Kona Data Search Bets on Salesforce as Salesforce Swims Against the Current
August 27, 2012
One-size-fits-all search has become a tough sale. Presumably clever enterprise search vendors have embraced wordsmithing in order to boost sales. Examples range from converting a deduplicating technology into big data, shifting an entity extraction program to business analytics, and presenting XML as a “new” content manipulation tool which slices, dices, and chops with ease.
I learned via a random LinkedIn message that a copy called Kona Data Search. I pinged the company, was promised information, and even followed up (a rare action for the addled goose). After some dithering, I checked out the company’s Web site (which created some choking and stumbling for my so-so Chrome browser) and learned:
Kona Search [for Salesforce] is a relevancy-based text search application for Salesforce, with a Search Results page and a pop-up sidebar, or “Search Gadget,” for persistent display. Relevancy is a way of sorting search results based on how well they match the terms in a user’s query. You may be familiar with relevancy from public web search applications like Google search. KonaSearch applies the same principals to Salesforce objects. Also like the web search applications, KonaSearch highlights the words that match in the results so you can see why an object was included. The current release can search text, dates, and numbers for the main Sales Cloud objects. Immediately following this release will be more Salesforce products, Chatter®, and Microsoft Outlook.
Searching for information on Salesforce is okay. There are problems when one has quite a few employees using Salesforce and a super user needs to pinpoint a specific email or contact interaction chain for something like eDiscovery or checking up on a sales professional who has just resigned.
Kona asserts that it delivers such functionality as:
- Auto suggestion
- Field specific search
- Date and number search
- Entity extraction
- Facets
- Nested Boolean
- Phrase detection
- Spelling correction
- Stemming
- Synonym expansion
- Term biasing (weighting)
- Wildcards
The service costs about $240 per user per year.
In short, Kona includes the basics of what might be called traditional enterprise search. Google’s original search appliance intentionally trimmed such functions from its user interface. The assumption was that enterprise users don’t know how to formulate complex queries and are more interested in slamming in a word or two and getting relevant results. We know that neither traditional enterprise search nor the Google approach has hit home runs over the last few years.
What makes Kona interesting is that it is approaching the market with what appears to be an initial focus on Salesforce. (Versions of Kona for other systems is promised, however.) Now Salesforce is an interesting company, but I heard a rumor that Google considered purchased Salesforce seven years ago. But Google passed. Now Salesforce has to fight the likes of Oracle and smaller companies’ iPad apps to stay in the game. Salesforce has the same cost control problem that is gobbling Amazon’s margins.
According to “Salesforce Losses Swell, Despite Rise in Sales,” high flying Salesforce may have sucked some errant geese into its jet engines. The Register said:
Software-as-a-Service pin-up Salesforce.com reported growing losses despite increased sales. The hosted CRM provider reported a loss of $9.82m on a 34 per cent increase in net sales to $73.6m for the three-month period to 31 July.
Then added, “The company’s costs are increasing as it adds more staff to sell to the enterprise, against rivals such as Oracle and SAP.”
Here in Harrod’s Creek, the river dogs say, “Rising water lifts them boats.” What happens when the water level falls? Will Kona be able to float the Salesforce boat or will Salesforce get stuck in the mud and drag down Kona? We are monitoring the revenue flow gauge.
Stephen E Arnold, August 27, 2012
Sponsored by Augmentext
IntelTrax Top Stories August 17 to August 23
August 27, 2012
This week the IntelTrax advanced intelligence blog published some innovative articles regarding the state of analytics solutions and the various industries that they are permeating.
“Analytics Providers on Roll with Online Marketing” discusses how data analytics is slowly but surely breaking into the online marketing industry through partnerships that offer customers online marketing analytics.
The article highlights a recent partnership between Emory Digital and National Analytics:
“The platform includes a daily website audit, competitive position and gap analysis, website analysis, keyword analysis, link analysis, conversion analysis, benchmark tracking and ROI tracking, and project management. The software tracks Key Performance Indicators that go far beyond search engine rankings. It measures brand engagement, pages bringing traffic, page view per visit, new visits, time on site, bounce rate, goal conversions, ecommerce transactions and revenue and lead generation.”
Another industry that is starting to rely as heavily on data mining as rock mining is the field of geology. “Big Data Teams with Geologists to Mine the Earth” discusses how there is a new tool that speeds up the process of data mining and exploration for geologists.
The article details:
“GDD’s Field Data Integrator combines best-of-breed technologies for collecting, managing and analyzing data more rapidly. The end-to-end solution enables geologists to collect samples in shorter time frames, and then quickly analyze large volumes sample data for complex scenarios such as such as project timings, cash flows and profitability with greater sensitivity levels….GDD’s Field Data Integrator automatically synchronizes sample data from various field instruments, GPS, and cameras onto a ‘tough’ tablet using Bluetooth. Geologists enter notes directly onto the tablet using on-screen or wireless keyboards, enabling all data on samples to be collected automatically into a single source. The tablet then automatically synchronizes with a master database running Vectorwise whenever in mobile range, saving geologists time in manual data entry.”
The Financial industry is also being highly impacted by data analytics, according to “Cloud Makes Financial Analysis Easier.” The post discusses a new cloud based data visualization system called Adaptive Discovery. Adaptive Planning, the creator of the new product, claims that it has an intuitive visual interface that will appeal to business managers, allowing them to more easily access, analyze, and explore key financial and operational data.
The article states:
“Adaptive Discovery, the visual discovery application within the Adaptive Planning suite of performance management solutions, allows companies of all sizes to quickly and easily understand and take action upon their companywide data. Business users can easily compile, display and explore data from multiple systems and lines of business with highly visual, interactive dashboards and scorecards. The application presents data in ways that managers can easily grasp, so they are able to make better day-to-day decisions. Adaptive Discovery delivers an exciting new level of capability and interactivity that is far superior to both static data in spreadsheets and the limited reporting options available in existing enterprise applications.”
While Adaptive Discovery is one solution that improves data mining, there are also other affordable data analytics solutions on the market. Digital Reasoning has a long standing reputation of bringing data analytics to a variety of industries, including the financial world.
Jasmine Ashton, August 27, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Boost a Public Facing Web Site with a Design to Find
August 27, 2012
When it comes to providing users with a powerful search and getting the most from your content, look to experts in the field. At Fabasoft Mindbreeze, they have developed a suite of solutions that combines the power of search with information pairing, the Cloud, and smartphone and tablet mobility.
It is clear that Cloud hosting is becoming a go to data solution for organizations around the globe. Fabasoft Mindbreeze understands the need for expanded information access the save users valuable time when it comes to search. The same principle holds true for your Web site. Here you can read about the Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite solution:
An attractive website serves as an effective digital business card. Surprise your website visitors with an intuitive search.
Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite…
* is intuitive and user friendly.
* is instantly ready for use as a Cloud service. It turns your website into a user-friendly knowledge portal for your customers.
* recognizes correlations and links through semantic and dynamic search processes. This delivers pinpoint accurate and precise “finding experiences”.
* is the perfect website search for your company.
No installation, configuration or maintenance required.
We also like Mindbreeze’s impressive portfolio of references and customers. Dr. Manfred Weiss of Computerwelt, Austria has this to say about the InSite solution:
We want stand out from the crowds with a top internet presence. Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite is a part of this strategy. Our readers value the service of a perfect search. Regardless in which of our portals the information is available, Mindbreeze finds what you’re looking for. Since the search function is operated as a Cloud service, we save time and money.
Read more at www.Mindbreeze.com.
Philip West, August 27, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Hardware and Software Requirements for SharePoint 2013 Explained
August 24, 2012
In his post, “SharePoint 2013: A Look at Hardware, Software and Other Requirements,” Wictor Wilen explains some requirements users should expect with the upcoming SharePoint 2013 release. Wilen summarizes:
A few new requirements and increased hardware resources compared to SharePoint 2010. But this is all about planning – you cannot just take the requirement and apply that onto your SharePoint 2013 farm, you need to evaluate your farm design and test it. Over the next few months I expect to see some great design samples including metrics from MSIT and of course gain experience from the 2013 engagements starting now…
As far as operating systems, SharePoint 2013 will support Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 and Windows Server 2012. Database servers, .NET Framwork, and hardware requirements are also discussed. If you are thinking to migrate or adopt the new release, you may want to check out Wilen’s summary as you make your plans.
And while SharePoint adoption continues to grow and the platform develops, you may want to consider a cost-effective solution available now to boost your farm. A comprehensive third party application worth a second look is the suite of solutions available from Fabasoft Mindbreeze. With clear navigation and a self-explanatory interface, Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise facilitates findability. No install solutions are also available, including Mindbreeze InSite.
Philip West, August 24, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Linguamatics and the US FDA
August 24, 2012
Linguamatics recently announced that the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and research (CDER) is set to use their I2E platform, which is the company’s interactive data mining and extraction software across CDER’s laboratory research relating to drug safety.
The write-up “Linguamatics’ I2E Text Mining Platform Chosen by FDA” provides more details about why the text mining company was selected by the CDER:
“I2E’s NLP-based querying capabilities, coupled with its scalability and flexibility, mean it is ideally suited to answering many challenging, high value questions in life sciences and healthcare by unlocking knowledge buried in the scientific literature and other textual information. Rather than just retrieving documents, I2E can rapidly identify, extract, synthesize and analyze specific, relevant facts and relationships, such as those between genes and diseases or compounds and side effects. Customers include nine of the top ten global pharmaceutical companies.”
What’s great about the I2E platform is that unlike other text mining systems, I2E provides businesses with full control over what information is to be extracted, what query definitions are, and the kind of output. With it, users can obtain information in a short period of time even from large documents.
Again, another company from the science sector has opted to use Linguamatics’ I2E platform. CDER joins Pfizer, Selventa, AstraZeneca, and others from the company’s roster of prestigious clients. Linguamatics has truly evolved from being a small player to being the industry leader in NLP-based text mining within just a few years. We’re excited to see what the company will become two to three years from now.
Lauren Llamanzares, August 24, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Mindbreeze InSite Delivers Powerful Search for Computerwelt Austria
August 23, 2012
Collaboration and advanced social technology is inevitable as business gets social. To keep up in the game, boost your Web site with a search feature that connects users to the right information efficiently and effectively every time. To tap into the possibilities consider looking into a third party solution with references to back up their product to complete your search system.
We like Fabasoft Mindbreeze. The Mindbreeze solution:
smoothly integrates itself into your website so that the user doesn’t even realize that Cloud services are working in the background. Furthermore, InSite always knows what a user is interested in. Navigation behavior on the website serves as the basis for recognizing their interests. If the user finds themselves on one of your sub-pages on the topic mobility for example, even at this level Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite still displays further information such as blogs, news, Wikipedia etc. on the relevant topic.
To learn more, check out Computerwelt, Austria’s case study. Here you can read about the task at hand for Computerwelt:A professional internet presence is a quality criterion for a leading IT publication. COMPUTERWELT is published on different websites, such as the company database www.top1001.at/ and the portals www.seitenclicke.at, www.itheads.at and www.it-termine.at. Each week brings more than 300 new articles. The existing search was database-based, static and incapable of displaying semantic connections. With Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite…the user finds relevant information at split-second speed thanks to the program’s semantic capabilities. Moreover, the search is easy to use, intuitive and requires no maintenance effort on the client side.
Check out the full suite of solutions at Mindbreeze to see what works for you.
Philip West, August 23, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
Lexalytics and FutureEverything Join Forces to Analyze London Olympics Sentiment
August 23, 2012
To further add to the hype of the London Olympics, text analysis firm Lexalytics has announced that it has partnered with FutureEverything with the goal of analyzing the overall sentiment during the said event. “Lexalytics tracks mood of London Olympics” describes how they’re set on accomplishing this:
“The Amherst-based software business has provided Salience, a multi-lingual text analysis engine that is integrated into systems for media monitoring, analysis and business intelligence, to Emoto, a project by FutureEverything.
… Launched this week, Emoto provides the worldwide mood in response to events that are taking place in London 2012. The project tracks micro-blogging sites such as Twitter for themes that are related to the Olympic Games and then analyzes the messages for content and tone, according to the company.”
The public can then access this information via the Emoto website and through the Android mobile app aptly named Emoto in London.
While we all used to think that emotions and computers just don’t mix, Lexalytics has done a good job of getting a lifeless, emotionless machine quantify some sentiment and draw out meaning from text. Of course, the company is far from perfecting this technology and is currently refining it. But once it does, I’m really excited what sort of big applications will emerge, particularly in the area of mobile tech. I can imagine our phones summarizing our emails for us complete with the action items. What do you think?
Lauren Llamanzares, August 23, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
Tips for Empowering User Search in the Enterprise
August 22, 2012
Susan Hanley shares some SharePoint tips in her NetworkWorld.com post, “10 Essential SharePoint Search Hints.” Hanley points out that rich metadata is necessary for improved findability, but users also need to be taught how to search for better results.
Aside from using metadata and meaningful file names and titles, the author has this to say about search suggestions:
Use best bets. A great way to ensure that people can easily find the common things that you know they need in your organization is to create a directed best bet for them. Even if you are not monitoring search logs to identify candidate best bets (which you should be doing, by the way), I can promise you that you know something about what people need to find on your intranet.
We agree with the search tips. Empowered users can really add efficiency to their search and overall production. But to save time and training resources, consider adding a third party solution that gives your users a friendly interface with intuitiveness for search.
Here you can read about Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise:
Highly efficient enterprise search and specific connectors link together data sources in companies and organizations. Be well informed – quickly and accurately. The data often lies distributed across numerous sources. Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise gains each employee two weeks per through focused finding of data (IDC Studies). An invaluable competitive advantage in business as well as providing employee satisfaction.
Read more about the full suite of solutions available from Mindbreeze at http://www.mindbreeze.com/.
Philip West, August 22, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
ADV Austria Uses Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite to Enrich Web Site Visitor Experience
August 21, 2012
Rapid changes in technology have also brought along changes in Web expectations. Users more and more want informative, aesthetically pleasing sites that are consistently functioning with real-time data, which can be challenging to achieve.
To give your Web site a powerful search feature with a user-friendly experience, consider a third party solution like Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite. MindBreeze InSite understands that an attractive Web site is a company’s digital business card; it’s your shop window. InSite “turns your website into a user-friendly knowledge portal for your customers. Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite recognizes correlations and links through semantic and dynamic search processes. This delivers pinpoint accurate and precise “finding experiences.” With no installation or configuration required, InSite can save you valuable resources that would otherwise be spent on development and training.
In addition, Mindbreeze InSite boasts an impressive lineup of satisfied customers.
Here you can read the case study from ADV (Data Processing Work Group), Austria:
After testing the free 14-day test version, ADV opted for Mindbreeze InSite 500. This allows up to 500 pages/documents to be searched and 25,000 search inquiries per year. After registering for the product Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite and entering the web address, ADV received the embed code…Within a matter of minutes the search was available.
Search results are clearly structured using tabs and correlations are visible due to semantic search inquiries. The website visitor gets an overview of new events and publications without needing to click through the site.
Navigate to http://www.mindbreeze.com/ to read more about Web site architect solutions from Mindbreeze.
Philip West, August 21, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext.
IntelTrax Top Stories August 10 to August 16
August 20, 2012
This week the IntelTrax blog published some excellent articles on data analytics and search technologies.
One of the most notable analytics developers for Web sites is the search giant Google. “eGoogle Analytics Is No Longer the Only Game in Town” discusses some other options for those companies that are not satisfied with what Google is offering.
The article explains:
“If you operate your own website, analytic software can be crucial in order to track exactly how well your site is doing. Without this software, you can do whatever you want with your site, but you will never know if it is getting more visitors, aside from the amount of comments. When you look at the possible options you have for analytic software, the most popular choice is Google Analytics. However, if you’re not a fan of Google or its Analytics package, there’s no need to fear. There are still a handful of options for you to try out.”
Another article of note discusses the recent dramatic increase of unstructured data in almost every industry. “Growth of Text Analytics in Response to Unstructured Data” discusses the fact that there has also been an explosion of data analytics solution to make sense of all this new data.
When discussing some great solutions available, the article states:
“The Text Analytics market is rapidly consolidating with numerous mergers and acquisitions over the past year. Oracle purchased Endeca for its technology to mash up unstructured data from many different data sources. HP acquired similar technology from Autonomy. IBM picked up Vivisimo and Lexmark for their rich search features. Popularity of Big Data is driving huge interest in the area of text analytics, and that interest is causing the technology to evolve quickly. Text analytics techniques, for example, are becoming increasingly richer and more sophisticated in the information and insight which they can provide.”
While there are a lot of amazing data analytics solutions on the market, many companies are also feeling the effects of a downtrodden economy, so choosing an affordable solution is a very important part of their decision making process. “CFOs Demand a Reduction in Costs and Increase in Competitive Edge” argues that companies are utilizing data analytics solutions as a way to cut costs and create new growth opportunities.
Here are some qualities that companies in New Zealand and Australia are looking for in their products:
“As a discrete process, like CRM, corporate performance management is particularly well suited to a cloud delivery model. It provides organizations greater flexibility, lower capital costs and fast implementations that take weeks rather than six plus months. The end result is customers fast-track uncovering business opportunity. We’re excited about partnering with Host Analytics as it provides our clients a unique value proposition at a time when CFOs and CIOs are telling us that their number one priority is to reduce costs and gain competitive advantage with business analytics.”
The three articles that I have highlighted drive the point home that companies, regardless of their industry, are looking for text analytics solutions that will efficiently make the most of their limited resources and time. Digital Reasoning is a relatively young provider that understand the unique needs of small and midsized companies and offer their Synthesys platform as a solution that provides all the necessary data crunching tools and apps needed for most industries.
Jasmine Ashton, August 20, 2012
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, developer of Augmentext
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