North American Software Found to be Routinely Lacking
January 5, 2013
Does it seem like a surprise when enterprise software actually works? Apparently, it isn’t your imagination. “Software Development Failures Plague North American Enterprises: Study,” reveals eWeek. A study from data management firm CA Technologies, the article says, recently found that development constraints and failures routinely afflict our software. Writer Darryl K. Taft tells us:
“Despite the availability of a wealth of development tools and agile methodologies, an alarming 36 percent of the 200 North American organizations surveyed in a recent study found defects in new releases that had gone into production, according to CA Technologies.
“In addition, only 4 percent of those surveyed claimed that errors are never found in production releases. This means that many organizations are launching buggy applications to market and having to solve for them later with software updates and patches.”
Besides that, he adds, the North American ‘Business Benefits of Service Virtualization’ study found that common development and testing restraints often cause delays to customer-facing applications. Furthermore, seventy percent of the IT pros surveyed admitted to having released software with reduced functionality. Surely, the industry is capable of better efficiency.
The article recommends improved development and testing processes. Specifically, Taft recommends the practice of service virtualization, which is “the automated practice of capturing and simulating any system or service IT teams depend on to deliver software,” including every constraint in the software environment. That does sound more efficient.
CA Technologies, who put out the first study cited above, happens to sell service virtualization products. In fact, they offer a wide range of data management and storage solutions. The company is headquartered in Islandia, NY, and maintains offices all over the world.
Cynthia Murrell, January 05, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Spokeo the Electronic Private Investigator
December 28, 2012
Anyone looking to dig up dirt on a budget might want to turn to Spokeo, whose site introduces itself with, “Is He Cheating on You?” Lovely.
Despite the salacious headline, Spokeo could actually be useful for those of us not fit for the Jerry Springer show. It can help find long lost friends and family, for example, or. . . well, that’s the only white-hat example I have. The service has you enter a name, phone number, address, email, or username, then collates every scrap of related data it can find. Naturally, though, you have to pay to see most of what it uncovered. Via an auto-billed monthly subscription, no less.
The site’s FAQ page explains:
“While an individual could potentially locate a phone number or address by searching phone books, then redirect to a county tax assessor’s office to determine a home’s value, he or she would have to conduct hundreds of searches to discover all of the information available through just one search on Spokeo.
“Spokeo’s unique and powerful algorithms swiftly navigate and organize data that is spread across hundreds of locations. We synthesize that information in one convenient summary, delivering the most comprehensive snapshot of people-related, public data offered online to date. The search results provide a snapshot of the vast amounts of accessible information, offering invaluable insight about the individual being searched.”
The About page tells us that, in 2006, Spokeo emerged from the basement of Stanford University student Harrison Tang, who worked with classmates to develop the tool to better keep in touch with friends online. They assert that “Our mission is to help people find, learn about, and connect with others more easily than ever.” It is a slightly different tone than the attention-getter on the front page. I can’t say I really blame the entrepreneurs — they will almost certainly make more money this way.
Cynthia Murrell, December 28, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Sound the Alarm: Reliable Enterprise Services Are Not Free
December 14, 2012
Sound the alarms! Information Week’s article “Google Apps No Longer Free For Businesses” announced dooms day news to those looking for a free ride including perks on the Big G. After 6 years, Google is finally pushing their premium business apps by eliminating upkeep and new availability for the free version.
Google does have a heart, as they will allow existing free users to continue utilizing the bare bone services with limited customer service and no new upgrades:
“You get what you pay for because you can’t get what you didn’t pay for. That is, unless you already have it: Companies currently using the free version of Google Apps can continue to do so under the same terms. Individuals will be able to continue using Google’s Web apps, like Drive, Gmail and Docs at no cost through their Google Accounts. Businesses will be expected to pay for Google Apps for Business.”
The only surprise is that Google waited so long to push the remaining ‘free app’ businesses over to the premium side. When it comes to quality there is no such thing as free, and businesses who think they can get free, high performing enterprise solutions may be better off to invest in a tried, true and dedicated technologies. The Intrafind search technology is mature, feature rich and offers a worth return on investment – retrieving data when, where and how it is needed.
Jennifer Shockley, December 14, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
PolySpot Solutions Tap Into Information from All Enterprise Applications
December 12, 2012
Will big data be big news in 2013? Smart Data Collective thinks so; popularity in the press in addition to promising research on its impact means there will be no slowing down. Their recently published article, “The Big Deal in Big Data is a Big Opportunity,” shows that big data was not the top priority for many businesses.
IT, analytics, collaboration and mobile were all ranked of high importance by businesses in the study by Ventana Research.
The article describes several findings:
Our research into business technology innovation finds that lack of resources is the largest barrier (51%), and having IT expend significant quantities of time and resources on big data without a strong business context is a recipe for failure. Thankfully for many organizations, planning approaches for technology such as specialized DBMS (45%), in-memory databases (40%), data warehouse appliances (37%) and Hadoop (36%) requires a solid business case to move to full evaluation and deployment mode.
We do not have information on wording used in the research, but obviously IT, analytics and mobile are all inherently connected to big data. Companies have been focused on big data after all. Those who have not, should concentrate on corralling information from all enterprise applications into a network that can extract and deliver meaningful insights out of it, such as solutions from PolySpot.
Megan Feil, December 12, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com developer of Augmentext
Secure Search Solutions Meet High Enterprise Demands
December 4, 2012
The season that inspires sales is upon us and Claranet is cashing in their acquisition wish list a little early. TechCrunch’s article “Enterprise Cloud Consolidation In Europe: Claranet Buys Star (MessageLabs’ Founders’ Other Startup) For $88M” trumpets how beneficial Claranet’s recent purchase will be for all involved.
Star’s UK client base will now have access to Claranet’s resources, however Claranet benefits by expanding their services and customer base. The combined company efforts will vastly increase estimated ROI:
“This is a great opportunity to bring together the experience and resources of two great companies to deliver a broader service portfolio to benefit our customers. It’s our mission to help our customers make the most of Internet-enabled technology, and the acquisition of Star will enable us to continue to deliver on this promise. The combined company will have revenues of over £120 million, and it will have 700 staff across the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal.”
Not every provider is looking to be on the acquisition wish list even if the purchaser offers ROI as a stocking stuffer, but we won’t guarantee that Intrafind won’t be caught up in this consolidation shift. However, we do have confidence that they are an established provider that is well versed in scaling secure search solutions that meet the demands of enterprises in the pharmaceutical and financial industries.
Jennifer Shockley, December 4, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
The Importance of Wireframe Expertise
November 27, 2012
Employing a home-building metaphor, mobile software firm Zeus River laments about clients who insist, “‘I Already Have Wireframes, I Just Need You to Code It’.” Making that demand of a software engineer, writer Milan Gokhale says, is akin to a non-architect drawing up their own blueprints and telling the contractor, “I just need someone to lay the bricks.” The article explains:
“A house isn’t constructed until it has gone through a lengthy, rigorous architecture process. High-quality software operates the same way. If you want to maximize the value of your investment, you need an engineer to think through many long-term considerations. . . .
“Wireframes are sort of like interior design; they describe what the colour of the couch is, and where the couch should be located. These are not the concerns of your architect when you’re building a home, and they are not the concerns of your software developer when he/she is trying to build your app. If you didn’t involve a developer in your wire-framing process, you’re setting yourself up for a situation in which the couch looks gorgeous in a house that will crumble at any minute.”
Oh, you say, but picking colors is much more fun! That may be, but at least fork up the dough to bring your developer in on the party. Doing so is sure to save time, money, and frustration in the long run. The frustration, by the way, is also felt by developers; Gokhale says he and his partner now decline any projects with pre-drawn wireframes. It just isn’t worth the hassle.
Launched in September of 2011, Zeus River is located in Toronto, Ontario. The founding partners, both experienced enterprise software engineers, formed their own company in order to work in the more exciting, innovative arena of mobile technology. Good luck, guys.
Cynthia Murrell, November 27, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
SugarCRM Finds Sweetness in a Future IPO
November 23, 2012
Open source companies are gaining a lot of attention from the corporate world. Smaller companies are now turning cents into dollars and many open source startups want a piece of the pie while they can. Gigaom tells us that “Open-Source CRM Player SugarCRM Talks Up IPO.” SugarCRM developed online software that allows its clients to track sales, marketing, and customer support. SugarCRM uses a SaaS model for its product.
The head CEO Larry Augustin said that the company’s main goal is to become a public company and it might achieve that in 2013. Augustin has not been successful by going public in the past:
“Despite signs that enterprise SaaS is the place to be — Workday’ share blew past expectations on its October 12 launch — Augustin signaled the need to proceed with caution. He’s been burnt before. As Bloomberg pointed out, Augustin was CEO of VA Linux, another open-source oriented company, which went public in 1999, and quickly saw its market cap spike at $15 billion based on sales of $12 million to $15 million, and then crater in the dot.com bust. The company unwound over the years becoming SourceForge, then GeekNet. What was left was acquired in September by Dice Holdings.”
SugarCRM is proceeding with caution, but Augustin has high hopes for the company’s future. We will have to follow where it goes. LucidWorks went through its own change earlier this year. It left behind its old image of Lucid Imagination to become the even better LucidWorks, still armed with the same great search applications for enterprise and Big Data.
Whitney Grace, November 23, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
InMagic Makes Welcome Customer Pledge
October 30, 2012
InMagic has taken a step forward with a recent promise to its customers. On the company’s blog, General Manager and CTO Phil Green posts, “Back to the Future: a Pledge to Keep our Customers Self-Sufficient.” This vow to boost ease-of-use is an attitude we like to see.
One of InMagic’s primary commitments, says Green, has always been to provide software that can be easily used and customized by even the non-technical among us. As the Web grew in scale and complexity, however, that goal became more of a challenge for the company’s DB/TextWorks WebPublisher solution. Clients using that software to build and maintain their Web sites have often found it difficult to modify their sites without the help of a skilled Web developer.
InMagic now has the solution. Green recalls a client who urgently needed two things for their custom DB/Text WebPublisher-based website. First, they wanted the ability to make changes to their site without tapping an expensive consultant. The customer also wanted to stick with InMagic’s DB/TextWorks to build and maintain their database. Green writes:
“We were thrilled to be able to offer our new solution, Presto for DB/Text. The DB/TextWorks connector in Presto for DB/Text enables the client to build and maintain their textbase in DB/TextWorks while publishing the content in Presto. And the connector easily accommodates their textbase of more than 100,000 records. In addition, the Presto configuration layer enables the client to easily make changes to the website without technical support. In fact, the client is so comfortable with the product that they’re handling the majority of development of their new website themselves, with only limited configuration and building help from us.”
Green goes on to mention another client, one who successfully used Presto to rebuild their intranet site and to integrate with SharePoint. Specialized InMagic Web parts installed into SharePoint made Presto content available in the customer’s new SharePoint-based intranet.
Formed almost thirty years ago, InMagic is located in Woburn, MA . The company builds information management tools that, they say, are known for low cost of ownership, flexibility, ease-of-use, and rapid deployment. Some prominent customers include NASA, the esteemed Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and corporate powerhouse Owens Corning.
Cynthia Murrell, October 30, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
IT Managers Need Enterprise Architecture Applications for Future Goals
October 24, 2012
A helpful article for IT department managers concerning practical approaches to to evolving IT needs was recently posted on SandHill. “Enterprise IT Architecture: Goals, Trends and Perspectives” shares tips for time and resource weary managers on investigating and designing new technologies within their company. The article states that more focus should be put on future requirements and a long-term strategy involving multi-year objectives and activity planning should be implemented.
The article elaborates on the development of prospective strategic IT goals:
“Enterprise architecture is designed to lead IT activities according to the greater needs of the company and provide opportunities for innovation within a business strategy. IT goals are then aimed at either achievement of business goals or allowing a company to pursue something new.
[…]To aid the formulation of a strategic plan, IT managers find it helpful to adopt an enterprise architecture framework to define, organize and structure technology and application and staffing requirements in support of a company’s strategic goals.”
It is necessary to these IT managers to find a balance between meeting today’s immediate requirements while still making time to develop innovative projects for the future. Finding the right enterprise search application that allows organizations to embrace strong architecture and combine it with findability and functionality is a wise and cost effective method. Companies like Intrafind that specialize in effective information retrieval can assist in this process.
Andrea Hayden, October 24, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Delivering Information Must Precede Presenting it in a Pretty Way
October 24, 2012
We have heard it before and CITE World will tell us again: mobile is the platform of the future. Mobile business intelligence vendor Roambi directed the conversation towards the new platform everyone wants a piece of in the article, “Roambi Lets You Visualize Enterprise Data On Your iPhone or iPad.”
The Roambi app is integrated with Roambi Analytics back-end. This allows for data to be drawn from existing sources and turns it into engaging and very useful visualizations on mobile devices. There are even ten different views possible to see enterprise data appear in.
We learned more about the app:
The functionality here is impressive: Roambi doesn’t just put a new coat of paint on your enterprise data—it fully commits to the mobile experience, with each visualization easily controlled by screen gestures like double-taps and swipes. Part of that laudable functionality comes from listening to customers: company reps say that enterprise buyers wanted access to their data anywhere. That’s why Roambi downloads data directly to your device. Even without an internet connection, you still have access to your latest reports.
If there is a gem of mobile business intelligence out there, it may be Roambi. However, in order to deal with the cross usage of mobile with traditional devices so that no data is left behind, another solution must be in place. We are talking about something in the vein of PolySpot solutions, they deliver information across multiple devices in a secure manner.
Megan Feil, October 24, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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