Oracle Updates Its Enterprise Publishing System
May 25, 2010
I know that the world outside of Harrod’s Creek, Kentucky, believes that Oracle is a database company. I have pointed out that the company has done its best to baffle geese like me, particularly with its search technology.
I wanted to call your attention to a news item that has not been picked up and bruited far and wide. The write up’s title is “Oracle Introduces Oracle Documaker 11.5.” The upgrade pushes Oracle into the rarified air breathed by Hewlett Packard, StreamServe, Mark Logic, and a handful of other companies.
Forget desktop publishing and Web content management. These systems and Oracle’s deliver industrial strength document generation from repositories, business logic, and assorted bells and whistles unheard by the InDesign crowd.
Among the new release’s features are:
- Support for Microsoft Word as an authoring tool
- A rules-based system so content can be repurposed
- Multiple output options, including hard copy and Web pages.
Will Exstream Software, InfoPrint (a brand new identify is coming and new features from what I hear), and Mark Logic roll over and die? Not likely, but Oracle seems to recognize that unless it defends this important segment, the company can lose and lose big.
Stephen E Arnold, May 25, 2010
Freebie
IBM Search Technology
May 25, 2010
Before I headed West last week, I participated in a discussion about IBM search technology. No one at the lunch meeting worked at IBM, but, hey, IBM is a giant in software and services and each person had a viewpoint.
One surprising factoid emerged from chatter, and I wanted to snag it before it flew away like my first female goose friend. (She left for New York, abandoning the joys of rural Illinois for the bright lights in the big city. She probably ended up working at IBM in Armonk.)
IBM has a mini Web site embedded within its sprawling IBM digital Uzbekistan. The page is “Enterprise Search Technology.” The subtitle is “Innovation Matters”. You can navigate directly to this page by clicking this link. Finding the page took some work, but you are welcome to experience the thrill of hunt via IBM.com if you have some spare time.
IBM describes Trevi, which is an Intranet search system. The system incorporates six technologies, illustrated in the diagram below:
Source: IBM 2010.
The factoid: The page seems to be an island in time. The featured researcher – Marcus Fontoura – offers some comments about problems in searching. A click returns a 404 error.
Interesting.
Stephen E Arnold, May 25, 2010
Freebie.
Autonomy Summary Appears Online
May 24, 2010
Last week I fielded a question from a coding wizard. The question was about a specific Autonomy “service”. I sent along a few items from my Overflight file on the company. I came across a blog post that may be useful to others who have questions about the Cambridge, UK-based firm. And, let’s face it. With azure chip consultants recycling information in their for fee reports from various public information sources like this blog, why not go for some free stuff yourself. Leave the azure chip crowd to their “simplification” of the notion of what’s right among “real” boys and girls.
You can get a useful write up in Disastertools, a post on HitekHelp. Forget the title, and scroll down to the comments section. You will see that some text is chopped off, which is a problem that bedevils the addled goose. The fix is to copy the text and paste it in a word processing support. You will be good to go. And if you are one of the “simplifiers”, you too can edit the write up and sell it for several thousand dollars. PT Barnum’s spirit is alive and well in my opinion.
I scanned the write up and thought it was useful. Some of the prose reminded me of Autonomy’s own prose, but with blog posts and comments, I have given up trying to figure out who wrote what for whom. Maybe that’s why the Associated Content outfit sold for $90 million and bylined Business Week went for a fraction of that amount.
Enjoy.
Stephen E Arnold, May 24, 2010
Freebie. Wait. Someone from Autonomy was nice to me a couple of years ago. Does that count, dear regulator?
Exalead and Dassault Tie Up, Users Benefit
May 24, 2010
A happy quack to the reader who alerted us to another win by Exalead.
Dassault Systèmes (DS) (Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA), one of the world leaders in 3D and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, announced an OEM agreement with Exalead, a global software provider in the enterprise and Web search market. As a result of this partnership, Dassault will deliver discovery and advanced PLM enterprise search capabilities within the Dassault ENOVIA V6 solutions.
The Exalead CloudView OEM edition is dedicated to ISVs and integrators who want to differentiate their solutions with high-performing and highly scalable embedded search capabilities. Built on an open, modular architecture, Exalead CloudView uses minimal hardware but provides high scalability, which helps reduce overall costs. Additionally, Exalead’s CloudView uses advanced semantic technologies to analyze, categorize, enhance and align data automatically. Users benefit from more accurate, precise and relevant search results.
This partnership with Exalead demonstrates the unique capabilities of ENOVIA’s V6 PLM solutions to serve as an open federation, indexing and data warehouse platform for process and user data, for customers across multiple industries. Dassault Systèmes PLM users will benefit from its Exalead-empowered ENOVIA V6 solutions to handle large data volumes thus enabling PLM enterprise data to be easily discovered, indexed and instantaneously available for real-time search and intelligent navigation. Non-experts will have the opportunity to access PLM know-how and knowledge with the simplicity and the performance of the Web in scalable online collaborative environments. Moreover, PLM creators and collaborators will be able to instantly find IP from any generic, business, product and social content and turn it into actionable intelligence.
Stephen E Arnold, May 22, 2010
Freebie.
SurfRay Surges
May 24, 2010
SurfRay pinged us on May 21, 2010. We took the opportunity to gather some information about this search and content processing company. We want to break our coverage of SurfRay into two parts. In this first part, we bring you up to date on the company’s product. In the second part, which will run in Beyond Search on May 31, 2010, we take a look at some of the details of the SurfRay products. Here’s the update, which as far as we know is an exclusive look at this company.
SurfRay (www.surfray.com) has released feature-packed Ontolica 2010 containing the new Ontolica Search Intelligence module, and with support for Ontolica Preview. This recent release provides extensive reporting and analytics on search performance and SharePoint content processing. You can get more information about Ontolica here. A free trial is available from this link.
The 2010 release of Ontolica Preview, which provides native support for about 500 document formats, ranging from Office formats to vector image formats and high-fidelity HTML preview, the product also supports in-document highlighting, allows users to browse to best-bet pages inside documents, and is optimized for performance over the internet, with no client installs needed.
Having completed development on Ontolica Express, a search extension to Microsoft Search Server and Search Server Express, they have transformed Microsoft’s free search engine into a much more rich and robust solution. With important features such as wildcard and Boolean search as well as drill down and faceted search, they can provide effective solutions to the customer.
The feature matrix shows how Ontolica adds important functionality to the SharePoint 2010 environment. Notice that the Fast Search solution lacks important out-of-the-box features such as portal usage reports and hot linked thumbnail previews.
Packaged enterprise search solutions most often equate to long and expensive customization and implementation projects for customers. SurfRay is out to change that. With a new managing director and several new releases of the company’s Ontolica and MondoSearch products they have positioned themselves for the impending release of SharePoint 2010. Soren Pallesen, the new CEO, believes SurfRay has a significant opportunity for the firm to grow.
Other search vendors add features that are hard to understand and don’t offer real value for customers. SurfRay is committed to delivering value to customers with easy to use, out of the box, and based on industry-standard technologies.
SurfRay, a Microsoft Certified Partner, can deliver tightly packaged enterprise search solutions that are rich in functionality but easy to test and install – Ontolica installs literally in 5 minutes. And in so doing, SurfRay is responding to customers move toward more packaged search products and away from expensive consulting projects.
Founded in 2000, SurfRay is a global leader in search infrastructure software for enterprises that delivers highly packaged enterprise search solutions that are easy to try, buy and install. SurfRay has more than a 1000 customers in over 30 countries and is dual headquartered in Santa Clara, USA and Copenhagen, Denmark. Their customer base includes some of the most known brands and largest companies in the world, including AT&T Wireless, Bank of Thailand, Best Buy, BMW, Ernst & Young, Ferrari, H & R Block, Intel Solution Services, John Deere, Nintendo, and the list goes on.
SurfRay is a trendsetter in packaged enterprise search solutions that takes the complexity out of deploying business search solutions. They achieve this by releasing new products and versions continuously and by focusing on geographic expansion. They have established dedicated physical presence in local markets to further build their local customer support and international reseller network, such as SurfRay UK and Ireland, SurfRay Benelux and Nordic. All this seems to be working as SurfRay recently announced over 20 percent quarter-to-quarter revenue growth.
Pallesen believes, “Today most customers are very well educated on search technology and they don’t want to be convinced that they need some fancy new techno-feature. The next new thing that truly will transform the search market and deliver substantial value to customers will be enterprise class search solutions that install and are configured as easily as Microsoft Office.”
SurfRay has a deep heritage in innovation and advanced search technology. They continue to leverage this and put valuable enhancement into packaged search solutions that makes search functional as well as easy to install and use.
Stephen E Arnold and Melody Smith, May 24, 2010
Sponsored
KB Crawl to Release New Version of KB Crawl
May 23, 2010
The 2010 I-Expo in Paris come June 9-10 will be the forum for the release of the new KB BI Platform. UK Web site here. French Web site here. In an effort to improve the management of strategic information from the Web, the KB Crawl additional modules will allow users to optimize and personalize their Web monitoring system. Technologically, the new release provides an architecture entirely SaaS (Software as a Service), which means the technology does not need to use its IT department to set up a project monitoring. KB Crawl SAS provides all accommodation on a “Cloud” and guarantees the confidentiality of data. With the KB Crawl Suite’s integrated software, continuous monitoring of the Web to disseminate information and intelligence reports is at the tip of your fingers. The Platform BI enables you to collect, manage and disseminate strategic information collaboratively. KB Crawl has become one of the leading French players for market intelligence and Internet monitoring and this new release is in line with that pattern. For more information navigate to the KB Crawl Web site and download the white paper “KB Crawl 4 and Specialist Modules”.
Melody K. Smith, May 23, 2010
Note: Post was not sponsored.
IBM and Its Study of Management: Creative or Clever?
May 20, 2010
Those expensive service calls and pricey consulting jobs generate cash to do blue chip consulting studies. In the good old days, these expensive data collection efforts were multi client projects. Today, most firms are not too keen on funding research that must be shared. Take that, collaborative workspace lovers. IBM ponied up the dough to conduct a five month study. The sample was Porsche and Bimmer dealers dream team: 1,541 CEOs, general managers, and senior public sector leaders who represent different sizes of organizations in 60 countries and 33 industries.
You can get a darned good summary in the write up “IBM 2010 Global CEO Study: Creativity Selected as Most Crucial Factor for Future Success.” The summary has its fair share of buzz words. There are some interesting findings. Let me highlight three that I found interesting:
First, here’s a key passage:
CEOs are confronted with massive shifts – new government regulations, changes in global economic power centers, accelerated industry transformation, growing volumes of data, rapidly evolving customer preferences – that, according to the study, can be overcome by instilling “creativity” throughout an organization.
I think Bernie Madoff was creative—and clever. The clever part does leave donut of ambiguity in my opinion.
Second, this segment:
the biggest challenge facing enterprises from here on will be the accelerating complexity and the velocity of a world that is operating as a massively interconnected system.
Yep, sort of like the US financial crisis, the excitement in Greece, and the squeeze in the UK. Interconnected, complex, and, in my opinion, unmanageable. Someone has to work making things. Dealing derivatives is not “work” in my goose pond.
Third, this finding about technology:
Over the last four studies, the expected impact of technology on organizations has risen from 6th to 2nd place in importance, revealing that CEOs understand that technology and the interconnection of the world’s infrastructures is contributing to the complexity they face, and also reveals that they need more technology-based answers to succeed in a world that is massively interconnected.
Example? Capping an oil gusher 5,000 feet under water or maybe getting a customer support engineer to answer the phone. Hmmm. Which is more difficult in our complex world?
For more findings, presented with great seriousness, read the full article. Oh, don’t try to search for it on the IBM Web site. The write up is not there.
Stephen E Arnold, May 20, 2010
A freebie.
SAP Taps InQuira
May 19, 2010
A few years ago, SAP’s investment arm pumped some money into Endeca, one of the Big Three in search and content processing. I learned in “InQuira Teams With SAP to Power the Knowledge-Driven Enterprise” that SAP has teamed with SAP for customer relationship management solutions. Search vendors are in hot pursuit of the customer support market. Companies spend lots and deliver lousy customer support. You know the fun you have when you hear, “This call may be recorded for quality purposes.” I just want to speak to a person at the end of an 800 number because a gizmo arrived dead on arrival. I don’t want to press numbers on a key pad. I don’t want to read a 12 digit serial number. I want to speak to a person.
Search and content processing companies assert that their solutions minimize the angst a person like me experiences when calling or emailing customer support.
According to the release which has a full charge of buzzwords:
InQuira… announced an agreement with SAP AG to develop the integration of InQuira knowledge and social capabilities with the SAP(R) Customer Relationship Management (SAP CRM) application, including capabilities such as interaction center support, Web channel, sales management and marketing automation. The integrated solutions will enable businesses to provide a consistent, intuitive customer experience across channels and business processes via a single knowledge platform.
Among the functions will be Web support, an “interaction center” for a call center worker, and social media hooks. SAP’s own search system TREX apparently does not deliver the needed functions. No word about SAP’s other search tie ups.
More information about InQuira is available at www.inquira.com.
Stephen E Arnold, May 19, 2010
Freebie.
Exalead Newsletter Sign Up
May 19, 2010
Short honk: I received an email question about the Exalead newsletter. Anyone can sign up for this newsletter. The link you need is http://www.exalead.com/software/news/newsletter. I get a copy and find it quite useful.
Stephen E Arnold, May 19, 2010
Freebie. However, I have been promised a KFC snack next time I am in Paris. Such a deal.
IBM, Business Intelligence, and Competitive Pressure
May 18, 2010
I find the antics of a $100 billion company quite amusing. For example, IBM is jumping from business to business without getting its Web site in synch. Need search engine optimization? IBM is there for you? Need a mainframe in Africa? You know whom to call. Need a wheelbarrow full of software Lego blocks? Just email your local IBM rep.
What is shaping up to be an interesting market battle is IBM and “business intelligence.” IBM has considerable home grown technology. Are you familiar with Web Fountain? Thought not. IBM owns Cognos, which provides business intelligence solutions to big companies. Like the aging business intelligence systems, licensees need to have a wizard or two on premises to make sure that reports work with valid data. What happens if you have lousy data and a complex coding problem, the outputs can be—ah, shall we say—misleading.
To add spice to the IBM business intelligence line up, IBM bought SPSS. If you took advanced statistics, chances are you dipped your nose into the methods of “real” quantitative analysis. If you are a text processing maven, you know that SPSS bought some text analytics and processing technology from Leximancer.
IBM is throwing its weight around. Image Source: http://tinapaparone.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/big-guy-vs-little-guy-299×300.png
Why is this important? For me, these items provide some background for the story “We Are Going 20 percent Cheaper than Oracle.” Among the points in the write up (actually an interview with Edward B Orange, VP-Information Management and Business Analytics, Software Group, Asia Pacific, IBM) were:
- IBM has spent $12 billion in “business analytics”. The money? Buying companies.
- IBM is selling a business analytics appliance called IBM Smart Analytics Systems.
- Parts get an “extra commission” when DB2 is slammed into the solution sale.
- IBM is hip to social networking analytics. I did not know this.
- IBM has another $3 to $5 billion for additional business intelligence acquisitions.
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