High Performing Enterprise Search Needs Solid Solutions That Work
November 27, 2012
It seems that once a month someone is announcing the latest, greatest development in search optimization software and each new or revamped product gets faster, more accurate or easier to use. The increasing competition among developers has inspired designers to get more creative with their initial designs… or possibly just their marketing.
TechWeek Europe’s article “Start-up InboundWriter Scales Search Optimization For The Enterprise” spotlights a new ‘writer’ targeted search optimizer:
“One of the last miles is having an automated and scalable way to make sure your content is really, really good. That’s what we do, and we do it as simple as a spell-check. When using the service, a writer gets notifications and suggestions on better SEO words and phrases to use as he or she goes along in writing the document. There is an efficiency meter in the upper-left corner of the application to keep the writer apprised as the document is being written about how SEO-ready it is.”
The AI ability to second guess the user is nothing new, although in marketing things can be open to interpretation. High performing enterprise search needs functionality and usability, not more gadgets and gimmicks. That is why Intrafind has been a successful enterprise search provider for well over a decade. They use solid solutions that began in the university environment and scaled out to commercial solutions that work. Their user friendly interface enables customizable connectors which allow enterprise wide access to both structured and unstructured data in a secure environment.
Jennifer Shockley, November 27, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Enterprise Search Needs More than Plug and Play
November 26, 2012
Today’s businesses are consistently looking for ways to improve enterprise management and overall operations, so it comes as no surprise that software marketing is targeting those needs. The unfortunate side effect of a good marketing plan can often be a product that does not live up to user expectations. FCW’s article “Does Your Enterprise Search Engine Stink? Here’s Why” reiterates how often times if new software seems too good to be true, it probably is.
Content processing, productivity tools and sorting options are just a few elements of enterprise software that should be evaluated before considering a change:
“Given the predisposition to think of search as pre-formatted to meet our needs, many IT managers and executives believe they can simply purchase, install and operate enterprise search software right out of the box. To a large extent, the leading search software vendors promote this plug-and-play mentality because it is a message customers want to hear. If you are familiar only with Web search as a personal tool, it makes sense to assume that a search engine for your business would operate the same way.”
When relevant results and increased efficiency are the primary concerns a friendly user interface is just an added bonus. Despite marketing hype, quality search requires more than plug and play attention. Full service solutions, expert tagging and feature rich search, such as that provided by Intrafind are a great start for enterprise search solutions.
Jennifer Shockley, November 26 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Complexificaton: Is ElasticSearch Making a Case for a Google Search Solution?
November 24, 2012
I don’t have any dealings with Google, the GOOG, or Googzilla (a word I coined in the years before the installation of the predator skeleton on the wizard zone campus). In the briefings I once endured about the GSA (Google speak for the Google Search Appliance), I recall three business principles imparted to me; to wit:
- Search is far too complicated. The Google business proposition was and is that the GSA and other Googley things are easy to install, maintain, use, and love.
- Information technology people in organizations can often be like a stuck brake on a sports car. The institutionalized approach to enterprise software drags down the performance of the organization information technology is supposed to serve.
- The enterprise search vendors are behind the curve.
Now the assertions from the 2004 salad days of Google are only partially correct today. As everyone with a colleague under 25 years of age knows, Google is the go to solution for information. A number of large companies have embraced Google’s all-knowing, paternalistic approach to digital information. However, others—many others, in fact—have not.
One company which is replete with $10 million in venture money is ElasticSearch. Based on the open source technology which certain university computer science departments hold in reverence, ElasticSearch is marketing its heart out. I learned that Searchblox, the brother owned and operated cloud search service, has embraced ElasticSearch. Today I received a link to “Working with ElasticSearch in Scala.”
Scala, in case you are not hip to the brave new world, is a “general purpose programming language designed to express common programming patterns in a concise, elegant, and type-safe way. It smoothly integrates features of object-oriented and functional languages, enabling Java and other programmers to be more productive. Code sizes are typically reduced by a factor of two to three when compared to an equivalent Java application.”
Source: The Strategic Complexity Framework for Dummies by Vinay Gupta. See http://goo.gl/k042J Who wants to be “borked”? Not I when implementing an overly complex search solution. Your mileage may vary, of course.
Score one for Google. The article makes clear that Scala and ElasticSearch may require some technical skills which are not likely to be found in the local trucking company’s IT department. Truth be told, the expertise to work through the information in the write up can be found at Google type companies, a good sized state university, and in the noodle shops of Wuhan-like places.
Here’s a snippet from the write up:
Elasticsearch is schemaless. We can index any json to it. We have a bulk json file, each line is a json. For our implementation: Application reads file line by line and index json to the elasticsearch.
Moving on, we learn:
Rise Beyond the Cloud: Enterprise Search Consultation Powers Decisions
November 23, 2012
Savvy companies will not be getting their head out of the clouds anytime soon because the cloud is the place to be for businesses seeking success. ZDNet’s article “A Snapshot of Enterprise Cloud Adopters at Workday Rising” explains why the sky is not the limit when it comes to the enterprise cloud as it is continuing to evolve.
In order to keep up with the growing demands of the enterprise, Cloud providers have to stay on top of the latest developments:
“Having opted for the speed, agility and on-demand responsiveness of a cloud platform, customers rely on their chosen vendor maintaining the same pace going forward. One of the most remarkable things about watching a cloud vendor like Workday evolve is the extent of innovation that happens in the underlying infrastructure. These are not static structures. New components are constantly being introduced that advance performance, scalability and functionality — not just the three-times-a-year functional updates but architectural advances too.”
With the ongoing evolution of the enterprise, utilizing the expert advice of an established enterprise search consultant can keep a company’s head above the cloud, so to speak. Cloud search adopters could benefit from the services of enterprise search providers who offer a full range of assessment and solution selection services. Intrafind has offered solid guidance to customers seeking the right solution that improves efficiency and offers a solid return on investment in enterprise search for well over 10 years.
Jennifer Shockley, November 23, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Established Search Providers Like Intrafind Design a Big Data Future with Results
November 23, 2012
What is Big Data and what can it do for businesses today? That seems to be the billion dollar question, as businesses literally spent billions on Big Data programs, software and projects this past year. The irony is that despite all the headline hype and the funds being invested, companies are still not sure what they are getting out of Big Data according to Business Insider’s article “Enterprises Are Spending Wildly On ‘Big Data’ But Don’t Know If It’s Worth It Yet”.
This is not to say that corporations do not have Big Data designs in mind for the future:
“Big Data” means scooping up large quantities of information, often from nontraditional, server-busting sources like Web traffic logs or social media, and using it to make business decisions in real time. Including things like watching competitors, monitoring their own brands, creating new services that they can sell, and tracking product and pricing information.”
With over $4.3 billion spent in 2012 and an estimated $34 billion expected in 2013 it is no wonder that Big Data has been generating a lot of buzz. However, all the hype means nothing without an eventual increase in efficiency and ROI. When it comes to finding the right data, companies would benefit from the use of an established search provider like Intrafind that offers rich tagging features and secure search within the enterprise.
Jennifer Shockley, November xx, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
IBM Pure Competes with Oracle Exadata Line
November 22, 2012
Large tech companies, such as Oracle and IBM, are addressing Big Data challenges by releasing integrated systems that are designed with hardware and software created to work together for maximum performance. However, these systems are still working out some flaws, according to the article “Oracle’s Secret Sauce: Why Exadata is Rocking the Tech Industry” on Forbes. We learn in the article that some engineered systems are struggling to compete with Oracle’s tested Exadata line in terms of cost and performance.
The article tells us:
“But even IBM is finding that the move to truly optimized and engineered systems takes more than just packaging some components together, which is about the extent of their effort with their initial Pure Systems. Those machines offer only a limited amount of focused IP to optimize the platforms. In addition, while Exadata handles all workloads in one system, IBM has come out with 3 separate database platforms based upon varying workloads.”
However, we believe IBM Pure and similar systems are highly beneficial and necessary for companies because of proven data delivery results and support. The company’s reliance on trusted integrators such as Intrafind helps customers make the best of infrastructure, application, and execution of enterprise search.
Andrea Hayden, November 22, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Forrester 2012, Gartner 2010, and Autonomy
November 21, 2012
I don’t have much interaction with Autonomy and I have even less with Forrester or Gartner, both azure chip consultants stuffed with high IQ big thinkers about technology. How can someone residing in Harrod’s Creek hope to compare to sleek, real consultants who work in cities with electricity and running water.
However, on a recent trip to a dumpy Internet cafe near Victoria Station, I read “Hewlett’s Loss: A Folly Unfolds, by the Numbers.” In that article I noted this quote from an azure chip consultant working at the tony Forrester Research outfit. Here’s the passage that made my feathers twitch:
Autonomy, too, was facing challenges after years of fast growth but poor customer relations, according to Leslie Owens, an analyst with Forrester Research. “They didn’t invest in R&D; they didn’t have regular software releases; they weren’t transparent with a road map of where they were going; they didn’t seek customer feedback,” she said. “Customers complained, but the promise of managing all their information and making better decisions was so attractive. They bought more.” Soon after the H.P. acquisition, Ms. Owens said, Autonomy announced a new version of its core product. “We asked for a demo,” she said, and “we’re still waiting.”
Okay. I remember seeing a Boston Consulting Group dog, question mark, star, and cow type chart in 2009. Allegedly produced by another high end think tank, Gartner Group. I did not recall Autonomy getting low marks. I did some poking around and I would like to direct you, gentle reader, to this Web address: http://www.contentmanager.eu.com/graphics/gartner-wcm2010.jpg.
I am fearful of azure chip retribution, so you have to navigate to the page and look at the 2010 BCG style chart by Gartner Group experts.
What is interesting is that Gartner pegs Autonomy in the leaders quadrant for Web content management. I don’t know what that means. I do understand what it means to be a “leader”, singled out for excellence on whatever yardstick was used to size up 17 vendors of a particular type of enterprise software.
What is interesting is that two expert consulting firms have such conflicting opinions about Autonomy less than 18 to 20 months apart. Forrester “knows” that Autonomy had some issues. Gartner seems to find the company superior to such rivals as IBM and Microsoft.
Did Autonomy crash and burn between these two azure chip viewpoints? Are Forrester’s analysts more sveltish and brighter than Gartner’s high protein crowd?
Assume that each of these consulting outfits have comparable intellectual horsepower. Assume that each firm’s experts gathered information from open source and private sources. What causes two apparently superficial assessments of Autonomy.
My question: “If two blue chip consultants see Autonomy differently, won’t the truth and beauty of Autonomy will be in the eye of the beholder?”
In a legal dispute, subjective, maybe emotion, will play a larger role than dull old objective data. Little wonder so many advisors interpreted Autonomy differently. Enterprise software as an interpretation problem in 21st century business poetry. Lawyers are happy. HP and its shareholders, not so much.
Stephen E Arnold, November 21, 2012
Search and the Poetic Giant Stinking Mess
November 21, 2012
I did not craft that elegant phrase “giant stinking mess.” I am not Shakespeare of software. Turn to “It’s Not Just HP And Autonomy, The Enterprise Software Space Is A Giant Stinking Mess.” The article is a good example of a meta-play. One takes a newsy item like Hewlett Packard’s realization that it may have overpaid for Autonomy, watched the founders exit, and then figured out that enterprise search is not quite what it seems. The idea is that enterprise software is going “social” and that the data science behind workflow is the future. The article told me:
Berkholz’s [an expert at RedMonk] post reflects how not all is rotten in the enterprise world. EMC is taking steps to adapt to the new collaborative market. It’s also evident at SAP, VMware and even in some quarters at HP. But the cult of sales still looms over these big companies. Breaking down that culture means creating a new dynamic that embraces modern social and collaborative practices.
Okay, I agree that looking at a particular issue from a different elevation is useful. Let’s assume that social and a collaborative market is the future.
I just wrapped up 13 or 14 reports for IDC. I focused on open source enterprise search. What I learned was that it is getting tough to figure out where an open source search company and an proprietary search company differ. The most successful of the open source vendors look quite a bit like traditional software vendors. One open source vendor in my report—IBM—is a proprietary outfit which uses open source search technology. More interesting is that IBM keeps its arms around its traditional business model. The “new” IBM is not much different from the “old” IBM. Open source software allows IBM to shave off some costs and deploy expensive engineers in what seems to be higher value work.
The question is, “Why do open source search vendors drift toward the traditional business models?” My opinion is that these business models produce revenue and yield margins when they work. What are the elements of a traditional software business model for the enterprise? Those which come to mind include:
- License fees for something—software, upgrades, support
- Variable fees for some other things—engineering services, specialized code widgets, access to previews at a slick looking lab
- Box office tickets for training, webinars, etc.
- Premier services so that the best engineers respond right away to a problem
- A surcharge for working with a pre-eminent firm
- Options like cloud services, appliances, remote optimization
A software company has to produce revenue and my hunch is that this line up of options for a business model exist because customers want these services. When a software company has to generate revenue, the traditional business model is something that investors and stakeholders understand.
One can pop up a level and invoke social, collaboration, and even open sourciness. At the half time news break, the talk turns to booking revenue. Deals will be crafted which meet the resources the client has available. Are these deals convoluted and opaque? Do accountants write haikus? Not too often. Enterprise software, even when delivered from something as wonderful as the Amazon cloud, can become hideously complex and fraught with Byzantine pricing.
I like popping up a level. Revenue generation has a way of bringing some of these viewpoints down to the ground zero.
Stephen E Arnold, November 21, 2012
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Intrafind Focuses on Managing and Classifying Data Automatically
November 21, 2012
We continue our in-depth look into software publisher Intrafind this week with another focus on the many features we have found available from the company. In addition to the proven iFinder Enterprise Search product as well as the particularly useful Tagging Service, we noted other highlights on a recent navigation of the company’s Web site.
Of specific interest was TopicFinder, an automated text classification system for topic recognition and document analysis. This product allows users to automatically gather and use information which goes beyond the typical word-based content search of documents. The main purpose of the tool is to filter and manage information. The Web site explains:
“Using the TopicFinder, for example, incoming mail from customers can be automatically forwarded to the most appropriate person responsible, or depending on their content news from news tickers can be forwarded to the editorial staff responsible for sports, politics or economic affairs.
The TopicFinder can be either specially trained regarding the information needs of the customer or it can be used with a pretrained general hierarchy of topics. The tool works fully automatically. There is no need for manual tagging. The quality of the classification is very high as the TopicFinder is based on recent linguistic and mathematical / information-theoretical methods.”
We believe this automatic tool is groundbreaking in the attempt to manage and navigate Big Data, because not all data consists simply of words. We are impressed with Intrafind’s attempt to step into this territory. The enterprise data company is located in Germany and has been making such bold moves since beginning operation in 2000. The team consists of 25 specialists who provide analysis and support. For more information, please turn to the company’s homepage.
Andrea Hayden, November 21, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Renaissance in the Enterprise Calls for Proven Features
November 20, 2012
A general partner at venture capitalist firm Andreessen Horowitz stated the obvious at a recent conference: there are a lot of changes going on in the enterprise. Enough changes, says Andreessen Horowitz partner Peter Levine, that it could be considered a renaissance and an entirely new generation of creativity in the enterprise. According to the article “Andreessen Horowitz General Partner Peter Levine: There’s an Enterprise Renaissance Going On” on TechCrunch, Levine is comparing the enterprise renaissance to that that occurred in the city states of Italy.
The article states:
“[…]Levine said, there is lots of proof that the renaissance is underway — well illustrated in the shift from the personal computer to mobile. The infrastructure has to change in this shift; the applications will have to be built natively to the mobile device. Services out of the back-end will need to be secured. The devices are getting more powerful and will have to integrate with distributed infrastructures around the world. Data platforms are just emerging. The development is just starting.”
The changes and the Big Data renaissance call for new ways of dealing with and addressing data. We recommend Intrafind, which offers some renaissance features that are tried and true due to their maturity in the enterprise search market. We look forward to the changes in the new age and believe businesses should prepare with the right tools to help them learn and collaborate in the emerging market.
Andrea Hayden, November 20, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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