Lucid Rivets a Search Deal
July 9, 2010
A promising merger in the open source enterprise search world could have serious reverberations for computer users. A Yahoo! News article, “Rivet Logic and Lucid Imagination Partner to Deliver Innovative Enterprise and Search Solutions,” broke the story that Rivet Logic, a leader in open source content management, and enterprise search powerhouse Lucid Imagination, plan to fuse both operations together. This is an effort to deliver a host of software and solutions for innovative enterprise search applications aimed at customers focused on open source programs. “Rivet Logic’s expertise in delivering content-rich solutions,” the article stated, “coupled with Lucid Imagination’s certified distributions of Lucene/Solr and commercial-grade support and training services, will offer organizations the enterprise-class stability and support they’re looking for.”
In a world of head-scratching mergers and acquisitions, it’s exciting to see a combination that makes so much sense and offers such exciting possibilities.
Pat Roland, July 9, 2010
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Autonomy Scores in Brazil
July 8, 2010
The Autonomy Corporation has long been recognized as a leader in infrastructure software for enterprise in the modern world and they’ve recently expanded their already 20,000 strong client base by bringing a bank that’s over 100 years old on board.
The Bank of Brazil will be implementing the Meaning Based Computing platform, IDOL from Autonomy as part of their push to afford employees access to the bank’s abundant data resources. If efficiency and transparency is the motto of the financial world post the recent recession, this largest financial institution in Brazil which was founded in 1808 will benefit from a new found ability to index different information sources that are global in nature.
What’s old will be new for the respected financial institution that has millions of clients in more than 3,000 cities. I can hear the cheers in Cambridge now: Goal, goal, goal!
Rob Starr, July 8, 2010
ArnoldIT July 2010 For-Fee Columns
July 6, 2010
Stephen E Arnold’s July 2010 columns have been filed. These will appear between August and October 2010 due to the lag time in print publication. Information World Review has shifted from paper to an online-only publication, so that column should be available in the month of July. Here’s a run down of what I covered for each of these publishing firms:
Information Today, published by Information Today in Medford, New Jersey. The column is “The Palantir Play: A Blend of Open and Closed.” Palantir received about $90 million in venture funding. The column considers the implications of the firm’s open source and proprietary technology blend. www.infotoday.com
Information World Review, published by Bizmedia Ltd., runs my column in its online journal. This month’s column is “Will Open Source Boost SAP?” My view is that I hope so. SAP has a long hill to climb with its aging locomotives R/3 and NetWeaver. www.iwr.co.uk
KMWorld, published by Information Today in Medford, New Jersey. The column is “Google Communications: Regular, Blended, or Transformational?”. I consider the differences between Google’s approach to enterprise unified communications and what such companies as Cisco, Microsoft, and Verizon offer. www.kmworld.com
Smart Business Network publishes about 20 regional business magazines. My column appears in each region’s publication. This month’s column is “Why a Web Site Is So Yesterday.” The idea is that other types of electronic presence is required. A Web page won’t pull the marketing cart in today’s world. www.sbnonline.com
In addition, the ArnoldIT.com team is generating original content for Access Innovations and IGear. If you want to add original content to your blog, let me know. I can provide you with options and costs for this service. The Beyond Search blog and my columns have created a spontaneous demand for substantive content on technical and business issues. Quite a surprise for this aging goose. One plus is that traffic to a Web site increases with the ArnoldIT.com “triple tap” method. Forget traditional public relations and consider the original content methods. Write seaky2000@yahoo.com for information.
Stephen E Arnold, July 6, 2010
This is a commercial message bought by Stephen E Arnold in order to generate vast sums of money and help companies wanting a marketing method that really works.
Clarabridge API Available
July 5, 2010
When we first learned about Clarabridge, our initial impression was that it was a system developed primarily for Microstrategy customers wanting more beef in their business intelligence capabilities. Over the years, the company has diversified and expanded its market reach and capabilities. Now Clarabridge is aiming to improve its customer feedback searchability by adding an API. Yahoo! Finance recently reported this upgrade and its many benefits in an eye-opening article. Currently, Clarabridge provides sentiment and text analytic software for improving customer experience. By adding SOAP-based application program interfaces (APIs) customers will now be able to better review feedback. The API allows users to submit a single document for processing, real-time extraction of language content and sentiment, as well as customized starter packs for various customer needs. These new API options are an exciting addition in the elusive world of customer satisfaction. If used properly, this software could one day replace former marketing tools like focus groups and customer surveys. Note: If the Yahoo News link goes dead, you can get the information from www.clarabridge.com.
Jessica West Bratcher, July 5, 2010
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Expert System Honored
July 5, 2010
There were no teary-eyed speeches or red carpet interviews, but the business world recently awarded its version of the Oscar to a company doing exciting things with searches. The Stevie Awards annually select the best and brightest companies around the globe for its awards. This year was no exception, because its Best New Product or Service winner was search and semantic technology innovator Expert System USA () for its COGITO Focus program. This search platform improves search capabilities and interactive analysis for all data. “This allows users to have insight into both structured and unstructured content, both internally and externally, including RSS feeds, Web pages and social networks,” the company says. This honor is another sign that search companies are gaining significant traction and respect in the business world. A happy quack from the goose pond. In September 2010, ArnoldIT.com will feature the Expert System technology in its demonstration series. Watch the blog and the Expert System’s Web site for details.
Stephen E Arnold, July 5, 2010
The SAP Foundation: Will Open Source Termites Swarm?
July 2, 2010
SAP, which as you may know, is an outfit I try to watch. As an addled goose, I check up on the IBM-esque outfit every couple of months. My next scheduled peek is September. Alas, I read “CoreMedia Web CMS Readies to Woo SAP Portal Users” and noted this passage:
…many of SAP’s known features — such as collaboration and KM (Knowledge Management) — CoreMedia [an open source content management system shop] chose not to support — focusing mainly on the infrastructure/delivery capabilities — citing the fact that they wanted to avoid any “dependencies” on those features based on what they heard about SAP not developing those capabilities in the future. And not to mention that CoreMedia already has a separate, existing portal product — CoreMedia Open Portal — that allows to manage apps like content, be in compliance with JSR-286, and support mash up technologies among other things. But all in a different UI than those of CoreMedia CMS or the SAP portal module. The question is why go after the portal technology, when there’re so many things that can be done on the core WCM side of the CoreMedia house. Yet, if you use SAP NetWeaver as your PMS (and we do love three-letter acronyms, this one stands for Presentation Management System), a module like this one might be for you. It will be available around September 2010.
SAP. Wooden foundation. Open source termites? Could there be a chow down coming? The bigger question is, “If CoreMedia’s method works on the SAP foundation, will other open source vendors follow suit? That may be a digital termite swarm.
Stephen E Arnold, July 2, 2010
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Sentiment in an Unsentimental Manner
July 2, 2010
Sentiment analysis is one of those feeder streams in content processing that now are swelling into a torrent. Seth Grimes, a fellow who actually took one dollar from me and then gave it back, has written a useful write up, “My Feelings About Sentiment Analysis.” The format is an interview with Mr. Grimes as the subject. Here’s a comment I noted and tucked in my “recycle this insight in one of my talks” folder:
How organic is it [sentiment analysis]? Does it need to be managed in real time?
Smart, responsive enterprises have effectively been doing sentiment analysis for years: they’ve been listening to customers and the market. The natural next step is to automate analyses, to take advantage of computers’ speed and power in order to build out and systematizes efforts. Technologies are definitely starting to operate in real-time… and beyond. They can not only analyze and automate response to opportunities and threats as they emerge; via predictive modeling, they can drive pro-active steps that create opportunities and close vulnerabilities. This said, I’ll reemphasize that organizations can work their way up from basic monitoring and engagement to full-blown, predictive analytics at a pace that makes sense given needs and budgets.
Good stuff.
Stephen E Arnold, July 2, 2010
Freebie but maybe I will get asked to give a talk at one of Mr. Grimes’ high profile conferences. Beg, beg, whine. Repeat.
Oracle Secure Enterprise Search 11g
July 2, 2010
I put off writing about Oracle Secure Enterprise Search 11g. From my point of view, the product has not leapfrogged other search systems. That includes commercial solutions or open source solutions. I wrote about the “problem” of hooking search to security. My opinion was that “secure” was possible when other Oracle servers were lashed into the search system. I may be wrong about “security” but until I get some first hand evidence that SES 11g does not require a bean counter crushing requirement for other Oracle goodies, I will keep my enthusiasm in check.
What’s New in SES 11g?
According to the what’s new page for SES 11g, licensees enjoy:
- Improved performance. Here’s the actual lingo and I think you can see why I have been reluctant to slap a “four goose” label on Oracle search systems in the past: “A quantum leap in performance and scalability for crawled and near real time search. SES 11g searches 10x more data with a single SES instance, at the same license cost, without impacting search query performance. It also offers fast ingest by defragmenting the search engine index mostly automatically; this allows for updating the search engine index fast enough to keep up with high churn applications like mail or news feeds”. I am not sure what a “quantum leap” is. I also like the idea that a single SES instance can handle “10x more data.” No baseline metrics are given and my tests of SES 10g are several years old. Lots of processor changes under the bridge. Am I to use Oracle Sun hardware? Again I don’t know what this means. I do know that pushing real time content through a system is a tough problem to solve without a lorry full of euros.
- Customization. As Oracle says, “A UI mechanism based on the popular Freemarker templating language that greatly simplifies customizations to the SES search application”. What’s a Freemarker? Think open source. Ah, that’s going to be interesting. Open source.
This is a fully customized interface. The screenshot comes from AT Kearney’s “knowledge portal.” Kearney is a blue chip consultant dogpaddling to remain in the top tier with McKinsey, Booz, Bain, and BCG.
- Connectors. Here’s what Oracle says, “New connectivity options to Oracle Applications (EBusiness Suite, Siebel), Web Center, and Fusion Middleware.” Yep, an option. How much are these connectors? Some folks provide them at reasonable prices or give them away as part of the base package. My hunch is that the lorry may need another bundle of euros. If anyone has Oracle connector pricing, please, post the links to the price list in the Comments section of this Web log.
- Filters. Oracle says, “New document filters, especially for MS Office 2007 and SUN Star Office.” I am not sure how I would differentiate a filter from a connector. Oracle owns an outfit that makes a bunch of these gizmos via its acquisition of Stellent which bought technology from the former Outside In years ago.
- More connectors but these now work. Oracle says, “Connector updates for Documentum, SharePoint, and NTFS.” Okay, seems repetitive to me and being able to handle the however many millions of SharePoint instances out in the wild seems like a pretty basic function in my opinion.
- Administrative interface. Oracle says, “A new Admin API with command line abilities.” Okay, command line. Even Google offers one. Back to the good old days of IBM. Good news for people like me who can remember command strings but not people.
- Authentication. Oracle says, “Windows Native Authentication, replacing the previous applet-based approach.” Huh? Most search systems, including the Google Search Appliance, pretty much use what the licensee has up and running. What about the “secure” part? What about the Oracle security server and supporting goodies? What about those government agencies and their hybrid systems which require much Cirque du Soleil acrobatics?
Autonomy Tasers Its Competition
July 2, 2010
I can hear the yelps now, “Don’t tase me, man. No, not again.” Bzzzap. “Yow.”
Now I hear a gasping, “Autonomy cannot be Number One. We are Number One.”
Who is doing the complaining? Probably about 300 vendors of search and content processing systems that is who. Why the howls on this fine summer day?
Navigate to Chron.com and read “Autonomy Is #1 in Search and Discovery Market, According to Leading Market Research Firm.” There is a write up about IDC’s study “Worldwide Search and Discovery 2009 Vendor Shares: An Update on Market Trends.” So, the 300 yelpers have to do more than howl, issue one shot news releases, or drop the ball on marketing, sales, and customer satisfaction. Autonomy — acording to a big gun analyst outfit — is the top dog, the king of the hill, and the cat’s pajamas in search and content processing. This is not my opinion, gentle reader, I am pointing you to a rock solid source, IDC.
What’s the write up say? Here’s a snippet:
Autonomy continues to be the largest enterprise supplier, using its search-based IDOL infrastructure to act as a foundation for content-centric and search-driven business applications including eDiscovery and compliance, Web content management, enterprise content management and rich media, search marketing, intelligence, call center and customer support, and traditional knowledge management applications.” “Businesses from every industry continue to turn to Autonomy to help them achieve what other technology companies fail to deliver on – identifying the meaning within all forms of information, in real-time, in order to protect and promote their organization,” said Mike Lynch, CEO of Autonomy. “Autonomy’s unique meaning-based approach to information computing is what continues to fuel our rapid growth and clear market leadership, as validated by the recent IDC report on Search and Discovery market shares.”
And no big disagreement from the addled goose. I quite like some of the Autonomy technology. I like most of what IDC produces. If the data compiled for the report are accurate, Autonomy has a big footprint and happy customers. Among the thousands of Autonomy licensees are AOL, BAE Systems, BBC, Bloomberg, Boeing, Citigroup, Coca Cola, Daimler AG, Deutsche Bank, DLA Piper, Ericsson, FedEx, Ford, GlaxoSmithKline, Lloyds TSB, NASA, Nestle, the New York Stock Exchange, Reuters, Shell, Tesco, T-Mobile, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
You may be using Autonomy technology and not even know it. More than 400 companies glue Autonomy to their own systems in order to provide search and content processing functions. Recognize any of these names? Symantec, Citrix, HP, Novell, Oracle, Sybase and TIBCO.
When the competition is able to stop yammering, perhaps some of these 300 vendors will start selling, marketing, and making Autonomy perspire. Google? Microsoft? Are you paying attention. Autonomy has more than 20,000 customers for its search and content processing systems, applications, and services. Oh, keep in mind that IDC offers data to back up its conclusion that Autonomy is Number One.
Competitors who make Kin phones and then kill their Kin the next day may want to reexamine their strategy. Other vendors may want to stop trying to tell governments how to run their railroads and business licensing policies.
Autonomy seems to have more – ah, how shall I say it? – yes, focus.
By the way, how does that taser feel? Want another zap? Bzzzap.
Stephen E Arnold, July 2, 2010
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Merger Strengthens Law Enforcement Searches
July 1, 2010
Crime solvers now have an improved way to track down clues, thanks to a single merger, a recent V3 article reports. One of the premier analytics firms, SAS in the US, recently purchased the UK based Memex in a step to bolster SAS’ law enforcement services. Memex currently supplies enterprise search solutions to law enforcement agencies from Brittan to Los Angeles. By bringing its research abilities to SAS’s global reach, the company aims to help law enforcement and justice and defense agencies share data by making it more widely available and much more searchable. This is an interesting example of a structured data specialist acquiring specialized technology to service a specific niche. We expect to see similar partnerships sprout up.
Patrick Roland, July 1, 2010
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