big data project in the planning stage, down from 46 percent two years ago.
The write up pointed out:
This groundswell of movement in big data analytics is being felt up and down the supply chain.
The system in favor is Hadoop. No hint of the challenges Hadoop presents nor of the difficulties some organizations have recruiting competent folks with the technical, math and analytic skills helpful in a Big Data whirlwind.
IBM Watson has a fix, however. This is the citizen data scientist. For more information about this initiative, point your browser at “IBM Expands Watson Analytics Program, Creates Citizen Data Scientists.” Everything but revenue growth it seems.
Stephen E Arnold, March 7, 2016
Google and a New Approach to Search Relevance
March 11, 2016
We know one cannot search for a topic if the words are not in the index. Should we forget about it? Sure, why not?
Quite a few folks perceive Google search results as the equivalent of an overnight visit to the oracle of Delphi.
Google is trying out a new social approach to search: letting businesses and celebrities post directly to search results. This would obviously increase those posts’ visibility and could turn search into a Twitter-like feed, although not quite.
How would this be handled? According to the write up:
When someone makes such a post, it would turn up in Google search results alongside their name.
Sound good. What about the Google method reported in “Google Experimenting with Local Business Cards in Search Results? I learned:
As with the Candidate Cards, the intent is to allow the business to communicate something directly in search results — content or information highlighting the business’ products or services…
When one thinks about relevance, Google is one thought ahead it seems.
Stephen E Arnold, March 11, 2016
Search Vendors Will Thank Forrester for Its Views on Customer Support
March 11, 2016
I read “Your Customers Don’t Want To Call You For Support.” This is a free marketing write up from the good folks at the mid tier consulting outfit Forrester.
The write up is one answer to the struggle some search vendors have had. As you may know, selling proprietary search and retrieval systems is a slow go these days. Why not use an open source system as plumbing? That’s what IBM and Palantir have done. Shift the costs of the utility function’s maintenance and bug fixing to the “community.” Shift those resources from search to something which sells. For Palantir, Gotham and Metropolitan are moving. For IBM, well, that may be a poor example. The only “moving” at IBM involves the individuals terminated.
Moving on…
The Forrester write up makes clear that “your customers” don’t want to call you on the telephone. No kidding? Has anyone at Forrester tried to call Forrester without a number linked to a specific individual?
The search vendors are struggling to find a market which really needs their search system. The candidate many search firms are chasing is the person in charge of customer support. The reason is that no one in customer support wants to talk to customers.
Put the information on the Web and let the customers “search” for answers. Everyone will be happy. At least, that’s the pitch.
Forrester thinks that self service is the “low friction” way to deal with customers. Right. If there is no human who struggles to speak in an intelligible manner about a subject germane to the called, the support person will not experience some verbal excitement.
Forrester likes the chat thing. That’s a service which opens a box, introduces a delay, and then a message appears, “Hello, I am Ted. How may I help you?” My reaction is to click the close button. Sorry, Ted.
My hunch is that search vendors will print out copies of the Forrester article and use them as proof that a better search engine will create many happy customers.
If only life were that simple.
Stephen E Arnold, March 11, 2016
PIN Number Analysis
March 11, 2016
With the interest in four digit security codes, some folks have been thinking about the frequency with which certain four digit combinations appear. If you are interested in this subject, you may want to check out “PIN Analysis.” Do you use a popular and possibly easily hacked PIN code?
The author makes an odd comment. Apparently the reason people chose 2580 is not clear to him. Hint: Look at your keypad. What numbers go right down the center? Yep.
By the way, 1234 is probably not a code to use if the analysis in the write up are accurate.
Stephen E Arnold, March 11, 2016
Open Source Academic Research Hub Resurfaces on the Dark Web
March 11, 2016
Academics are no strangers to the shadowy corners of the Dark Web. In fact, as the The Research Pirates of the Dark Web published by The Atlantic reports, one university student in Kazakhstan populated the Dark Web with free access to academic research after her website, Sci-Hub was shut down in accordance with a legal case brought to court by the publisher Elsevier. Sci-Hub has existed under a few different domain names on the web since then, continuing its service of opening the floodgates to release paywalled papers for free. The article tells us,
“Soon, the service popped up again under a different domain. But even if the new domain gets shut down, too, Sci-Hub will still be accessible on the dark web, a part of the Internet often associated with drugs, weapons, and child porn. Like its seedy dark-web neighbors, the Sci-Hub site is accessible only through Tor, a network of computers that passes web requests through a randomized series of servers in order to preserve visitors’ anonymity.”
The open source philosophy continues to emerge in various sectors: technology, academia, and beyond. And while the Dark Web appears to be a primed for open source proponents to prosper, it will be interesting to see what takes shape. As the article points out, other avenues exist; scholars may make public requests for paywalled research via Twitter and using the hashtag #icanhazpdf.
Megan Feil, March 11, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
How-To Overview of Building a Data Platform to Handle Real-Time Datasets
March 11, 2016
The article on Insight Data Engineering titled Building a Streaming Search Platform offers a glimpse into the Fellows Program wherein grad students and software engineers alike build data platforms and learn cutting-edge open source technologies. The article delves into the components of the platform, which enables close to real-time search of a streaming text data source, with Twitter as an example. It also explores the usefulness of such a platform,
On average, Twitter users worldwide generate about 6,000 tweets per second. Obviously, there is much interest in extracting real-time signal from this rich but noisy stream of data. More generally, there are many open and interesting problems in using high-velocity streaming text sources to track real-time events. … Such a platform can have many applications far beyond monitoring Twitter…All code for the platform I describe here can be found on my github repository Straw.”
Ryan Walker, a Casetext Data Engineer, describes how these products might deliver major results in the hands of a skilled developer. He uses the example of a speech to text monitor being able to transcribe radio or TV feeds and send the transcriptions to the platform. The platform would then seek key phrases and even be set up to respond with real-time event management. There are many industries that will find this capability very intriguing due to their dependence on real-time information processing, including finance and marketing.
Chelsea Kerwin, March 11, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Buy Yahoo and Get One Marissa
March 10, 2016
I read “Marissa Mayer’s Plan to Sell Yahoo but Stay in Charge.” The main point of the write up is that “the company will sell under the condition that she can remain in charge.”
I like this angle.
And everything is just wonderful among the Yahooligans. I learned:
Yahoo C.F.O. Ken Goldman sought to dispel rumors of internal conflict during a Morgan Stanley conference Thursday, saying that the company is aligned and that there is no rift on Yahoo’s board.
I like alignment. Time for another bonus.
Stephen E Arnold, March 10, 2016
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