Microsoft Gives Users Better Features in Update
October 2, 2013
Microsoft decided it was time to give its SharePoint Cloud users more features, says ZDNet in “Microsoft Raises SharePoint Online Upload Limits To 2 GB, Allows .Exe Uploads.” What is exciting users the most is the upload size has been changed from the miniscule 250 MB to 2 GB. In a world where users are producing more video and image driven content the measly 250 MB could not handle user content. Other updates include an extended period for files in the recycling bin, more file types are supported, and raised limits on site collection and list lookup thresholds.
The update is a big jump for SharePoint Cloud users, who have been working with the equivalent of a basic package for years. While users are happy about the update, there are security concerns will the new file additions:
“Addressing security concerns that could arise from allowing users to upload .exe and .dll files, Microsoft notes that SharePoint will “not execute any arbitrary EXEs or DLLs” uploaded by users from a team site or SkyDrive Pro account. It points out that SharePoint only accepts uploads from authenticated users and has Microsoft’s inbuilt AV engine amongst other layers of defense.”
It is all taken care of nice and neat. Microsoft is looking to improve SharePoint user experience and they are on the right track. Stephen Arnold of Arnold IT, a renowned search expert, wonders how search will be handled with the upgrade. They may need to beef it up just like the other features.
Whitney Grace, October 02, 2013
Microsoft Decides It Is Time To Improve SharePoint Cloud
September 30, 2013
After a long while, Microsoft will update SharePoint Cloud. CRN tells us in the article, “Microsoft Beefs Up Cloud SharePoint With More Storage, Better Management,” that SharePoint Cloud’s upgrade comes as an investment on Microsoft’s part, because it is an important name on its sixteen-billon dollar business list. Microsoft is increasing the file upload size on the Cloud-based storage from 250 MB to 2 GB per file. Also users can now store .exe and .dll files on the Cloud just like they can on a server-based SharePoint installation. The goal is to eliminate sync problems SharePoint users have. Deleted items will stay in the recycle bin for a total of ninety days, instead of thirty.
“With all these changes, Microsoft is closing a gap between SharePoint Online and the on-premise version and opening up SharePoint Online to more users, Matt Scherocman, president of Interlink Cloud Advisors, a Cincinnati-based Microsoft, told CRN.”
Microsoft is giving its users more liberty and flexibility to work across multiple devices. To remain competitive this is the advantage it needs to remain a big league player. Stephen E Arnold of Arnold IT is curious how Microsoft will handle the search aspect of the Cloud. Will it be deployed across the server and the Cloud-based installation? What about security issues if that is the case? The updates are necessary, but it is important to not forget findability.
Whitney Grace, September 30, 2013
HP Autonomy Brings Secure Cloud Sharing to the Workplace
September 21, 2013
HP Autonomy aims to bring stronger security to the cloud with Autonomy LinkSite, a solution that integrates WorkSite, the division’s on-site data management solution, with HP’s public cloud-based sharing and collaboration service Flo CM. Market Wired shares the details in, “HP Autonomy Delivers Proven and Secure Enterprise-Grade Alternative to Consumer File Sharing Services.”
It has not taken long for many of us to get used to today’s cloud-based, consumer file-sharing technology. We want to be able to share anything of any size with anyone from any device, synchronizing instantly. Such expectations brought into the workplace from our personal habits can mean real security headaches for businesses. At the same time, continuing to rely on the very limiting method of sharing files through email is becoming less and less tenable. The press release tells us:
“Autonomy LinkSite combines an enterprise-grade document and email management system with the ease of use and simplicity of a consumer solution. It provides the enterprise with a single, integrated, user-friendly tool for external file sharing and collaboration. Autonomy LinkSite enables a single file or an entire project folder to be shared in the cloud with internal and external collaborators, directly from the Autonomy WorkSite application. . . .
“‘For the first time, organizations no longer have to turn a blind eye to continued use of undocumented consumer file sharing services,’ said Neil Araujo, general manager, Enterprise Content Management, HP Autonomy. “Businesses now have a very attractive alternative that satisfies the needs of the users as well as the IT and compliance teams.'”
The write-up lists the following benefits of this new tool: collaboration across firewalls; the convenience of a single point of access for each user; synchronization across all employee devices; an ease of use that they say surpasses that of the consumer-grade file-sharing options; and, perhaps most importantly, the “seamless” extension of security, authorization, and audit properties from WorkSite into the cloud.
Tech giant HP purchased Autonomy in what was, let’s just say, a much-discussed deal back in 2011. Founded in 1996, Autonomy grew from research originally performed at Cambridge University. Their solutions help prominent organizations around the world manage large amounts of data.
Cynthia Murrell, September 21, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
IBM a Cloud Leader
September 15, 2013
I read “IBM Named as a Leader in IDC MarketScape on Worldwide Cloud Professional Services Vendor Assessment.” Fascinating item. The article said:
IBM was recognized in the “leaders” category in part because of its current capabilities, including customers’ feedback naming IBM’s top strengths as providing functional insights and competence, industry insights and competence and leveraging resources globally. In addition, IBM’s future strategy related to cloud professional services contributed significantly to its position as a leader.
With the Amazon dispute over a US government contract still flickering at the edge of my consciousness, I wonder where Amazon ranks in the assessment. With cloud computing a fuzzy notion for me, what about Google? Hewlett Packard? Microsoft? Rackspace?
Perhaps the IBM news release is a good way to generate interest in one of those azure chip consultant reports?
When I know what cloud computing is, then I will be able to process a “leader” badge. In the meantime, I will let the buzzword flit right by me, hidden away in a hollow in rural Kentucky. A leader! Impressive for a $100 billion consulting and services company which uses open source search technology combined with a Rubik’s cube of acquired technology. Some of the technology is going to make cloud implementations interesting indeed.
Stephen E Arnold, September 15, 2013
3DEXPERIENCE Platform With IFWE Compass Unveiled by Dassault Systemes
September 4, 2013
An article posted on July 25, 2013 on Market Watch was titled Dassault Systemes Announces Groundbreaking User Experience of its 3DExperience Platform and a New Cloud Portfolio. The French company revealed V6 Release 2014, offering a compact course-plotting interface that straddles the 3DExperience platform on the premise as well as on the cloud. As usual, the developments are ‘groundbreaking’. The article explains,
“This release brings a disruptive new user experience and the value of a business application at every single level of the company, transforming the world of IT platforms,” said Monica Menghini, Executive Vice President, Industry & Marketing, Dassault Systemes. “Our new navigational user interface is so intuitive that we wanted to give it a name: ‘IFWE Compass,’ because in business it is always a question of considering ‘what if’ scenarios to find the right path.”
The IFWE Compass provides an environment for business leaders to visualize their ideas on every level of development and collaborate from a shared cloud. The perks of the new system include Enovia Program Management and Engineering BOM Management, Delmia Assembly Planning and Milling Machining, Catia Concept Creative Design and Solidworks Mechanical Conceptual. The promise is of a holistic approach to information is the aim of the 3DExperience.
Chelsea Kerwin, September 04, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Here Comes Another Buzzword
August 27, 2013
By reading the title, you might be asking what the new buzzword is. Take a look at Information Week’s article, “Big Data Ushers In ‘Virtuous Cycle Of Computing’” for the answer. The beginning of the article mentions that we are heading into an age of cloud computing that increase the amount of users and devices. Intel is responsible for the term “virtuous cycle of computing” that means a “system of events that reinforces itself in a continuous loop. Right now this refers to big data. Intel senior VP Diane Bryant that recent big data surge is because of the growing demand of end-user and machine-to-machine devices.
Business-to-business hardware is in high demand, which then causes the sharing of large data amounts of data.
“Bryant estimated that more than 14 billion devices will come online by 2016. Five billion of them will be consumer machines such as tablets and smartphones; the other 9 billion will be machine-to-machine hardware. ‘As those devices come online, they require a connection back to the data center,’ she said. ‘For every 600 phones, you’re going to need another server in a data center. For every 120 tablets, you’ll need a server.’ “
Data in the palm of your hand with reliable Internet services everywhere. Can anyone else say magic? At least it feels like it. The perpetuation of the virtuous cycle of computing only means more reliable devices and better transference of data. Wait until they develop the holographic UI.
Whitney Grace, August 27, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
The New 3DEXPERIENCE
August 26, 2013
Combining words and spelling them all in capital letters is one way to get attention, but does it also bring attention in a negative way? That might be the case according to Market Watch in “Dassault Systemes Announces Groundbreaking User Experience Of Its 3DEXPERIENCE Platform And a New Cloud Portfolio.” The article is a press release hyping up Dassault Systemes’s newest innovation the V6 Release 2013 that brings a unified navigational interface for the 3DEPXRIENCE designed for on site and for the public and private cloud.
Indeed it does move the company forward and it will benefit its clients with its many new features, but this one draws our attention the most:
” ‘This release brings a disruptive new user experience and the value of a business application at every single level of the company, transforming the world of IT platforms,’ said Monica Menghini, Executive Vice President, Industry & Marketing, Dassault Systemes. ‘Our new navigational user interface is so intuitive that we wanted to give it a name: ‘IFWE Compass,’ because in business it is always a question of considering ‘what if’ scenarios to find the right path. This new release of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform will help business leaders connect ideas, people, data, and solutions to create experiences that delight their customers and inspire brand loyalty.’ “
Okay, we give that the press release is not negative, but the new ‘IFWE Compass’ sounds an awful lot like regular search rehashed in techno jargon. Honestly, the new upgrade sounds good, but why not call the “navigational user interface’ what it is without relying on outdated babble. Really 3DEXPERIENCE? What is this, the nineties?
Whitney Grace, August 26, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
IT Market Forecasting Increasingly Tricky
August 22, 2013
How big is cloud search? No one knows, because it is changing too fast to measure. That is the takeaway from eWeek‘s, “IT Marketing Forecasting Gets Dicey in Cloud Services, BYOD Era.” Forecasting firms have been recalibrating their tech-market predictions left and right. The article notes:
“In 2013 the major trends of mobile, cloud, social and bring your own device are rapidly altering the enterprise technology market. When you consider Microsoft reorganizing itself into a services operation, Dell working desperately to go private, Lenovo as the new leader in a declining personal computer market, and Samsung and Apple as the smartphone leaders, you get an idea of just how rapidly the tech globe is spinning.”
Writer Eric Lundquist supplies examples of forecasts that have been adjusted. He also examines specific developments, like the growth of Amazon Web Services and the bring-your-own-device trend, that have cast a fog around predictions. He concludes:
“All this goes to highlight the difficulty of forecasting a market that is changing beneath your feet. While you can add up actual spending, measuring lost opportunities, shifts in customer preferences and the attributes that cause corporate IT to abandon, for example, in-house development projects in favor of contracting with cloud services is not something that can be easily plugged into a spreadsheet.”
Indeed. The write-up suggests that researchers can overcome this difficulty once they capture enough customers’ thoughts about future spending. I am not so sure. Can we ever expect this market to settle down? Or is the pace of innovation only going to continue growing exponentially, leaving our tech prognosticators forever in the dust?
Cynthia Murrell, August 22, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Raritan User Interface on Amazon Web Services
August 19, 2013
Raritan Technologies has announced a partnership with Amazon Web Services to launch a dynamic search user interface on the popular cloud platform. PR Newswire covers all the details in their article, “Raritan Releases Dynamic Search User Interface on Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace.”
The article begins:
“Raritan Technologies announced a new relationship with Amazon Web Services to expand its search solutions through the CloudSearch Plus User Interface (UI). This search solution, which interacts with Amazon’s CloudSearch product, is now for sale on the AWS Marketplace. Raritan’s search UI is easily configured to access any CloudSearch collection, customizable for each company’s unique interface requirements and enables mobility for content retrieval and accessibility.”
Raritan is a partner with many open source solution providers, including LucidWorks. LucidWorks is known for their expertise in Apache Lucene Solr, and for their award winning customer support and training. Raritan will benefit from the partnership with LucidWorks, as well as other open source providers with a broad spectrum of expert areas. Open source is definitely an unstoppable force in enterprise, and partnerships like these are just one reason why the commercial search solutions should be afraid.
Emily Rae Aldridge, August 19, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
Open Source to Help Secure Cloud Storage
August 5, 2013
As technology advances quickly, so do security concerns. It stands to reason that new technologies open up new vulnerabilities. But open source is working to combat those challenges in an agile and cost-effective way. Read the latest on the topic in IT World Canada in their story, “Open-Source Project Aims to Secure Cloud Storage.”
The article begins:
“The open source software project named Crypton is working on a solution that would enable developers to easily create encrypted cloud-based collaboration environments. There are very few cloud services that offer effective encryption protection for data storage, according to Crypton. Security has always been the top concern for many enterprise organizations when it comes to cloud services and applications.”
It is reasonable that enterprises are concerned about security when it comes to cloud services and storage. For that reason, many prefer on-site hosting and storage. However, some open source companies, like LucidWorks, build value-added solutions on top of open source software and guarantee security as well as support and training. And while LucidWorks offers on-site hosting as well, those who venture into the Cloud can have the best of both worlds with cost-effective open source software and the support of an industry leader.
Emily Rae Aldridge, August 5, 2013
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Beyond Search
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