MuleSoft Readies for IPO for Enterprise SAAS
April 12, 2013
MuleSoft is making headlines for its ability to connect applications on-site and in the Cloud. As it launches into an IPO, big funding is rolling in. Read all of the details in the TechCrunch article, “Readying For An IPO, Enterprise SaaS Integration Platform MuleSoft Raises $37M From NEA, Salesforce And Others.”
The article begins:
“MuleSoft, an integration platform for connecting SaaS and enterprise applications in the cloud and on-premise, has raised $37 million led by NEA . . . This bring the company’s total funding to $81 million. MuleSoft lets organizations integrate their cloud and on-premise applications. The company’s newly launched platform allows for a complete integration platform to enable connectivity to any application, data service or API, across the entire cloud and on-premise continuum.”
For organizations that already have a large infrastructure and need to connect their scattered components, MuleSoft may be a good solution. But, for organizations that are just launching a content management and enterprise search infrastructure, you want to do it right the first time. In this case, LucidWorks would be a great solution. LucidWorks can turn every bit of multi-structured data into a business advantage and is available in the Cloud. Scalable and cost-effective, LucidWorks can help prevent constant restructuring and reassessment of outdated infrastructures.
Emily Rae Aldridge, April 12, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
The Cloud Stops Here
March 15, 2013
In the last few years cloud technology has taken off. It seems that many of the world’s biggest companies all have their head in the cloud but there are still some people out there that aren’t sold on the technology. The Tech Eye article “Forget the Cloud, Get a Mainframe” talks about a large retailer that has stayed away from the cloud. Tasmanian retailer Coggans is not relying on cloud technology but instead has decided to upgrade its Unisys mainframe system. It will be used for their mission-critical applications as well as its online infrastructure. This move is newsworthy for several reasons. The most obvious is that with the popularity of cloud technology why pass on it. Secondly, Australia is not big in the mainframe game and only about 6 organizations within Australia actually use the Unisys’ mainframe system. However, Coogans continues to forge ahead with its mainframe system and has its reasons for staying away from the cloud. According to the IT manager Peter Jandera
“if there was a disastrous crash of the company production machine, the outfit could switch to a disaster recovery environment. Both systems are separate and there is also an offline backup of the entire environment. No one guarantees the last mile and there were real dangers because the cloud means that you do not necessarily know where the data is going. All it would take is a person with a space to cut through a cable and the company is stuffed.”
It seemed that everyone was moving to the cloud so it’s always nice to see that some people are “bucking the system” and choosing other viable types of technology. Perhaps this busts the field wide open for OpenText BRS search engine and Stairs III and could highlight a shift in the industry. Even if it doesn’t it’s always good to see a bit of old mixed in with the new.
April Holmes, March 15, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Aussie Retailer Sticking with Mainframe Approach to Data
March 12, 2013
One Tasmanian organization refuses to buy into to the cloud-migration trend. TechEye informs us that retail outfit Coogans is saying, in effect, “Forget the Cloud, Get a Mainframe.” The company is forging ahead with plans to upgrade its old standby, the Unisys mainframe. The article tells us:
“To understand how unusual this is, you have to realise that Australia never really had the mainframe bug and there are only about six organisations in Australia to use Unisys’ mainframe systems. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Coogans has been a loyal client of the Unisys and its predecessor, Burroughs, since before 1965, and this new fangled cloud tech just does not cut the mustard.
“It just took a weekend for Coogans to set up one mainframe, the latest Unisys Libra 460s, at each of its Hobart and Moonah locations in Tasmania and migrate its real-time custom production application, called Coogans Online Stock, Financial And Rental System, which was written in 1992 and is the centrepiece of the retailer’s IT architecture.”
It seems like a case of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” But won’t they regret eschewing the advantage of cloudy redundancy? Nope. The company maintains a separate disaster-recovery environment at a nearby building, complete with VPN–ensured redundancy.
Okay, so they’re covered there. Still, why resist what many consider an inevitable shift? IT manager Peter Jandera is simply uncomfortable with not knowing exactly where his company’s data is going, and with knowing that “all it would take is a person with a space to cut through a cable and the company is stuffed.” He emphasized that Coogans cannot afford to lose even a minute from their working day; he is simply unwilling to trust another organization with that responsibility. I can’t say I blame him.
If more organizations were to buck the cloud trend, would it mean new hope for systems like BRS Search and IBM’s STAIRS?
Cynthia Murrell, March 12, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
New Terminology Does Not Change Power of Data Delivery Solutions
February 26, 2013
Many venture capitalists were chomping at the bit to fund big data start ups not too long ago. However, according to a recent article from Venture Beat it is time to move on. This venture capitalist chasing news source tells us, ‘Big Data’ Is Dead. What’s Next?
The article goes on to discuss who killed it. Everyone from media sources to industry leaders to marketing experts all the way down to the vendors themselves had a hand in the death of big data, according to this piece. Instead of the big data deluge, this article warns against a big data headache. The only cure: a big data Advil.
Writer John De Goes states:
As the industry matures, there won’t be a single term that replaces the big data moniker. Instead, different tools and technologies will carve out different niches, each more narrowly focused and highly specialized than the universal sledgehammer that was big data.I’m going to talk about some of the niches you’re going to hear about again and again. Alas, some of these will be spun into buzzwords that, like big data, accumulate so much “momentum” they eventually lose meaning.
Life after big data will involve smart data, data science, NewSQL and predictive analytics according to this article. If one thing can be certain it is that there will be new terminology to apply to new vendors in the big data game as time goes on. However, big data as a term will always be able to quickly and simply capture the essence of solutions from data delivery vendors to enterprise infrastructure solutions.
Megan Feil, February 26, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search.
IBM Servers Marketed to Emerging Markets
February 11, 2013
As Big Data solutions become more accessible for medium and small sized enterprises, new markets are emerging for providers of servers and storage space. One side effect of the Big Data boom is the subsequent market for infrastructure. IBM is hoping to capitalize on that new market. The ZDNet story, “IBM Targets Emerging Markets, Offers Cheap Servers,” tells how.
The article begins:
“IBM will begin offering a new Power Systems server and storage range this month, aimed at both SMBs and emerging markets . . . Rod Adkins, a Senior Vice President in IBM’s Systems & Technology Group told Reuters: ‘Big data and cloud technologies that were once only affordable to large enterprises are now available to the masses. With these new systems, IBM is forging an aggressive expansion of its Power and Storage Systems business into SMB (small- and medium-sized businesses) and growth markets.’”
The hardware and infrastructure to support Big Data is important, but hardware is nothing without the software to do the work. For instance, LucidWorks Big Data is a strong contender in the Big Data market. LucidWorks has a cloud-hosted option for those who cannot yet invest in the hardware. As a major bonus, LucidWorks is a trusted industry standard in open source search, so the movement into Big Data solutions is a smart and natural one.
Emily Rae Aldridge, February 11, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Data Quality and Delivery Ensured By Over One Hundred Connectors in Solution by PolySpot
January 30, 2013
Information Management discusses how businesses can be a part of “Revealing Big Data’s Secrets” for their own gain in this recent article. The article explains that too much has been covered in the media in regards to big data that discusses the what and why of the matter. How is the weak link in this inherently necessary triumvirate of information to help businesses in beginning deployment of big data technologies.
Businesses who have found out why they need big data and what it is are perfectly poised to gain competitive advantage from big data if they take the next steps to utilize the right technologies.
The article states:
Our research into operational intelligence found that the use of events is a critical part of the big data environment. At the same time the skills of master data management and data governance do not go away, and in fact become important to address the business accuracy question that inevitably pops up when more data becomes available to be utilized. Our research into product information management has found that the drive for data quality is changing organizations’ approaches.
Data quality and integrity is very important to businesses as they work to churn insights out of data. One solution we have seen from PolySpot offers more than one hundred connectors to ensure that data is delivered in the proper form.
Megan Feil, January 30, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search.
Big Data Solutions Put the Information to Work and Enable Insights to Spread Across the Enterprise
January 29, 2013
Both skill and will are needed for a project to come to fruition. Many organizations have determined that deploying technologies to add value to big data would be beneficial at this point in time. Now, they are looking around to find the workforce with the skill to truly glean all the opportunities and insights possible out of big data. Forbes discusses data scientists and the convoluted Hadoop framework in “Combating the Big Data Skills Shortage.”
The article explains that integrating Hadoop with other projects can prove cumbersome but that the IT community has helped to bridge the gaps:
In the most extreme case, it means that traditional Oracle or DB/2 based applications could essentially run on top Hadoop. In more realistic applications, it means that some traditional applications could be migrated to run on Hadoop, as new data sources are integrated with traditional structured databases. New queries could then be created to take advantage of the traditional and the new data sources together to provide new insight and value to the business.
While some frameworks like Hadoop are better geared towards data scientists and analysts that need years of experience trained in this specific technology, there are still other technologies like infrastructure components that have those skills built into them. A big data solution like PolySpot puts Information At Work to lessen the need for hiring data scientists immediately.
Megan Feil, January 29, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search.
PolySpot Enables Access to Actionable Insights
January 21, 2013
After several years of articles focused simply on what big data means, the time has finally arrived where many media outlets are moving beyond definitions in their coverage. HR Bartender breaches the subject of massive volumes of petabytes in regards to the opportunities and actionable information it produces in their recent article, “Moving from Big Data to Real Insight.”
The article tells us to acknowledge but bypass skepticism, focus on success and build off of small victories. Among many professional tips and guidelines for creating insights out of numbers, the author emphasizes the prime motivation as enabling a better customer and client experience.
The article recommends:
It’s important to understand how to get insights from our data. And before companies try to incorporate big data into their strategy, here are a few things to consider. Identify the “why”. Companies need to know why they are gathering data. Example: In the IBM CEO study, chief executives talk about building data to serve their customers. Their goal is to empower customer facing staff by using analytics to create a better customer experience.
Moving the needle from a chaotic array of data holed up in silos in various programs and applications will be challenging without the proper infrastructure component. PolySpot, for example, with over one hundred connectors aids in the technological side of information access.
Megan Feil, January 21, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
PolySpot Delivers Insights from Big Data to the Enterprise
January 4, 2013
The Telegraph forecasts the big data boom will only grow steadier and louder. Big Data Was Big in 2012, It Will be Bigger in 2013 refers to big data as digital DNA. Big data is not going anywhere now that it has taken shape in such a major way. Big data provides an evolving infrastructure for everything digital.
The article discusses the proclivity many industry spectators and professionals have for looking towards the future while ignoring the present opportunities and innovations.
While it is easy to see big data as being similar to a new Gold Rush, an Oil Stampede and an almost infinite capacity for change, it is sometimes better to look for present-day companies that are engendering change now, and not sometime in the ill-defined future. One such company is London-based telephony analytics provider IOVOX that has built a voice platform that gives real-time visibility into all aspects of telephone traffic.
We could not have said those wise words any better. Taking advantage of current solutions from companies fostering exciting moves in the big data sphere; for example, how PolySpot has changed enterprise information delivery, will be key to making an impact.
Megan Feil, January 4, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search.
Open Source Impacts Information Infrastructure
January 2, 2013
Open source continues to not just meet information needs, but also drives the future direction of information including new technologies and architectural structures. Adrian Bridgwater at Open Source Insider looks ahead at the future of open source and information infrastructure in his article, “The Future Impact of Open Source on our Information Infrastructure.”
Bridgwater quotes some numbers from Gartner showing that by 2015, 25% of new database management systems will be supporting alternative data types and non-traditional data structures. He continues:
“Gartner’s Merv Adrian says that the products needed to be able to perform this work will need to “purpose-built alternatives” but that they are, as yet, immature . . . ‘This was before massive scale-out architectures were commonplace and the variety of data types now being deployed existed. New product categories have sprung up, designed to fit new needs at lower cost and with better alignment to new development tools and practices. Products and vendors are continually emerging to offer more purpose-built alternatives; these are immature, but often worth assessing.’”
In the quote above, the products and vendors continually emerging point to open source solutions. Open source is a cost-effective and efficient way to meet the needs of non-traditional data structures and types. Proprietary solutions are often incapable of reacting quickly and affordably to emerging trends. For instance, Big Data solutions are now almost entirely dominated by open source. LucidWorks is one such vendor offering a great open source Big Data solution, but LucidWorks Search is also a leading enterprise search option.
Emily Rae Aldridge, January 02, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
