Big Money for Open Source Company
November 22, 2012
If someone told you that there wasn’t any money to be made in open source technology, first tell them they are extremely wrong and then have them read this article from Tech Crunch called “Open Source Business Intelligence Company Pentaho Lands $23 Million Series C.” Pentaho is an open source business intelligence vendor and the company landed $23 million in funding from investors, the biggest contributor being New Enterprise Associates. Pentaho has led four prior funding rounds, bringing the total to $55 million.
Going over the company’s history, this is another success for them:
“The company was founded in 2004 and raised a $5 million series A from New Enterprise Associates with participation from Index Ventures. It later raised a $8 million series B from the same two firms in 2006. Venture Beat reported a $12 million 3rd round from Benchmark Capital in 2008, and according to SEC documents Pentaho raised an additional $7 million from undisclosed investors in 2010.”
As a major player in the open source field, Pentaho has most notably been known for its software that adds native support for NoSQL Databases, Apache Hadoop distributions, columnar databases, and traditional relational databases. Its Kettle, an data integration platform, was released earlier this year. Pentaho will use the money to fund more open source projects. We have to wait and see what develops. We already know what is to develop with LucidWorks, an open source search company. LucidWorks is where the open source search experts are and they have some of the most robust and powerful search applications for Big Data and the Cloud.
Whitney Grace, November 22, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Web Site Redesign Important for Many Reasons
November 21, 2012
When organizations want to redesign their Web presence, reasons like updating content or refreshing the look and feel are often tops. But with the increased news and controversy surrounding the Google algorithm, usability and search engine optimization should be reasons that make that list as well. Search Engine Watch adds SEO considerations to the topic of Web site redesign in, “Website Redesign? Get Some SEO Consultation Before You Launch.”
The author writes that organizations often get to the topic of SEO long after those initial discussions of color, content, and other cosmetics:
It’s typically not until launch is around the corner that folks start asking about SEO. ‘Sometimes’ they have serious discussions about usability . . . Usability and SEO go hand-in-hand. Search engines want to rank websites that provide a quality user experience for the searcher. How that’s defined can be somewhat subjective (every website is unique and its target audience will also be unique).
One way to increase usability and the overall user experience is to incorporate effective search. Fabasoft Mindbreeze Insite offers a cloud-based search service that requires no installation or maintenance and recognizes the semantics that are important to you and your user. Fabasoft Mindbreeze as a company has been an important and growing leader in enterprise services, offering a wide range of enterprise solutions. Consider adding Insite to your Web redesign plans, ensuring the SEO and usability are addressed just as thoroughly as look and feel.
Emily Rae Aldridge, November 21, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Print is Dead but Journalism is Still Alive
November 20, 2012
Print media is going down, while digital media continues to grow. Big news moguls have been commenting that anyone with a computer or phone can be a reporter, but that leads into the quantity vs. quality argument. But with the digital media onslaught, new tools have entered the journalism world that makes the field better. Computer World makes note of a new tool in “Open Source Spotlight: How DocumentCloud Adds Depth to Digital Journalism.”
DocumentCloud is an open source product designed for the Internet journalist or college student. It provides bibliographic information, annotation tools, and a Cloud where it can be added a primary source document. DocumentCloud was made for journalist by journalists and it is already being used by many top news Web sites. As an open source project, DocumentCloud is powered by:
“Behind the scenes the project is driven by software including Apache’s Solr/Lucene search platform. DocumentCloud also uses the Tesseract OCR engine developed by HP and open sourced in 2005. “We, in turn, have been giving back to the open source community as well,” Pilhofer says.”
Since the open source community prides itself on sharing, DocumentCloud shares every line of code. Journalism and technology have always worked hand and hand, though print and digital fight each other. DocumentCloud closes the barrier for any reluctant technology users. The DocumentCloud team takes advantage of the Apache Lucene search, much like how LucidWorks did for its search applications. LucidWorks uses Apache Lucene to power its powerful and trusted enterprise and Big Data search products.
Whitney Grace, November 20, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
KMWorld Announces Mindbreeze InSite as Trend Setting Product of 2012
November 19, 2012
KMWorld.com recently put the spotlight on Mindbreeze InSite in their September 2012, Trend-Setting Products 2012 issue. The full article, “Trend-Setting Products 2012: Mindbreeze: Mindbreeze InSite,” highlights the impressive Web site search and simple implementation benefits. The author states that traditional Web site search just doesn’t work; it is clunky and often presents thousands of unordered search results. This is said about InSite:
InSite changes this. With powerful semantic understanding and an intuitive search and navigation system, InSite allows website visitors to pinpoint their desired page in moments. Searching across your multiple websites, blogs and social media through one search box, InSite revolutionizes your user’s experience: removing hassle, encouraging interaction and delivering information.
This is also included about the simple installation:
Simply by adding the embed code to your website, InSite becomes fully functional in just a few minutes, providing an exceptionally fast return on investment.
InSite is a cloud service and is easily customizable. You can generate search tabs to customize the search experience for Web site visitors and you can create as many tabs as you would like. With intuitive search facets and semantic capabilities, the cost-effective solution seems to really be changing the Web site search game.
Philip West, November 19, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Open Source Is the Foundation for Cloud Computing
November 19, 2012
It is common knowledge that open source technology is the basis for many large-scale corporate projects, including Cloud computing. The UK Register printed “The Cloud Made of Penguins: Open Source Goes ‘Industrial Scale’,” an article that explains how the big names in open source are being used. OpenStack Software, a mere child of two years, specializes in storage, networking, plus many more components built on Apache platforms. It has caught the attention of many corporate giants, such as HP for its Cloud and the telecom company Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation. Amazon EC2 is the favorite of Linux servers, mostly for storage. Also do not forget that it is used in infrastructure-as-a-service technology, such as Microsoft Azure.
The article predicts that since the Linux kernel and middleware are not the attention-grabber they used to be, that Cloud-computing projects on the industrial level will begin to make more headlines. Jim Zemlin of the Linux Foundation pointed out this new idea:
“’The difference now is they are not just obviously tinkering around with how to make a software defined network or block storage file format,’ Zemlin said. ‘These are broad-scale industrial initiatives that are financed by the largest computer companies in the world to create the comments they need to make commercial products.’”
What is surprising is that people find this trend surprising. After technology become a core part of industry, developers puzzle over how it cane be manipulated for other projects. Remember, necessity is the mother of invention and you use the tools you have to make it. Thinking back on how open source search programs were back in the day, LucidWorks saw a need for a powerful and robust, yet economically priced, search application. Using Apache Lucene, LucidWorks created LucidWorks Search and LucidWorks Big Data.
Whitney Grace, November 19, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Cloud Services Keep Operational Efficiency Firmly Grounded
November 16, 2012
There is a new theory of evolution in the enterprise or possibly just in enterprise software itself. Either way something informative this way comes. An expert panel in Enterprise Architect’s article “The Evolution of PaaS in the Enterprise” discusses some changes that may have enterprise users floating on cloud nine in the near future.
The overall impression was that PaaS could be a huge enabler for Cloud Computing:
“Enterprises are starting to take interest in running PaaS solutions virtually, as app developers want to focus on building apps rather than dealing with infrastructure issues. Enterprises that use PaaS solutions almost always go down the private route. In this session we focus on private PaaS offerings and look at the considerations and what will happen if one day enterprises want to use PaaS solutions in the public cloud. PaaS should cover the complete application lifecycle and help to transfer old way of working seamlessly to cloud.”
This shift to private PaaS may just be the enterprise’s first step toward services designed to increase productivity through the cloud. Businesses want solutions that can evolve swiftly and efficiently and the cloud is a good way to build in those abilities. Another key success factor for businesses is the ability to harness the power of relevant data. Intrafind offers cloud services that seamlessly integrate into existing business processes by utilizing flexible search and text mining from within the cloud itself. Established methods such as these keep operational efficiency firmly grounded while potential for ROI can aim for the skies.
Jennifer Shockley, November 16, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Leading Austrian IT News Portal Adopts Mindbreeze InSite Solution
November 15, 2012
Monitor.at is Austria’s leading IT news portal for small and medium businesses. The organization recently added the Mindbreeze InSite search solution to their Web site. This integrated cloud solution helps site visitors quickly and efficiently find important and relevant facts. Details of the InSite adoption can be read in the article, “Monitor.at with New Site Search.” The author includes this comment from Monitor’s editor:
’With over 13,500 products to monitor.at it is for visitors not always easy to find the desired information. Integrating Mindbreeze InSite, we are offering our visitors a convenience feature to quickly and easily find the desired information. Addition be easier for us Mindbreeze InSite work. Messages to the top topics automatically, appears seeking based,’ explains Ing Markus Klaus Eder, editor monitor.
Monitor.at is a good example of a major Web site that has incorporated a powerful search solution for improved site experience. Increasing Web traffic and retaining site visitors is increasingly becoming a major avenue for business success as a Web site is often the first customer interaction with a business. The power of semantic search in addition to relevant content is necessary for gaining and retaining an audience. A powerful search system that can make connections among vast amounts of data can also help deliver a better search experience for the user. InSite is capable of searching a wide variety of specific documents, including PDFs, Excel sheets, and Word documents, as well as searching social media sites and Web sites. Consider the free-trial to see if the Mindbreeze solution works for you.
Philip West, November 15, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
ZyLAB on Mixing Social Media with Business
November 15, 2012
EDiscovery and social media: another tricky content issue. The CodeZED blog offers, “Compliance in the Cloud: How to Deal with Social Media in the Workplace.” Writer Brenda Mahedy succinctly lays out the problem. For example, she writes:
“The combination of business sensitive information and a mass broadcast capacity keeps legal departments awake at night! Have you thought of some of the legal challenges facing the use of social media at the workplace?
- At this moment there are no specific laws and regulations for the governance of social media.
- There is no generally recognized right to privacy in social media postings.
- The effects of publicly available information stretch out beyond the recruitment process and are entering courts.
- More and more legal cases insist on the production of social media e-discovery as evidence…
- Social media information lives on servers that are not in the enterprise’s direct custody or control.”
All important points to consider. Despite the title, the article directly offers no actual solutions for dealing with social media in the workplace. Instead, the ZyLAB blog suggests a ZyLAB white paper (registration required), titled “Compliance in the Cloud: How to Deal with Social Media in the Workplace” by Annelore van der Lint. It is probably a good idea to check out the paper if you use, or plan to use, social media in connection with your business. As Mahedy reminds us, research firm Gartner has predicted that, “by the end of 2013 half of all companies will have been asked to product material from social media websites for e-Discovery.”
ZyLAB was founded 1983, with its release of the first full-text retrieval software for the PC. Its current flagship product, the eDiscovery and data management solution ZyLAB Information Management Platform, was released in 2010. The company maintains headquarters in the Netherlands and the United States, and has offices around the world.
Cynthia Murrell, November 15, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Monitor in Austria Adds Mindbreeze InSite for Improved Web Site Search
November 13, 2012
monitor.at is Austria’s IT guide for small and medium sized businesses, whether looking to stay in the loop on IT happenings or advance their business with more efficient and effective usage of information technology. The company recently added a new feature to their Web site: Mindbreeze InSite. Details of monitor.at’s usage of InSite can be read in, “monitor.at uses Mindbreeze InSite.” The new feature is explained:
With just one search inquiry website visitors receive all relevant information from the site, clearly structured using search tabs. Results can be further refined using facets so that the right information can be found in a matter of seconds.
The content of the page ‘Top-Themen’ (top topics) as well as the associated overview pages are automatically created by InSite – without any manual effort by the web editors. This service is enabled by Mindbreeze’s information pairing technology.
In addition, pre-defined search queries set the parameters for the content. This means that Mindbreeze is constantly checking contents and updates the landing pages automatically. A powerful Web site search can help drive traffic to your site and increase the number of revisits to your pages. InSite is a fast and intuitive search feature that is powered by information pairing technology. And with no install required, the self-service solution can save you time and resources.
Philip West, November 13, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Mindbreeze InSite Announces Screen Reader Accessibility Feature
November 9, 2012
Mindbreeze InSite recently announced added capabilities and features to the search system to make it more accessible for people with disabilities. In the announcement, “Mindbreeze InSite Search Accessible,” Fabasoft highlights that they are working to make all products more accessible in parallel, rather than making long-term promises and working on each product successively. The new accessibility features are explained:
Use the functionality of your screen reader to find the entry field with the label “Search”. If your screen reader has shortcuts for landmarks, you can enter the region “Search” and focus the search field by pressing the TAB key. Enter the search term here and start the search by pressing the ENTER key. If the search is successful, an accessible results list is displayed. The focus is initially set on the title ‘Search Results.’
Steps for navigating search results and resuming a search after an error message using a screen reader are also included in the article. Mindbreeze InSite seems to really understand how to add features and capabilities to increase not only search, but also information access for users. With intuitive search facets and increased access capabilities, Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite can really boost a user’s Web site experience.
Philip West, November 9, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
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