Searchbox API Makes Headlines
December 11, 2012
Searchbox is an API that locates internal or external documents using the power of Apache Lucene and Solr. Online semantic search for enterprises is their specialty, and now they are making headlines. Programmable Web gives Searchbox a mention in its latest API spotlight article, “API Spotlight: Shipping Simplified with TrackThis and Temando, and Lighting with Spark.”
The Searchbox component of the article is as follows:
“The Searchbox API makes it possible to locate any public or internal document that is on the Internet or a users intranet. The Searchbox utilizes the Apache Lucene Solr search engine to access information in your intranet, emails, and internal documents, shared drives, and the cloud. Then it indexes and consolidates them all into a searchable format for seamless and quick access. To learn more about the Searchbox API visit the Searchbox site as well as the Searchbox API blog post.”
Searchbox is definitely an up-and-comer in the world of enterprise search, specifically open source enterprise search. However, there are other more vetted options for organizations that are less willing to trust a newcomer. LucidWorks specializes in enterprise solutions based on Apache Lucene and Solr, and has the authority of several years of experience in the field. See if LucidWorks might benefit your organization.
Emily Rae Aldridge, December 11, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
SearchHub Provides Valuable Solr Reference Guide
December 10, 2012
LucidWorks continues to invest in the open source search technology that supports the fastest growing open source business models. One outlet for this support is SearchHub.org, a forum and user support center focusing specifically on Apache Lucene and Solr. The Solr Reference Guide is of particular interest to those who use Solr as their search platform of choice.
Consult the introduction to the guide:
“The Solr 4.0 Reference Guide describes all of the important features and functions of Apache Solr. It’s available online in the Documentation Center or to download as a PDF. Designed to provide complete, comprehensive documentation, the Solr 4.0 Reference Guide is intended to be more encyclopedic and less of a cookbook. It is structured to address a broad spectrum of needs, ranging from new developers getting started to well experienced developers extending their application or troubleshooting. It will be of use at any point in the application lifecycle, for whenever you need deep, authoritative information about Solr.”
SearchHub is full of useful podcasts, tutorials, and reference materials. It is yet another way that LucidWorks is not just giving back to the open source community, but is an integral, interwoven part of the open source search community. If out-of-the-box solutions are more appropriate for your organization than building upon the open source components yourself, investigate LucidWorks Search.
Emily Rae Aldridge, December 10, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
An Intriguing Idea: SharePoint Search Is a Data Access Technology
December 7, 2012
Shortly after the SharePoint 2012 Conference, I had time to think about an interesting and quite intriguing view of search. The idea is that search is another “data access technology.” The idea was explained in “SharePoint Conference 2012: Prominent Role for Search in SharePoint 2013.”
Sanjeev Bhutt gave a tip of the hat to Scot HIller, who was a speaker at the conference. Mr. Bhutt reported:
In his session on building search-driven applications, Scot Hillier made the point that we should no longer think of search in the limited scope of what occurs when a user types in a search term in a search box and the corresponding results that appear. Rather, we should think of search as a data access technology, in the same vein as CAML, REST and CSOM. In fact, he went as far as to say that search is the data access technology because, as he put it, “Search knows where all the skeletons are buried.” [Emphasis in the original text.]
Since the conference, I have noticed more emphasis on the use of a traditional and faceted search interface was a way to access a wide range of data and information types. Sphinx Search, for example, provides a system which eliminates the need for command line queries for content stored in MySQL databases. Many other vendors are moving in the same direction.
Search Technologies offers a range of services related to SharePoint 2013 search. Of particular relevance is the company’s search architecture design services. The firm’s engineers provide due diligence reviews of existing systems, to the detailed planning and costing of new search applications.
If you want to make the shift from search to finding and discovery, you will want to explore a range of technical methods and engineer your SharePoint or other information solution to deliver the results that users want: Information which answers a question without guessing what key words unlock the riches in the organization’s knowledge stores.
For more information about Search Technologies, visit www.searchtechnologies.com.
Iain Fletcher, December 7, 2012
Inbenta Semantic Search Brings Customer Satisfaction Solutions
December 7, 2012
An innovative small company in Spain that focuses on Natural Language Processing and Semantic Search is expanding business internationally and making some impressive changes. Inbenta, based in Barcelona and Sunnyvale, CA, is an organization developing new computational linguistics and web technologies. The company’s attention to innovation and action is evident in the company’s new deal with Grasshopper, a virtual phone system.
Grasshopper helps small businesses sound professional and stay connected from anywhere. Inbenta’s “Instant Email” functionality dynamically retrieves relevant articles and FAQs as users type emails.
Grasshopper was able to reduce the number of oncoming emails by implementing Inbenta Semantic Search on their Customer Support Portal. We learn about the advantages brought by the company in the article “Grasshopper Reduces the Number of Incoming E-mails by Using Inbenta on Their Customer Support Portal” on PRWeb.
Allison Canty, Social Media and Community Manager at Grasshopper, may have expressed it best:
We saw results almost immediately after implementing Inbenta on our Zendesk powered support site. In the first two months alone, the percentage of unanswered questions went down, from 21.83% to 8.29% and our click-through ratio increased by 34.4%.
“In the first week after implementing Inbenta’s dynamic FAQs on our ‘Submit a Request’ page, we measured a 22.91% deflection rate for Emails/Tickets […]
With strategies geared toward customer service solutions and not simply technology updates, it is easy to see why Inbenta is evolving and catching fire worldwide. We look forward to seeing what the company will continue to offer and hope the focus on customer satisfaction becomes a trend in the market.
Andrea Hayden, December 7, 2012
LucidWorks Remains Focused on Good Data
December 7, 2012
After undergoing a recent name change in the early fall, some might wonder about LucidWorks’ strategy and identity going forward. Jeff Kelly addresses that just that question in, “LucidWorks Changes Name, But Remains Focused on Data-Centric Applications,” on DevelopsAngle.
Kelly begins:
“LucidWorks recently changed its name (from Lucid Imagination), but the Redwood City, Calif.-based company remains laser focused on delivering powerful data-centric application development platforms. In fact, the company streamlined its product offerings, eliminating multiple community and enterprise editions to focus on just two core products: LucidWorks Search and LucidWorks Big Data. Both the name and product changes are meant to reduce confusion and reiterate the company’s core mission – helping enterprises and developers build powerful and scalable data-focused applications, CEO Paul Doscher told me in a recent conversation.”
Kelly goes on to relay his discussion with Doscher and major ideas that emerged from that session. Among them is a discussion of how foundational technologies are not a means unto themselves. Rather, Kelly calls them “enablers.” However, it is the role of companies like LucidWorks to step in and fill the gap, taking these enabling technologies and allowing individuals and organizations to derive real value from them by making them accessible, intuitive, and supported. That is, in our opinion, LucidWorks’ greatest achievement.
Emily Rae Aldridge, December 07, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Search for Text Is Terrible. Now Search Has a New Challenge.
December 6, 2012
The question is, “Is search up for a new challenge?” I think of basic search like the high school athlete who was a star as a senior. In college, the person rode the bench. In the pros, the individual has an opportunity to attend a game.
In “Time Spent In Mobile Apps Is Starting To Challenge Television, Flurry Says”, the grim future of information retrieval becomes apparent. The article points out that fiddling with Web apps is getting into TV couch potato territory.
How does one find a TV show? I still watch folks channel flip. When I attend meetings with 20 somethings, the hook is a particular show regardless of format. Well, there is one format which is rarely mentioned—reading a book.
Search of text is not too slick. Now with the shift to digital media, can search make digital content findable? How about finding an app via iTunes? What about nailing down a new documentary? What about finding a video snippet displayed within an app on a mobile phone?
There is a growing need. Perhaps rich media search will work in a more useful manner than text search.
Stephen E Arnold, December 6, 2012
Dow Jones and MarkLogic Search
December 5, 2012
I remember learning from one of MarkLogic’s marketing professionals that MarkLogic was one of the following an enterprise search system, a big data system, and an analytics system. The person who briefed me before I cut my ties to the company asserted that MarkLogic XML Server was still part of the plumbing, but the company was moving into important new market segments. XML, I concluded, was not as hot a marketing hook as other buzzwords.
I just learned via a spam PR message that Dow Jones is going to deliver a “new generation of user experience” using MarkLogic technology. The XML server part of MarkLogic seems to be unimportant. MarkLogic, therefore, is now an experience delivering machine.
That’s okay with me. With vendors like Vivisimo morphing into “Big Data” players or search vendors like Coveo becoming customer relationship management specialists, I take a broad view.
However, the slicing-and-dicing capability of an XML data management system can boost some types of information processing services. On the other hand, the XQuery language and the verbose nature of XML adds some spice to the mix.
Companies who embrace the XML slice-and-dice thing often generate so many variants of the information that confusion results. Examples range from “auto generated textbooks” to the wild and crazy product line up from Thomson Reuters.
Dow Jones, a traditional publishing company, has reorganized. In its new fit and finish, Dow Jones wants to generate substantive revenue from its various digital products and services. Will MarkLogic trigger a flood of new revenue? This story is one I want to watch. Dow Jones has been in the online business for a long time. Last time I checked Consumer Reports’ online service was outperforming Mr. Murdoch’s property.
With new content players gaining traction, MarkLogic may be Dow Jones last heroic effort to shift from the BRS search approach that has dogged the company for many years. MarkLogic, on the other hand, has to find a way to meet its investors’ expectations for revenue growth. The target, last I heard, was north of $150 million which may be $200 million or more by now. Licensing XML tools to traditional publishing companies may not do the trick. Just my humble opinion offered from rural Kentucky where I am lucky if my hard copy of the Wall Street Journal arrives each day. The longest journey begins with a single step. Perhaps the path circles endlessly through traditional publishing?
Stephen E Arnold, December 4, 2012
Efficient Software Leads to Increased Efficiency in Overall Operations and ROI
December 5, 2012
Efficient enterprise operations are a necessity in today’s evolving business world and entrepreneurs are becoming more specific regarding their need for customizable software designs. Their increasing demands have the market flooded with new developers offering pretty buttons and a friendly interface, but end results can often be disappointing.
For the most part, companies share a common thread for cloud operations and the desired end result is ROI. ZDNet’s article “More than Software, as a Service” talks about how developers can stand out in the industry crowd:
“Therefore, what they want delivered from the cloud is rarely software on its own, but software in combination with other non-software components that add up to a useful outcome. This is using the cloud to do what it’s best at — providing access to a pooled, specialist resource that would be hugely more costly to implement separately for each individual business. It wouldn’t be possible to do this without the software (nor the cloud), but it’s the addition of live expertise that completes the service.”
The end result is efficient software leads to increased efficiency in overall operations and ROI. When looking at software options, companies will find utilizing an established developer that offers not only start up project management but also long term software support to be a reliable choice. Professionals can rely on providers such as Intrafind, that can deploy secure search solutions through the cloud that match the demands of the pharmaceutical and financial industries is a safe bet.
Jennifer Shockley, December 5, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Secure Search Solutions Meet High Enterprise Demands
December 4, 2012
The season that inspires sales is upon us and Claranet is cashing in their acquisition wish list a little early. TechCrunch’s article “Enterprise Cloud Consolidation In Europe: Claranet Buys Star (MessageLabs’ Founders’ Other Startup) For $88M” trumpets how beneficial Claranet’s recent purchase will be for all involved.
Star’s UK client base will now have access to Claranet’s resources, however Claranet benefits by expanding their services and customer base. The combined company efforts will vastly increase estimated ROI:
“This is a great opportunity to bring together the experience and resources of two great companies to deliver a broader service portfolio to benefit our customers. It’s our mission to help our customers make the most of Internet-enabled technology, and the acquisition of Star will enable us to continue to deliver on this promise. The combined company will have revenues of over £120 million, and it will have 700 staff across the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal.”
Not every provider is looking to be on the acquisition wish list even if the purchaser offers ROI as a stocking stuffer, but we won’t guarantee that Intrafind won’t be caught up in this consolidation shift. However, we do have confidence that they are an established provider that is well versed in scaling secure search solutions that meet the demands of enterprises in the pharmaceutical and financial industries.
Jennifer Shockley, December 4, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
LucidWorks Now Available in France
December 4, 2012
As LucidWorks expands its reach in the open source search realm, it is building partnerships that allow it to expand beyond the English-speaking world as well. LucidWorks products are now available in France, thanks to a partnership with France Labs. Read the full details of the partnership in the report, “Nice: France Labs makes the products of LucidWorks available in France.”
After a discussion of what LucidWorks is, a development platform providing an out-of-the-box enterprise search application built on open source Apache Solr, the author then goes on to discuss the partnership that brings the technology to France. The author continues:
“LucidWorks therefore decided to forge a relationship with France Labs, an innovative startup based in Nice and focused on open source search technologies, in particular Lucene/Solr. It appeared logical that these two companies joined forces. LucidWorks benefits from the expertise of France Labs, and its localization at the heart of the largest French Technopole – Sophia Antipolis. France Labs broadens its products and services portfolio and can now rely on the advanced skills of the engineers at LucidWorks.”
The above-mentioned engineers are indeed one of LucidWorks’ greatest assets. This team of experts ensures that LucidWorks solutions are ready to go out-of-the-box, seamlessly updated, and fully supported.
Emily Rae Aldridge, December 04, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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