UK University Relies on Funnelback
July 25, 2013
Search solution firm Funnelback has achieved a spot on the U.K. government’s list of cloudy vendors, we learn from the Sales Information at the HM Government G-Cloud site. Commitments to savings and transparency prompted the agency to publish this list of cloud-services vendors, which includes cost information. The introduction explains:
“As part of G-Cloud’s commitment to make central government savings by encouraging a shift to cloud computing commodity services, and our equal commitment to transparency, we publish details of all public sector spend through the G-Cloud frameworks. Details of the projected savings enabled by the Programme can be found here.
“All suppliers on the G-Cloud frameworks are obliged to provide monthly reports of invoiced sales to the Government Procurement Service (GPS). Once the data has been validated, we then publish updated figures on to this page on a monthly basis.”
We have taken interest in Funnelback before, and were happy to spot it in the list (its platform was used at the University of Surrey.) The Australian enterprise-search provider grew from technology developed by scientific research agency CSIRO. Funnelback was established in 2005, and was bought by U.K. content management outfit Squiz in 2009. Their memorable moniker combines the names of two Australian spiders, the funnel-web and the redback.
Cynthia Murrell, July 25, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Rumored Acquisition May Put Baidu on Defensive
July 24, 2013
Now this is an interesting development. Search Engine Watch‘s Jennifer Slegg points to a rumor about China’s massive search engine market in, “Chinese Search Engine Qihoo to Buy Sogou for $1.4 Billion.” She writes:
“The Chinese search engine space just got a lot more interesting with Qihoo 360 reportedly purchasing Sohu’s Sogou search engine.
“If the report from DoNews (via The Next Web) is accurate, this deal will effectively combine the second and third largest search engines in China, which could have a significant impact on Baidu’s huge market share. . . .
“Qihoo 360 launched its own search engine in August of last year, and is second only to Baidu in terms of market share in China. Purchasing Sogou would mean the company would have nearly 25 percent of the search market share compared to Baidu’s eroding market share, which is now slightly under 70 percent.”
Is Baidu worried? Qihoo 360 launched its own engine just last year, and acquisition of the popular Sohu would mean a merger of China’s second- and third-largest search engines. Some expect the deal, rumored to be in the neighborhood of $1.4 billion, will soon be officially announced.
Cynthia Murrell, July 24, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Kapow Reinforces It Is a Big Data Platform
July 21, 2013
Short honk: Data integration, like search, is expanding. We noted a news release called “Kapow Software Quarterly Revenue Rises as Newly Acquired Customer Bookings and Subscriptions Fuel Growth.” The news release explains that a privately held firm is growing. The important point for me was this phrase: “a leading Big Data solution provider.”
The news release explains:
The Kapow Enterprise Big Data Integration Platform enables companies to integrate any cloud or on-premise data source using Kapow Software’s patented, intelligent integration workflows and Synthetic APIs™. Once the critical data is found and surgically extracted, Kapow Enterprise 9.2 delivers timely information to the workforce in an easily consumable form called Kapow Kapplets™ through an enterprise app library offering called the Kapow KappZone™. KappZones can be easily branded and distributed for employees to discover and use on any computing device they choose.
The Kapow Web site points out that the company’s business includes:
- Content integration
- Content migration
- Legacy application integration
- Enterprise search.
The company also offers three aforementioned products: Katalyst, Kapplets, and KappZone. I find this semantic embrace fascinating and indicative of a trend in which vendors pretty much do anything related to information which is, it seems, Big Data.
Stephen E Arnold, July 21, 2013
Sponsored by Xenky
Autonomy: A New Kind of Search?
July 20, 2013
Autonomy was founded in 1996. That was 17 years ago. In my upcoming KMWorld column for August/September, I point out that search, content processing, and even analytics have been consistent for many years. There are a number of reasons for the “sameness” of systems and the corresponding difficulty prospects have in differentiating one system from another.
Perhaps I am off base. Search systems, content processing systems, and analytics systems are very, very different. I am looking at out dated notions such as precision and recall. I am missing the point that search is about interface, “smart” software which knows what I want based on my past behavior, and mobile computing demands search apps which just present information. No information retrieval baloney required like a carefully crafted Boolean query.
I read with interest and my acknowledged lack of expertise “Analytics for Human Information: Enterprise Search in the age of Big Data.” In one article, I learned that HP Autonomy delivers analytics and search in a big data world. More interesting was this phrase “a new kind of search is here.” Okay, after 17 years, I am open to innovation even though I see more and more similarity.
The article asserts:
Here at HP Autonomy, we think the market is hungry for a more open and comprehensive approach to solving big data access problems. So we are excited to be launching a promotion program called Enterprise Search Rescue to help Microsoft FAST and Oracle Endeca customers migrate to Autonomy IDOL quickly and seamlessly. Everyone deserves a search technology that can solve tomorrow’s challenges.
My recollection is that when HP acquired Autonomy a number of Autonomy vendors offered demonstrations and programs to “rescue” Autonomy customers from HP. Oracle Endeca is cutting some of its prices and the founders have moved on to other interests. Microsoft Fast is a money machine for consultants, but rumors swirl that changes are coming.
What we have then, is Autonomy reinventing itself to provide an alternative to Endeca (founded in 1999) and Fast Search & Transfer (founded in 1997).
Am I alone in finding it somewhat amusing to see these aging search systems trying to capture one another’s customers? Are there less proprietary solutions available; for example, perhaps an Autonomy licensee could implement LucidWorks and gain some advantages?
Net net. Yep, I think many organizations are hungry for findability solutions which work, do not cost millions, and can cope with today’s information tasks. I read a news release last week that pointed out no new search system has been patented by the USPTO in the last five years. You can find that story here.
When is “new” new?
Stephen E Arnold, July 20, 2013
Sponsored by Xenky
Rainstor Claims Hadoop Secure Even for Large Banks
July 20, 2013
The article titled RainStor Adds Enterprise-Grade Security, Search to Hadoop on ITWorld discusses the database specialist’s answer to the Big Data problem. What problem, you ask? When your clients number among the world’s largest banks, security and speedy search are of paramount importance. The article explains,
“When you put Hadoop into production, especially if you’re a telco or a large investment or retail bank, you suddenly have to think about the sensitivity and importance of the data,” says John Bantleman, CEO of RainStor. “If you lose a webclick, nobody cares. But if you allow unauthorized users access to high-value data … the requirements are just so much more rigorous. You need good authentication. You need to manage encryption keys and have an understanding around how the data is used.”
Rainstor’s data compression technology reduces the storage footprint by up to 97%, and they believe their enterprise-grade security and search for Hadoop will solve past problems. Data encryption, data masking, audit trail and tamper proofing are all new security features. The search aspect was also a priority (another search Hadoop play). Rainstor claims that its search capability performs at speeds 10 to 100 times faster than standard SQL by quickly dividing data into subsets, which analysts can further explore.
Chelsea Kerwin, July 20, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Finding an Optical Character Recognition Program
July 19, 2013
The I ran the following query for a client project yesterday: “OCR programs.”
I passed the query to Google, Yandex, and Bing in that order. What did I find?
There are 11 ads and 10 hits, one set of news items and one set of related search suggestions. Several the links pointed me to downloads which were too confusing to try. The other links pointed to information ranging from Google Groups to commercial companies’ products.
Here’s what Yandex delivered to me:
No ads and mostly general information, including a hit to TextBridge which is no longer current.
And Bing?
There were five ads, related searches in two places, and links to mostly “free” programs and general information sites.
The reason this is an important series of examples is that I have been reading some of the articles about Google’s somewhat disappointing earnings results. The numbers are huge, but when most search and content processing companies are struggling for growth, Google is the Sir Lancelot of search vendors. If Google can’t grow quickly, what does that say about Google’s business strategy, about other search and content processing companies, and the US economy? My takeaway is not much different from that expressed in USA Today. Yes, USA Today, what one of my goslings calls “McPaper.”
The story is “Google Earnings Clipped in Mobile Headwinds.” The main point is, in my opinion:
Concerns continue about so-called cost-per-click prices that advertisers pay Google for Internet-search advertising.
And then:
Google’s average cost-per-click, which includes clicks related to ads served on Google sites and the sites of its network members, decreased about 6% in the quarter compared with a year ago. Analysts had predicted prices would drop about 3% in the period.
JackBe Embraces SharePoint with Presto Release
July 19, 2013
An article on Business Wire titled JackBe Presto Makes SharePoint Real-Time for the Enterprise reports on the software provider, JackBe. JackBe provides intuitive dashboards that organize Big Data. Presto Add-On for SharePoint, the most recent version of their software, allows users to build apps and dashboards with a familiar interface. The article explains,
“Presto Add-On for SharePoint enables users to query Presto-connected data within SharePoint, using SharePoint Search. In addition, the solution’s new “FAST Enterprise Search” Wires block provides a simple drag-and-drop search experience using FAST, SharePoint’s popular enterprise search capability. Powered by Wires, Presto’s “point-click-mash” visual assembly tool, Presto Add-On for SharePoint enables mashing of multiple FAST search results with support for keyword and FAST Query Language (FQL) queries. This allows users to easily combine data from multiple sources, lists and queries into single, meaningful data visualizations.”
Not only FAST Search block, but several other new Wires are included in the recent upgrade. SharePoint List Add Item, SharePoint List, SharePoint List Merge, SharePoint Search and External Content Adapter are all Wire blocks that will enable reading and replying to data sources and solving List ID issues. We can’t help but notice that as soon as other vendors are exiting SharePoint, JackBe jumps in full throttle.
Chelsea Kerwin, July 19, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Acquisition of Gigablast by Yippy Leaves Some Questions Unanswered
July 19, 2013
An article on Yahoo titled Yippy, Inc. (YIPI) to Acquire Gigablast, Inc. And Web Research Properties, LLC to Expand Consumer Search, Enterprise, and eDiscovery Products reported on the important acquisition by the young company. Yippy, Inc. is a search clustering tech company based in Florida with some innovative eDiscovery resources. Matt Wells, the founder of Gigablast states in the article,
“Gigablast and its related properties can provide advanced technologies for consumer, eDiscovery, and enterprise big data customers. Gigabits, a related program, is the first operational enterprise class clustering program which I put into service in 2004. Yippy’s Velocity platform was essentially based off of my original work which will allow Yippy to sell behind the firewall installations for all types of search based applications for enterprise and eDiscovery customers.”
Yippy’s Chief Executive Rich Granville claims that the acquisition will not only benefit customers through technological innovation but by low costs. He directed interested parties to a demo that might illustrate the massive potential in the merger of these companies. The demo shows that the combined indexing of billions of pages of data has already begun, although not when it will be complete. What is less clear is who is indexing what in this tie-up?
Chelsea Kerwin, July 19, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Vertical Search Apps as Champions Against Google Dominance
July 18, 2013
With a reminder that many tech predictions fail to come true, Traffick posits, “Remember Good Old ‘Vertical Search Engines Will eat Google’s Lunch’?” The article recalls a time years ago when some said specialized search portals were poised to give dominant, broader platforms some hefty competition. Google weathered that storm just fine.
Now, Google critics are again saying the search platform is too generalized, and that it is in danger from more specialized solutions (mobile apps this time.) While for many of these tools going public has supplied a financial edge, that advantage pales in comparison to Google’s stranglehold in the mobile environment. Still, writer Andrew Goodman observes:
“But with direct pipelines to their user bases, wisely built through timely and large cash infusions, this new generation of ‘vertical portals’ seems better positioned to stand firm than the flimsy attempts we saw a decade ago. . . .
“Some of the results could be surprising, heavily dependent on the type of ‘lens’ users prefer to see the world through. . . . Does everyone want to be subject to an opinionated ‘master lens,’ a giant Google Glass, if you will? An AOL, Facebook, or Apple style walled garden? Or will folks find ways of enabling more neutral platforms (or somehow using the above technology in a neutral way) that will help them do a better job of enabling many ‘starting points,’ a postmodern collection of ‘lenses,’ in the manner of their choosing?”
Good questions that only time can answer. Goodman suggests that Yahoo can help in the anti-monolith effort by shaking up their business model and snapping up some of these Google-free apps. He suspects a lot of users want to see vertical search engines take Google down a few notches. Hmm. . . we’ll see.
Cynthia Murrell, July 18, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Cloudera Releases Search Application
July 17, 2013
Cloudera is joining the ranks of those who offer open source enterprise search solutions. They are powering the new offering, Cloudera Search, with Apache Solr and combining with the storage of Hadoop. Read more in “Introducing Cloudera Search.”
The introduction begins:
“Powered by Apache Solr™, the enterprise standard for open source search, Cloudera Search integrates with the 100% open source Big Data platform, CDH, to bring scale and reliability for a new generation of search – Big Data search.
Speed to Resolution: Get to answers quickly with user-friendly search and drill-down navigation and find relevant data across large, disparate data stores of mixed format and structure.
Accelerated Exploration: Discover the “shape of data” quickly and easily during modeling and data exploration with faceted search interfaces and free-text query APIs.”
There are many more features that are covered in the remaining write-up. Readers can find more information by registering for a free webinar or viewing an introductory video. It is not surprising that Cloudera wants to expand their market share by moving into enterprise search. LucidWorks has had much success in this area, building their products on Apache Solr as well, combining it with emerging technologies like Hadoop. So while Cloudera’s news is exciting, and shows great momentum in the market, industry-vetted solutions like LucidWorks might be the tried and true option.
Emily Rae Aldridge, July 17, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
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