Smoothing SharePoint Upgrades
June 7, 2011
After a whirl of conferences, I was catching up on my reading. I was interested in J. Peter Bruzzese’s article “Don’t Upgrade to SharePoint 2010 Until You Read This” suggests, this is not an update for the faint of heart. Our experience at Search Technologies was that SharePoint upgrades have been reasonably straight forward.
His warning suggests:
You may like to be hands-on with your own environment, installing all your own servers and such, but the upgrade to SharePoint 2010 should either be treated with the utmost care or turned over to an expert who’s done it a bunch of times and has it down to a science.
He continues by saying it took him “a week to research and test in-place upgrade process and the database-attach migrate process before throwing down the ‘hire somebody else’ gauntlet.”
So there it is.
His caution comes complete with neon blinking lights. His article cited some well known experts; for example, Spencer Harbar, Microsoft Enterprise Architect and Don Holmes, Intellium consultant and trainer. The article suggest that any “headaches” that you encounter “depends more on your current environment than on SP2010 itself.”
We agree.
They claim that this upgrade “is far less of an issue than upgrading from SPs2003 to Moss2007.”
We have some suggestions. First, check with specialists. Please, consider Search Technologies as a potential resource. Second, work through Microsoft’s documentation paying particular attention to customization notes. Microsoft’s installers are thoroughly tested, but it is impossible for any vendor to upgrade every possible configuration of SharePoint. Third, make certain you have a back up, installation discs and their keys, and any other information that Microsoft provides licensees, certified engineers, or certified SharePoint developers. Often a hiccup can be addressed easily when these essentials are at hand.
For more information, contact us via our Web site at www.searchtechnologies.com.
Iain Fletcher, June 7, 2011
Search Technologies
Entrepreneurship Revealed
May 29, 2011
No more of that start up stuff for the goose. We had a couple of lucky breaks, and I learned one big thing from my Internet start up antics. Not surprisingly, my single learning is not the focus of Discover the Patterns of “Successful Internet Startup in the Startup Genome Report.” The write up is chock full of juicy factoids, and I urge you to read the article and before you write a check or ask mom, a vulture, or your local, very friendly banker to write checks, get the full study. Consulting services? Give the outfit a jingle.
Here are some factoids:
- “Focus on what matters most and their complete dedication to improving their craft.” My interpretation: be good at stuff like knowing what to do and how to get the important stuff done.
- “Find a repeatable and scalable business model.” My interpretation: generate revenue and keep generating revenue.
- “Startups that pivot once or twice times raise 2.5x more money, have 3.6x better user growth, and are 52% less likely to scale prematurely than startups that pivot more than 2 times or not at all.” My interpretation: I have absolutely no idea what this means.
You can download the report for free, examine an “infographic”, and interact with the study professionals.
Oh, what was my learning from the Point (Top 5% of the Internet) and several other startups. Luck is important. And luck is right up there at knowing how to master technology, not allowing technology to master me.
Would I do another startup? Nope. Too old, fat, lazy, and stupid. Just last week I had to fire a 30 something who wanted me to stand by. At age 66, I don’t stand by. That’s a concept for the same folks who create start ups, think those who write checks are really former Peace Corp. volunteers, and that knowing how to do the right thing at the precise moment are silly ideas.
Download the report at http://startupgenome.cc/pages/startup-genome-report-1. Study methodology is at http://www.systemmalfunction.com/2011/05/deciphering-genome-of-startups.html
Stephen E Arnold, May 29, 2011
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, the resource for enterprise search information and current news about data fusion
More Cloud Cheerleading
May 27, 2011
“Gartner Identifies Five Ways to Migrate Applications to the Cloud” identifies the options for the IT department when the CIO calmly announces to ‘move some applications to the cloud’. As if it was only a matter of transferring a file from one shelf to the next.
Gartner insists there are many factors to consider when initiating the migration process, including a company’s requirements and architectural principles. Five options plainly identified for relocating to the cloud are as follows: “Rehost on infrastructure as a service (IaaS), refactor for platform as a service (PaaS), revise for IaaS or PaaS, rebuild on PaaS, or replace with software as a service (SaaS)”.
Granted, this article was written from the perspective of application architects. These are, we assume, individuals whose job is not to evaluate if an existing structure should be migrated to the cloud, only how to do so. In light of this, we would like to toss some other factors on the table.
What about the risks? Lady Gaga problems at Amazon. Dead Blogger.com. Sony network problems. Microsoft BPOS Exchange issues. Need I go on?
Cost should be considered. The difference felt in the coffers can be great between top-end and entry level servers, and without a simulation prior to the switch you may not realize what magnitude of power you require.
Security and reliability are also points of interest. Both the ability to extract personal data from the cloud as well as bring the service to a screeching halt has been demonstrated recently with the Sony network breach and AWS breakdown.
There are obviously some great benefits to joining the cloud, but just like any other decision, it is best to view all angles prior to jumping in. It is tough to search for documents or basic information when the cloud takes a couple of days off to recover from sun burn.
Sarah Rogers, May 27, 2011
Freebie
Azure Chip Outfit Snags Apple Jargon
May 25, 2011
We were amused when we read “The “Post-PC” Era: It’s Real, But It Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Does.” We echo leaders and authors with relentless undergraduate enthusiasm. However, when there is a catch phrase from Fortune Magazine’s poster boy for the successful company leader, we toss in more than a casual reference. We wallow, grovel, and whine. Hey, we want the work that flows from our sycophancy.
An azure chip consulting firm (there may be no blue chips any longer) inked a write up describing a post-personal computer era that has desk tops in the horse-and-buggy section of my local horse farm.
We learned that Apple now claims they get a “majority of their revenue from “post-PC devices,” including the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. This is a milestone for a company that was originally named “Apple Computer.”
What does this mean?
The consultant explains that PC’s aren’t dead, computer technology is simply shifting from:
stationary to ubiquitous” (computing at your desk vs. done anywhere, anytime); “formal to casual” (on/ off contrasted to always on); “arms-length to intimate” (from your desk to anywhere you go); “abstracted to physical” (mouse/ keyboard vs. voice sensors, camera recognition, etc). These technological innovations fuel social change, and vice versa. As people conduct more of their lives online—shopping, banking, entertainment—we require more computing in more places. The rise of social networking requires real-time connectivity to manage our relationships. And eroding work-life boundaries means that consumers demand devices that can do double-duty in their work and personal lives.”
We live in Blade Runner or 2001, folks. We can’t run and we can’t hide. We await the post pc wave report. Here in Harrod’s Creek we need professional guidance about the life raft, a snorkel, and—most important—our check book?
And search? Nary a word. Irrelevant.
Stephen E Arnold, May 25, 2011
Freebie unlike reports from most consultancies
Booz, Allen: Sunset Limited Leaves Station
May 21, 2011
I know. I know. There are two Booz, Allen & Hamiltons. There is the MBA-infused Booz & Co. in New York. And there is the government centric outfit in Virginia. I worked at the “old” Booz, Allen & Hamilton. May it rest in peace. The only reason I thought about fading blue chips was the chance juxtaposition of two news items about these two new entities.
First, the MBA outfit put out a study that identified the three most innovative companies in the world. Hold your breath. Exhale slowly. Now that you are calm, here’s the shocker. The most innovative firms are Apple, Google, and 3M. Bet you did not know that. You can get the MBA stimulating insight in “Apple, Google, 3M World’s Most Innovative: Booz & Co.”
Second, the government money surfing part of the old Booz, Allen & Hamilton announced that the transportation unit, built from Landrum & Brown, Simpson & Curtain, and some other components assembled by John Dowdle and his colleagues decades ago has been sold off. Read all about it in “Consulting Firm CH2M Hill Agrees to Buy Booz Allen Hamilton Unit.”
What’s my view? Stating the obvious is a good practice for MBAs. The real information surfaces elsewhere. PR is good. As for the dumping of the transportation unit, I had a question: “Aren’t the Booz, Allen managers able to make this unit pay?” Of course, the new Booz Allen has some debt and is competing, not on MBA insights, but on costs, so change is inevitable.
I see blue chip fading to gray. But management consultants are supposed to be experts in management, correct?
Stephen E Arnold, May 21, 2011
Freebie unlike consulting firms’ professional services.
Information as Intellectual Water Wings
May 5, 2011
“How to use SPSS for Phd Dissertations and Thesis” raises an interesting question: Is selling brain power the new growth industry? For some in MA and PhD programs, the effort required may cut into Simpson’s and Dancing with the Stars viewing. What’s the solution? Give up TV? Or, hire someone to provide a grad student in over his or her head with a life preserver?
Accountability, anyone?
Dissertation India says it is a “Premier Research Support Company” offering research and statistical services and consulting to PhD students worldwide. In the article, the author claims eighty million words of original writing to various students , Dissertation India promises:
All sourced material is referenced as per various styles.
Dissertation India claims to interpret results of its statistical studies.
What does Beyond Search make of this?
Addled geese are poor students. None of the goslings have a high school diploma. PhD? Sure.
Assuming that time spent in serious research is part and parcel of earning the higher degrees, is it fair to compare the academic work of a student who pays for research to be compared to the work of a serious student who does her/her own legwork? What does this mean to the future of research? If someone can buy their information , will this lead to a dumbing-down of our professors, push harder to learn? You decide doctors, and future leaders of the world? Where will innovative ideas originate if no one is willing to push harder to learn? Little wonder that tough disciplines like knowledge (which used to be called search at Google) is easier to describe in marketing collateral than deliver.
Amy Frances, May 5, 2011
Freebie
TNR Global and Its Take on Enterprise Search
April 30, 2011
I was poking around with my Overflight system and came across four “white papers” about enterprise search. These were produced by TNR Global, a firm which offers scalable Web and search solutions. The company asserts:
TNR Global (TNR) is a systems design and integration company focused on enterprise search and cloud computing solutions. We develop scalable web-based search solutions built on the open source LAMP stack. We have over 10 years of hands-on experience in web systems and enterprise search implementations, both proprietary and open source. We specialize in FAST ESP and Lucene Solr search applications.
The company says that it has three specialties; namely:
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) platform for deploying applications into the cloud
FAST Enterprise Search Platform (ESP) and Lucene Solr implementations for data intensive web sites
Web based system administration and application management.
The “white papers” are available at http://goo.gl/28rKa. The topics covered are:
- Enterprise Search Basics
- Enterprise Search and Government
- Enterprise Search for Law Firms
- Enterprise Search and E-Discovery
I took a quick look and I found that the approach was interesting. In the basics white paper, TNR explains that Web search is not enterprise search. To provide some substance to the definition of enterprise search, TNR identifies four ways to apply enterprise search: eCommerce, market management, online media and publishing, and risk management and eDiscovery. The Enterprise Search and Government “white paper” is one page in length. The Enterprise Search for Law Firms white paper explains eDiscovery and identifies such functions as faceted navigation, role based search, clustering, relevance ranking, etc. The Life Sciences white paper blends eDiscovery, referencing the rules for legal procedures.
The most recent news on the firm’s Web site is dated November 2010. The company has a Web log, “Enterprise Search, System Administration, and Cloud Computing.”
In my forthcoming landscape of search book for Pandia.com, I list some of the resellers and integrators known to be working with the search systems I profile. I will try to capture basic information about other niche search consultants as I come across the information.
Stephen E Arnold, April 30, 2011
Freebie
Dieselpoint: Described in a Fuzzy Manner
April 29, 2011
A quote from the MartinButler Research “fact with opinion piece” “Dieselpoint” states
“Dieselpoint is something of a Porsche in the Enterprise Search space. It is very fast, well-engineered, doesn’t carry much excess weight, and its text based searching technology can be made to satisfy almost any search requirement.”
Though the Porsche reference is a somewhat unconventional comparison, to most it sounds like this company deserves a closer look. At first glance the Dieselpoint Web Site seems routine but upon taking a closer look one can’t help but notice that it does not list any current information or events within the last several years but they claim to be a leader in their field. This article says some great things about Dieselpoint but it ultimately leaves more questions than answers. Questions such as “What type of system does Dieselpoint offer??” and “What type of moderate prices and options do they offer?” come up. With more questions than answers it may be that this “Porsche” may be parked on the shoulder of the information superhighway.
Check out our Overflight profile of Dieselpoint. Quiet seems it.
Stephen E Arnold, April 29, 2011
Freebie
Evil, Crafty Consultants Exposed
April 20, 2011
Short honk: If you aspire to be a consultant, you will want to read “Seven Dirty Consultant Tricks (and How to Avoid Them).” On the other hand, if you are trying to improve your dirty consultant tricks, you will want to implement each tactic. With unemployed Web masters, journalists, and art history majors in abundance, it is nice to think that an information technology publication focused on “real” information would run this type of how to. Once in a while the goose and goslings in Harrod’s Creek sell a consulting job. I will double check, but I think we are just back woods’ experts lacking such sophisticated tricks. Maybe a training session is needed? I will print out a copy of the Atlantic article published in 2006 which explains how a person became a highly paid consultant with a degree in 19th century philosophy. Art history majors, rejoice! Consulting may be a variant of art forgery.
Stephen E Arnold, April 20, 2011
Freebie
Gartner Breaks New Marketing Turf
April 11, 2011
Gartner has a thriving practice in everything to do with digital information. The publicly traded company seems to be sending a message that I hear as “we’re desperate”. Maybe I am wrong but spam from IDG (another researchy-type outfit) that has the subject “Gartner Insight, 3 Top Papers + Win an iPad 2” does not evoke the wood paneled methods of McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, or Bain (yep, the Bain with the now apocryphal kumbaya sessions at a Holiday Inn on Route 128). As wacky as the blue chip consulting firms are, I find email with the words “insight,” “top papers”, and “win and iPad” quite piercing cries for attention.
First, there are not “3 top papers” on offer. The count seems closer to four, but at my age my eyesight is failing. See for yourself whether I got the number four correct:
The other signals that reached me via spam email was the big button that said “Register Now.”
The angle, of course, is leads and input into how Gartner can improve. I also found this enjoinder fascinating:
I will definitely forward the spam message to my one friend, a 70 year old with a beat up truck and a limp.
One positive note: Gartner and IDG got a free mention in a free blog which contains information for which one does not have to register, enjoin a friend, or miscount to access. Of course, the quality of information in Beyond Search is miserable, but we don’t even spam. Heck, we don’t follow up on proposals, return phone calls, or attend conferences where “pay to play” is the new business model.
Objectivity is what one thinks it is, right? And what about search? No white papers about enterprise search? No quadrant? Sigh.
Stephen E Arnold, April 11, 2011
Freebie but no drawing to win an iPad. How is that drawing conducted by the way?
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