X1 Management Change
February 23, 2011
We have noted a number of management changes in the search and content sector.
Now X1 Technologies has appointed a new leader for their eDiscovery division. X1 Technologies Appoints John Patzakis as President of eDiscovery, citing his extensive background in eDiscovery and corporate compliance as well as his knowledge of the law.
“I am pleased to welcome someone as accomplished as John to the X1 team,” said John Waller, CEO of X1 Technologies. “John’s background as a senior software executive coupled with his deep understanding of compliance and discovery law make him a perfect fit to lead our efforts in the eDiscovery market.”
X1’s eDiscovery Search Suite allows users to search data stored in over 500 different files types and applications. This allows for quick retrieval of electronically stored information (ESI) for early case assessment. X1’s support of social media applications will be released this quarter. In Patzakis, X1 has found a leader with the experience and skill to push them forward in the eDiscovery sector.
Emily Rae Aldridge, February 243, 2011
Nadella Ascends, Search Fuzzy
February 16, 2011
The Microsoft Search Head Gets a Big Promotion after 19 years of service in the Online Services Division.
“Microsoft announced today that Satya Nadella has been promoted, gaining the title ‘President of Microsoft’s Server and Tools Business.’” He is moving up to “oversee the overall strategy, engineering, marketing and product development for Microsoft’s server, tools and cloud platform efforts.”
In his previous position with Online Services, Nadella oversaw several Microsoft breakthroughs such as the release of Bing, new releases of MSN, and the assimilation of Yahoo! across Bing and adCenter.
Nadella’s seeming success with Bing has given him the opportunity to oversee Microsoft’s new venture into cloud computing, the subject of their latest major ad campaign. The “cloud” is being widely marketed to consumers, and Nadella’s promotion signals that Microsoft is looking for Bing –style success in their drive to push cloud computing software and services forward.
What’s this mean for search at Microsoft? We think the home grown search system in SharePoint is probably going to be killed. The future, bright as it will be, depends on Fast Search & Transfer’s ageing technology. How will search look from Mr. Nadella’s lofty perch? Probably not too important is our guess.
Emily Rae Aldridge, February 16, 2011
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What Has Google Learned from Salesforce.com?
February 15, 2011
Several years ago, a Googler made a comment about Salesforce.com. My recollection is that the person, no longer laboring in the Elysian Fields said, “We really like those guys.” The “those guys” referred to Salesforce.com. In one of my Google briefings, I mentioned that Google was not yet ready to get married to Salesforce.com. Google did some flirting but nothing serious.
I read the oddly named article “Could Google Risk Taking on the CRM Market?” Despite the headline, the main idea of the article is sound. The question becomes, “Will Google compete with the big dogs in customer relationship management?” Now CRM is an ambiguous phrase. For some poobahs, CRM is nothing more than a reason to sell a search and retrieval system so the “customer” can look up his or her own answers. The idea is for the licensee to fire staff or outsource to customers and low wage workers as much of the annoying queries from paying customers. CRM is a refuge for search and retrieval vendors who find the competition too stiff for the big jobs which go to companies with modern, scalable systems that work as information platforms. CRM is a smaller fish pond and the fish are not the predators found in the Fortune 1000 market.
I see the future… Source: http://reason.com/blog/2011/01/10/the-cbos-crystal-ball
Others, like Salesforce.com, see CRM as a way to keep track of prospects, proposals, and the detritus essential to closing a deal. Sales professionals, as you may know, live or die by their contacts. Putting those contacts in a system that the boss can tap for reports is a hot idea for some senior managers. Mercenary sales professionals use systems like Salesforce.com to manage their professional life. No matter what happens on the job or when a laptop is ripped off, the sales person’s contacts are safe in the Salesforce.com cloud.
Lucid Imagination Reports Strong Growth
February 8, 2011
Open source search vendor Lucid Imagination is on the move. Marketwire’s “Lucid Imagination Delivers Record Growth on Momentum of Apache Solr/ Lucene Search Adoption” reports on the rapid rise of Solr/Lucene, its sales growth having doubled in 2010. CEO Eric Gries expects continued success:
” ‘I attribute our continued rapid growth to the widespread recognition that we have freed business-critical search from the expensive, rigid cost structure of proprietary commercial search software. . . . As more and more organizations discover they can have enterprise-grade support to quickly and easily integrate, develop, and deploy Solr-based search applications, I fully expect this growth to accelerate.’ “
At 150 customers and growing, Lucid Imagination is one to watch. The company added to its executive ranks Peter Tait, who brings more than 20 years of marketing and management experience to Lucid Imagination. Prior to joining Lucid, he held management and executive management positions at BEA, Citrix, Documentum and EMC.
Check out Lucid Imagination’s Web site here.
Cynthia Murrell February 8, 2011
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Is Google Ignoring an Apple Method?
February 7, 2011
Love it or hate it, the Apple iPhone set the yardstick against which smartphones are measured. Microsoft has not slipstreamed fixes to its Windows 7 Phone. Now Google seems to be following the Microsoft path, not the Apple four lane superhighway.
Secure Computing Magazine reports that “Google Fails to Fix Android Flaw” in the newest 2.3 version. Google was aware of the flaw in Android 2.2 last year and promised to fix the defect. When 2.3 was churned out, hackers went to work and easily cracked the patch. Android’s flaw is as follows:
“If a user is tricked into visiting a malicious site, the flaw could let hackers view any files stored on the SDcard, as well as view a list of apps and upload them to a remote server.”
Disabling JavaScript support and/or using a third party browser can avoid the hacking problem. Google has again promised to fix its popular mobile OS in the next version and are already working on a solution, but we’ll see how that goes.
What may be important is that Google has not gotten its chickens in the coop. Another indication of the similarity in management approaches and customer focus between Microsoft and Google? And search? Maybe taking a back seat? Just a thought.
Whitney Grace, February 7, 2011
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Android Apps
January 27, 2011
At lunch yesterday, the goslings and I had a spirited discussion. The topic was Android, Google’s open source mobile operating system. There were three points of view and none of us agreed on which point of view was likely to the “correct” one. We had heard what was reported in “Unhappy with Slow Growth of Android App Purchases , Google Talks 2011 Roadmap.” Here are the points of view:
First, Google is going to get its act together now what Larry Page is in charge. The counter to this argument is that Larry Page has to demonstrate to Wall Street, customers and competitors that Google is more than a one trick pony. After a decade of trying, Google is ads only when it comes to revenue.
Second, Google is learning and adapting. The slow start of its new products and services gives the company time to look at click streams and make adjustments. Maybe the approach is not as spectacular as an iPad product, but Google’s approach is the best one for the company. Google is not in a hurry and can evolve, crushing rivals as it moves forward.
Third, Google is struggling because it hit a home run with search and then another one with advertising. Since those two lead off game winners, Google has bogged down. The company is emulating Microsoft’s trajectory, just on an accelerated time cycle. The Android play is a good example of an idea that has not delivered, although it may. Like the Xbox, the costs of the “win” are not likely to be added up.
So which point of view is correct? I think that the Google has its work cut out for it. Legal hassles, staff turnover, brand erosion, Apple, and Facebook—big job.
Stephen E Arnold, January 27, 2011
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AOL, Search, and Management
January 18, 2011
I miss Relegence.com, a property acquired by AOL and now subsumed into the various consumer services AOL offers. I used to enjoy testing AOL Search. The company once had PLS (Personal Library Software), then Thunderstone, then Fast Search & Transfer, and now I just don’t know.
What is interesting are two stories I saw today (January 17, 2011). The first appeared in the hard copy of the New York Times I get each morning. Well, most mornings. Delivery is a challenge in Harrod’s Creek when the weather does not cooperate. The article explained that AOL was doing well with Patch.com, a locality information service. You may be able to read the NYT article at this link, but, like home delivery in Harrod’s Creek, access can be a hit and miss affair. This is a Kool-Aid story, sparkling with good news. Now Patch.com is interesting because the company was the or one of the founders. See “Tim Armstrong’s Patch to Cash In on Death of Newspapers.” Xoogler Armstrong is the top dog at AOL. I find this interesting and amusing, particularly because the NYT often gilds lilies.
The other interesting story is the dust up between two AOL information services. I don’t understand what the hassle between two Web logs concerns. What does interest me is that Xoogler Armstrong is not able to manage the issue. You can one blog’s view at “Dear Michael Arrington.” You can get the other blog’s angle at “Blog Fight Rules of Engagement.”
My view is:
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- AOL management should focus on making its services and content findable
- The content side of the business may want to brand its properties so what is really a snit among siblings is easily identified as an in-house affair. Do you know what Project Phoenix is?
- The notion that working at Google translates to management expertise gets another dent in its sleek, retro rod exterior.
Just our opinion where the newspapers may not get delivered and the local citizens shoot squirrels with big guns.
Stephen E Arnold, January 18, 2011
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Booz, Allen: Azure Chip Status Validated
January 9, 2011
The split of the “old” Booz, Allen & Hamilton was a Yogi Berra déjà vu moment. Booz, Allen & Hamilton tried the public company route 40 years ago. The step was reversed and BAH became a privately held firm once the money tree had been shaken. In 2010, BAH, once in the same league as McKinsey and Bain, split into two parts: Booz in New York and Booz Allen Hamilton in Washington, DC. My view is that consulting firms are difficult companies to manage, not impossible, of course, just tough. One of the challenges for publicly-traded consulting companies is the hassle of conforming to the 12 week lockstep of the SEC. Another annoyance is the fact that outsiders can review the financial data, plug them into one of those MBA spreadsheets, and generate more ratios than anyone has time to review. When an oddity surfaces, then the excitement begins.
Navigate to “Shares of Booz Allen Hamilton Rank the Highest in terms of Debt To Equity Ratio in the IT Consulting & Other Services Industry” and you will see an example of the types of insight such scrutiny delivers. The main point of the write up is, in my opinion:
Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH) has a Debt/Equity ratio of 2.45x based on total debt of $1.5 billion. Gartner (NYSE:IT) has a Debt/Equity ratio of 1.95x based on total debt of $300 million.
International Business Machines (NYSE:IBM) has a Debt/Equity ratio of 1.23x based on total debt of $27.5 billion.
What this means is that the publicly traded chunk of BAH is performing less well than the azure chip outfit, Gartner Group. If the data are accurate, it means that the publicly traded BAH is now a verified azure chip consulting firm.
Gartner, as you may know, opines about the future of search and other types of technology. The staff is hard working and focused on making sales. Closing deals is a great skill. BAH is going to be focused on explaining why a once blue-chip outfit is dragging around a big chunk of debt. Sure, the debt can be explained just like the old BAH Minerva search effort and BAH’s missing out on a couple of big procurements in FY2010. Consulting firms unable to manage their own finances may not be the consulting firms prospects looking for guidance that works hire.
Welcome, BAH to the azure chip ranks. Now the firm needs to hire more English majors, unemployed journalists, and failed Web masters. Profitability and debt reduction await once those staff costs are cut and reported in a 10-K. Just my view, of course.
Stephen E Arnold, January 9, 2011
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Wikileaks and Metadata
January 7, 2011
ITReseller’s “Working to Prevent Being the Next Wikileak? Don’t Forget the Metadata.” is worth a look. The write up calls attention to indexing as part of an organization’s buttoning up its document access procedures.
ITReseller says this about metadata:
A key part of the solution is metadata – data about data (or information about information) – and the technology needed to leverage it. When it comes to identifying sensitive data and protecting access to it, a number of types of metadata are relevant: user and group information, permissions information, access activity, and sensitive content indicators. A key benefit to leveraging metadata for preventing data loss is that it can be used to focus and accelerate the data classification process.. In many instances the ability to leverage metadata can speed up the process by up to 90 percent, providing a shortlist of where an organisation’s most sensitive data is, where it is most at risk, who has access to it and who shouldn’t. Each file and folder, and user or group, has many metadata elements associated with it at any given point in time – permissions, timestamps, location in the file system, etc. – and the constantly changing files and folders generate streams of metadata, especially when combined with access activity. These combined metadata streams become a torrent of critical metadata. To capture, analyze, store and understand so much metadata requires metadata framework technology specifically designed for this purpose.
Some good points here, but what raised our eyebrows was the thought that organizations have not yet figured out how to “index”. Automation is a wonderful thing; however, the uses of metadata are often anchored in humans. One can argue that humans need play no part in indexing or metadata.
We don’t agree. Maybe organizations will take a fresh look at adding trained staff to tackle metadata. By closing in house libraries, many organizations lost the expertise needed to deal with some of the indexing issues touched upon in the article.
Stephen E Arnold, January 7, 2011
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Search and Flexible IT
January 6, 2011
I read “McKinsey: Run IT Like a Flexible ‘Factory‘”. I generally pay some attention to the musings of a blue chip consulting firm. Heck, years ago I did a tiny bit of work for McKinsey in London. This write up shakes my confidence in the wisdom of the blue chip poobahs, however. Keep in mind that I did not chase down a McKinsey partner, nor did I make any effort whatsoever to obtain a copy of the McKinsey research findings. I read the words “flexible factory” and experienced a kidney stone type of pain.
McKinsey is a global outfit, but the methods were honed in the USA that had resources to fuel its MBA economy. Right now, the USA is not number one in my book in designing, building, operating, or managing factories that make stuff. If I want a “flexible factory”, I snag my Chinese business associate and head to China with a stop in Taiwan as a jet lag shaker.
The notion that search and content processing vendors can “run IT like a flexible factory” is interesting, but I don’t think the analogy or the suggestion is on point.
Here’s why:
- Software is more like making art or making an episode of 30 Rock. There are some general guidelines and then all bets are off. Management intervention often guarantees a disaster of one sort or another. A factory, on the other hand, makes stuff. The key is repeatable processes, not art.
- Search and content processing are shipped in a broken state. Yep, I can hear the bleats from those who think commercial search and content processing software is perfect. Some search vendors and search licensees already operate in outsource mode, and I am not sure that it is working much better than the old style method of having a building stuffed with programmers.
- The buzz words sound great but “industrializing” information technology has already happened at Apple, Amazon, Google, and many other places. Industrializing search, like consumerizing search, does little to address the hard problems in information access.
Net net: cost reduction and zero commitment to human resources. No fancy talk needed.
But if a blue chip consultant articulates it, many senior managers will emit a sheep like bleat and follow the sheep herder and his faithful dog.
Stephen E Arnold, January 6, 2011
Freebie because I am no longer a blue chip consultant, just a rental goose in rural Kentucky
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