Exclusive Podcast: Dave Kellogg, CEO, MarkLogic
October 5, 2010
I wrote about Mark Logic’s remarkable series of sales in the publishing market. I tracked down the genial Dave Kellogg and convinced him to answer some questions about the secret to Mark Logic’s success in 2010. You can listen to the 25 minute interview at this link. For more insights from Mr. Kellogg, be sure to check out the Search Wizards Speak interview as well. Great insights for anyone interested in making sales in a tough economic climate.
Stephen E Arnold, October 5, 2010
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IBM: Accurate or Confused about Agility?
October 5, 2010
I seem to have been flooded with IBM information and client requests for data about IBM. I am baffled. I don’t pay too much attention to IBM. At age 66, my fond memories of my first computer class can be easily sullied by a few go rounds with IBM ServeRAID and other darned exciting IBM software.
Mostly because of the headline “Why Is IBM Declaring War on Cisco?”, I read the Register’s interesting article. The main idea is that giant IBM is picking on Cisco, a company which is working hard to pump up its revenues, diversify, and become a big player in rich media. I think the odds are against Cisco. (See “Seven Cisco Vulnerabilities.”) The main point of the Register’s article struck me as:
IBM’s networking strategy has been poor.
With the shift from on premises and unlimited spending for IBM’s engineering services, IBM has to find new ways to make money. With a revenue of $100 billion or so, getting growth that moves the top line is not an easy task. The Register’s write up makes clear that IBM may be making decisions that are tough to figure out. I know that IBM baffles me.
The company is a mix of open source and proprietary systems. The company has old technology and new technology. In short, the situation reminds me about one of those wacky Psychology 101 case studies. A dog or pigeon gets caught trying to cope with two inputs and behaves in a manner that shows an inability to make a choice. I forget the name of this behavior, but IBM seems to want to be everything, just like in the good old pre-DOS and Bill Gates days.
Interesting premise, and I think that IBM, like SAP, warrants close observation. I keep flip flopping between brilliant and confused, just like a poor lab pigeon or goose.
Stephen E Arnold, October 5, 2010
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FileNet: An Agile CMS with Search and More?
October 4, 2010
We have been working on a new Web log. The reason I listened to the Floss podcast about the open source content management framework Plone was to get a sense of the threat open source content management systems (CMS) pose to big outfits like IBM. IBM and its ilk assert that their software is really a platform, a framework, an architecture. I am not 100 percent convinced.
What makes IBM interesting is that the company has already shifted from its raft of home grown and partner search solutions to open source search. The last time I poked around the innards of OmniFind 9.x, it looked like Lucene, walked like Lucene, and said open source like Lucene. I, canny goose that I am, concluded that OmniFind was open source.
Would it remain open source? Would IBM pull an Oracle Java “move”, allowing lawyers to be innovators? Would those folks who paid big bucks for the FileNet system that once snarfed down paper checks for at least one bank with which I worked be stuck with a big dinosaur?
I don’t have the answers to these questions, but I can summarize – before I forget them – the points that I captured in a short discussion I had with a client last week. Summer is sure over. Lots of 30 year olds seem to be coming to the goose pond for what I told the president of MarkLogic was a consultation with the goose-ru. I am not a guru, of course.
The points:
First, the current IBM description of FileNet says here that:
FileNet® P8 Platform is a next-generation, unified enterprise foundation for the integrated FileNet P8 products. It combines the enterprise content management reference architecture with comprehensive business process management and compliance capabilities. FileNet P8 addresses the most demanding compliance, content and process management needs for your entire organization. It is a key element in creating an agile, adaptable ECM environment necessary to support a dynamic organization that must respond quickly to change. Agile ECM solutions using IBM technologies bring together capabilities for process management, content management, regulatory compliance and legal discovery. [Emphasis added]
The summary is quite comprehensive. One point omitted from this Web page is the fact that FileNet dates from 1982. My math is not too good, but I think that is more than 20 years ago. As a result, I wondered about the reference to “agile.” At age 66, I am not agile, and I am not sure that two decade old software is as spry as the Plone team’s product. Just my preliminary opinion, gentle reader. Your opinion may differ.
From the Red Book. I suppose one could describe this as an agility engine. Notice the components and the dependence on the tough and expensive to scale traditional RDBMS. Copyright IBM 2010.
Second, FileNet was an early Brainware. The idea was to suck in paper, allow the trained FileNet specialists to monitor the system, and then output reports. My first exposure to FileNet was at a check clearing operation in Manhattan. Lots of people worked from sundown to sunrise processing paper checks. When the math no longer worked, that bank shipped the work first to Puerto Rico and then to Asia. I think the bank went south, sunk in part by financial managers’ acrobatics and the economic downturn. There is a lot of money to be made is manipulating paper documents. The Brainware twist, as well as other 21st century solutions, is to manipulate paper and digital content and make the results useful within a work flow. Brainware’s method relies on its trigram technology. I am not sure whether the heart of a 1982 architecture beats deep within the FileNet construct, but my hunch is that change comes slowly to large systems nurtured in the IBM $100 billion in revenue environment. My last check on Brainware revealed that Oracle, one of IBM’s competitors, has been relying on Brainware for some paper and data tricks. One rumor which I will try to substantiate when I meet with an informed source on October 12, 2010, is that Brainware and Oracle have been winning sales from IBM FileNet. If so, will Oracle put on the pressure? Will IBM be able to spiff up a 20 year old system? I don’t know.
Third, my recollection is that FileNet has become an umbrella product for IBM. The original FileNet is probably still remembered with some fondness, but today FileNet touches upon technologies rolled into FileNet before IBM paid $1.6 billion for the company in 2006. The various technologies within the FileNet wrapper include /.MS, search, and almost anything one would require to build a complete information platform. If you want to dig into the product, download the 300 page Redbook.
You can also sign on for services, which seems to be the reason agile FileNet exists in my opinion:
- Content Manager OnDemand Conversion Services
- Disaster Recovery Services
- FileNet P8 Conversion Services
- FileNet Report Manager Conversion Services
- Health Check Services
- Media Migration Services
- Mobius to Content Manager OnDemand Conversion Services
- Packaged Implementation Services
- Platform Conversion Services
- Remote System Administration
- System Management Services
- Transition Services.
Now some questions:
- With a system as “agile” and extensible, why did IBM sign on a bunch of CMS partners. One example was Documentum, which is now owned by rival EMC. i recall that there were some exciting deployment activities with an IBM Documentum system when I was poking around the US Senate. But why sign on for another super complex, aging CMS when FileNet was tan, ready, and rested, just like Nixon in one of his election bids?
- Why would IBM be sort of open source in search and proprietary in the core platform? There is a modern framework available; for example Plone? IBM dumped proprietary search, so won’t IBM dump FileNet? What’s good for the search goose should be good for the CMS gander.
- With the revenue for FileNet focused on services, particularly migration and conversion services, isn’t there more revenue to be had by swapping in a more modern system and then charging to move customers off the 20 year old FileNet platform and then selling more Web savvy, cloud centric, and flexible solutions?
I think this product will be interesting to watch for three reasons:
First, the Brainware success is going to inspire other companies to go after these hugely complex, expensive legacy systems. I think with CMS is not just disarray but full scale marginalization, the sector will undergo some additional change.
Second, I think that under the present financial pressure, IBM is going to turn up the heat on the lucky MBA who is supposed to grow the FileNet revenue. That will be a fun job and one that a 66 year old goose will find interesting to observe. Big information technology is a concept under scrutiny, and I think the IBM business unit with this product will be subject to some media attention, particularly in the banking and financial services trade press and blogs.
Third, the age of systems positioned as agile strikes me as the product of a marketing sensibility better tuned to writing about the troubles at Digg.com and Yahoo.com. But if IBM says, FileNet is agile, it has more than one billion reasons to tell that story.
To sum up, hello, Plume, Squiz, and the dozen other open source solutions. Maybe IBM should just buy Brainware and try again? Obviously there will be English majors, second and third tier consultants (the azurini), and probably journalist involved in FileNet’s battle against open source CMS. Today Plone looks good to me, however. And when I think of a framework for today’s information challenges, I am not sure that IBM or any of the other brand name enterprise vendors have what customers want: low cost, flexibility, and painless scaling.
Agile! Amazing.
Stephen E Arnold, October 4, 2010
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SAP and Novell: More Open Source Goodness?
October 4, 2010
We know people using SAP applications are concerned about complexity in its deployments. Here’s a solution that waters down the issue, as reported in the SiliconRepublic.com article “Novell and SAP in Linux Application Alliance.” Yet another novel innovation from Novell, the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, improves on the reliability and ease of management of SAP applications on Linux, in collaboration with SAP.
“This latest offering dramatically simplifies and accelerates the deployment of physical and virtual mission-critical workloads for users of SAP solutions,” details the article, adding that the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server also reduces the installation time and cost. Among the many SAP applications that benefit from this collaboration is the NetWeaver Search, which looks for its revival with this alliance. We view this development as crucial to increased user acceptance of SAP applications, but we also sense SAPs growing intimacy with open source. Is the aging retrieval system looking for a new breather in open source?
Harleena Singh, October 9, 2010
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Arnold For Fee Columns, October 2010
October 3, 2010
Yep, another month and another series of for-fee columns. The Beyond Search blog content is a marketing effort. The good stuff finds its way into the work that people actually pay me to do. We just knocked off a report about a new market for search and content processing companies, but I won’t be sharing any of that solid gold information in this blog. Keep in mind that the blog, although written by five people each week, is putting information in the voice of a 66 year old goose. I dearly lover the breathless 20 somethings who want me to participate in briefings with senior executives who have something to say about search engine optimization or the junior mid tier consultants who think I will sit through a Webinar because some vendor was silly enough to give these azurini money to put them in touch with a thought leader. Sigh.
If you want a glimpse of some of the research we have done into information retrieval, you will have to chase down one or more of these for fee columns when each appears either in print, online, or in both media.
- For Information Today, “Connectors: The Next Search Battleground”. I used this phrase in a personal email to a vendor and the vendor wanted to snag my phrase for its Web site. No way, José. If you are in the connector business, you will want to read this column. If you have licensed connectors, you will want to read this column. Why you ask? Who cares about connectors? Well, grasshopper, you don’t know what you don’t know. Think racketeering. How about a Federal court? Of course, you can chase down your PR person or your mid tier consultant and get the “real” story. Pick a path but stay informed.
- For Information World Review, “Governance: A Politically-Correct but Toothless Notion.” I hear so much baloney about governance, I was thrilled when someone paid me to dig into the subject of “taxonomy governance.” Talk about baloney. Instead of recycling a narrow take on governance, I upped the ante an invoked Jeff Papows, Oracle, HP, and Sun Tzu. Bottomline: governance like much info-baloney is a straw man. Talk about being politically correct. You can find out more when the story hits the online and hard copy Information World Review in the next few weeks.
- For KMWorld, “Google Enterprise: Reseller Challenges Arriving.” In this column I talk about Google’s recent attempt to shore up the security of its enterprise products and services. The Google is trying, but now the battle is shifting to productive partners, resellers, and integrators. The point of the story is that now that Google is addressing some important issues with its product offerings, competitors are shifting the battle. Can the Google react quickly? You will have to read the column to find out what’s ahead.
- For Smart Business Network, “Marketing to the US Hispanic Markets: Digital and Grandmother Methods.” Fancy digital marketing is great for those who live in Silicon Valley, are between the mental ages of 10 and 40, and lack the ability to focus on one task for more than three minutes. For SBN online and its network of 12 hard copy business magazines, I point out that the burgeoning Hispanic market may require some different types of market planning and methods. Olé.
A final reminder to the PR people. Please, read the About information for this blog. I sell ads, interviews, and stories. Each story points out that it is a freebie or in some way sponsored. Beyond Search is not a “real” news publication. I have two or three readers, and these folks should have better things to do with their time. I suggest going to the park and feeding the ducks and geese. Winter is coming help out my feathered relatives. If you are an English major, take a book of Browning’s poems and puzzle over “brown Delores.”
Stephen E Arnold, October 3, 2010
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Fierce Criticism of SharePoint
September 30, 2010
I have lost interest in SharePoint and SharePoint search. Not much strikes me as new and improved. Nevertheless, when my newsreader spits out an interesting link from Fierce, I do scan it. “New Survey Reveals Dissatisfaction with SharePoint” caught my attention and provided me an opportunity to write an ambiguous headline. Surveys, as readers of this blog, know are suspect to me from the git-go. There’s the issue of sample size, sample selection, question shaping, and analytic methods. These juicy items are tough to get even when you have the survey wonks who did to work sitting directly in front of me.
Here’s the passage that caught my attention:
For instance a whopping 78 percent of respondents reported that SharePoint “user experience was inadequate,” while only 17.6 percent chose that SharePoint was “great and adequately met their needs.”
So, unhappy campers. You can read more about the survey’s findings in the Fierce write up.
My questions:
- Why is a product so widely used generating so much discontent?
- Why aren’t the third party, certified vendors making more of this discontent? My view is that these folks pay money to be certified and don’t want to anger their meal ticket.
- When will the open source community exploit this pain point?
In the meantime, I will maintain my present position and waddle forward without much concern. No search worries. No governance worries. No metatagging worries. Life is good at the goose pond. I will leave those worries to the CFOs who have to figure out why SharePoint is so darned interesting when it comes to costs.
Stephen E Arnold, September 30, 2010
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Decisiv Search and SolSearch: Now Unified Search
September 30, 2010
This story in Information World Review interested me: “Recommind and Solcara Collaborate for a Unified Search Solution.” Note: I write a for-fee column for Information World Review. The story concerns Recommind, a vendor which I have traditionally associated with search and content processing for the legal sector. The story also references Solcara, a company that offers what I recall as an intuitive, personalized and integrated search solution across disparate information sources. These include structured information, online services, document management solutions, etc.
Here’s the passage that caught my eye:
Under the partnership, Recommind is integrating its Decisiv Search solution with Solcara’s SolSearch solution. The joint solution is aimed at providing unified access to internal and external sources, saving time and costs. Together, the two technologies deliver an enterprise search solution that unifies access to all internal data repositories, such as document management systems, know how systems and essential online services, such as Lexis Nexis Library, Thomson’s Westlaw & Lawtel and Practical Law Company (PLC).
The tie up of Decisiv Search and SolSearch obviously adds value to both firms’ search and content processing solutions. The questions that crossed my mind were:
- Is this type of tie up a variant of the no-cash mergers that Attensity and Lexalytics implemented? On the surface, the merging of two somewhat similar sets of functionality are difficult for me to unravel?
- Are customers likely to come from a specific sector like the US legal market or from broader enterprise search sectors such as those server by SharePoint? I am not sure about the functions of SharePoint, but with products from SharePoint add in vendors, SharePoint seems to off unified access.
- How will this type of tie up affect open source search vendors? With open source search showing some stamina, I wonder if this new merged service will allow both Recommind and Solcara to jump up the value chain?
This is a relationship that warrants further observation.
Stephen E Arnold, September 30, 2010
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Commercial vs Open Source Search
September 29, 2010
Open source platforms have become a familiar and welcome face in the search and faceting arena. The posting “I Was at a Search Vendor Round Table Today” on the ListWare blog is an interesting and at times comical round table discussion about the free search application Solr and how it compares to its big name competitors. Solr is an open source search server that provides individuals with various advanced search and faceting capabilities. Faceted searches are search results broken down into multiple categories and users have the ability to restrict certain information depending on the facets. Representatives from Autonomy, Microsoft, Google, Vivisimo, and Endeca attempted to explain why consumers needed to pay for their big name multi-feature programs. One memorable quote was “open source is as free as a free puppy.”
We agree with the arguments summarized in this article. We also are cognizant of the interest in open source search solutions. The Lucene Revolution, a conference focused on open source search, is—we have heard—nearly sold out. We are watching the boundaries of open source search and commercial search. There are strong arguments on both sides. Toss in commoditization and some search vendors deemphasizing search for licensing connectors or abandoning the search market altogether, and the situation is fluid.
April Holmes, September 29, 2010
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SAP Gets Agile like an Aging Quarterback
September 24, 2010
A year round exercise program and a grueling pre season warm up can put bounce in an aging athlete’s step. SAP is back, buying companies and making waves in the enterprise software sector. The company’s most recent announcement caught the attention of Computerworld. The story “SAP Rolls Out Wave of ‘Rapid Deployment’ Apps” explains that “relationship management modules” can be up and running in as little as three months. Yep, the 40 yard time for an aging athlete is about that when racing against a 23 year old.
One of the more interesting comments in the story was, in my opinion, this passage:
SAP’s announcement is the latest effort by the vendor to shed its image as a provider of monolithic, difficult-to-maintain ERP systems. In recent years it has rolled out a series of “enhancement packs” that help customers of its flagship Business Suite add significant new features without the pain of a full-blown upgrade.
To me, this means that the future rapid deployment customer already has SAP up and running. That process can, in my experience, consume more than three months.
What we are learning is that our clients expect changes to be made quickly. For example, we are building one of our news filtering systems. The entire project had to be designed, implemented, and made operational in four days. We hit the target.
I don’t have too many clients who think in terms of a minimum of 12 weeks for a solution. SAP has and I envy the time windows in which their work may be viewed. I look out the window of a jet plane, so my window is open only briefly. That seems to be a trend here in Harrod’s Creek.
The write up strikes me as wishful marketing type thinking packaged as an announcement. To an aging athlete, leisurely agility is as good as real agility I suppose. Just my opinion. Honk.
Stephen E Arnold, September 24, 2010
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Document Intelligence: A New Buzz Word for Search?
September 22, 2010
Brainware every couple of years discovers me. When this happens, the Brainware marketing team wants to meet. I think I will be catching up with the company at an upcoming intel conference. In the meantime, Brainware has rolled out “document intelligence.” The idea of smart content has spawned a conference, fueled the growth of MarkLogic, and now become part of the Brainware offering.
Brainware Inc. has three new modules, and they are set to reveal them at Oracle OpenWorld 2010, later this year in San Francisco, California. On the presentation schedule are Brainware Distiller, Globalbrain and Visibility modules. Touted as being one one of the world’s pre-eminent business-to-business technology exhibitions, demonstrations and theatre presentations are scheduled throughout the event. If in attendance, be sure to witness first hand how Brainware Distiller, paired up with OPEX mailroom solutions can provide advanced mailroom functionality that will extract vital information from the front end, and then delivering valuable data throughout the enterprise with rapid performance.
“I look forward to this opportunity to meet with potential partners and clients,” said Carl Mergele, Chief Executive Officer at Brainware. “Our Distiller solution is unparalleled in its ability to extract data from unstructured documents and streamline vital business processes for Oracle users worldwide, and this event allows us to demonstrate Brainware’s unique capabilities to members of the Oracle community.”
This type of service suggests that companies still have a big paper problem, and integration remains an issue with native oracle tools. Decide for yourself and check the news release (which may go dark at any time) or navigate to the Brainware Web site.
Maybe more after the briefing? What’s interesting about Oracle is that it continues to generate intentionally or unintentionally chatter about a big search deal. What more could one want beyond Oracle Text, SES11g, and partners’ products?
Glenn Black, September 22, 2010
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