Autonomy IDOL 10
March 29, 2012
Short honk: An good summary of Hewlett Packard Autonomy IDOL 10 appears in the WorldWright blog. You can get the Hewlett Packard version at this link. The angle is the “instant on enterprise.”There is a video and a link to more details. An instant on white paper is also available. It is called “The Instant On Enterprise.”
Three observations:
- Autonomy can coordinate its messages
- The company has not lost its knack for catchy phrases
- I would be delighted if my desktop PC were instant on.
Stephen E Arnold, March 29, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Security and Compliance Guidance with SharePoint
March 29, 2012
Maintaining security standards and governance compliance in the enterprise is not always easy when trying to minimize risks and maximize access. Mike Fleck addresses the issue in, “SharePoint, Security, and Compliance.” Fleck explains:
“One thing I think that the SharePoint community can easily agree on is that adequately securing SharePoint implementations and meeting compliance obligations are good things. The many capabilities and advantages that SharePoint brings to the enterprise are well documented…Security and compliance are closely related topics. Compliance regulations dictate numerous security controls. Having a strong security posture makes meeting compliance requirements (and proving compliance to auditors) far easier.”
Fleck’s article is the first in a series on security and compliance as related to the collaboration platform. SharePoint architects and administrators may benefit from the read. Some guidance might help as you look to prioritize high level concerns and pertinent questions for increased SharePoint security and compliance.
While information creation and SharePoint adoption continue to grow, you may find the platform is not the complete out-of-the-box solution for enterprise security and compliance needs. If you need a bit of help with it you might check into Mindbreeze and their dynamic search technologies that bring together security, mobility, and information pairing.
Fabasoft Mindbreeze exceeds relevant international standards, including ISO 27001, ISO 20000, ISO 9001, and SAS 70 Typ II. Here you can read more about Mindbreeze certifications:
“Fabasoft has received ISO 20000 certification for the IT services Folio Cloud and Folio SaaS. This furthers the Austrian company’s strategy of implementing international standards, with it already being ISO 9001 and 27001 certified. Fabasoft is one of just twelve companies in Austria with ISO 20000 certification.”
With strict compliance standards, certified security, and regular external audits, Mindbreeze can maximize your information assets with security reliability.
Philip West, March 29, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Considerations for SharePoint Career Development
March 28, 2012
Over at the ShareMuch Blog, Yaroslav Pentsarskyy looks at SharePoint career development in, “How Come Joe-the-SharePoint-Guy Doesn’t Know? SharePoint Career Evolution.” As SharePoint continues to expand and develop, IT employees have to keep up with continuing education and an evolving skill set. Pentsarskyy shares his subjective suggestion:
1. Pick your discipline area (Infrastructure, Technical BA, Developer, User Interface Developer etc.). Something you`re prepared to be an expert in;
2. Be clear on deliverables you are going to have to produce as a part of your area focus (Design Document? DR plan? Code? Governance Plan? etc.). Deliverables will outline your role on projects (usually your title is too vague, everyone wants to know what you`re actually going to produce);
3. Pick a few but not too many product areas (BI, Collab, Publishing etc) and be good at those.
Pentsarskyy warns that trying to keep up with everything may leave you as an expert in nothing. Honing in on a development area may be beneficial to many IT employees that feel stretched too thin across growing collaboration products.
SharePoint is a ubiquitous platform that continues to grow. To add rich value to your system while also providing an easier experience for your users, consider an intuitive solution like Fabasoft Mindbreeze.
Their out-of-the-box solution gives you information pairing, mobility, and a more powerful search in a user-centered environment:
“Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise understands you, or more precisely understands exactly what the most important information is for you at any given moment. It’s a center of excellence and simultaneously your personal assistant for all questions. The information pairing technology brings enterprise and Cloud together.”
Consider the full suite of products and solutions at Fabasoft Mindbreeze.
Philip West, March 28, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Ikea Italy Selects Autonomy
March 28, 2012
Ikea Italy is giving its business to Autonomy: Market Watch informs us that “Autonomy Powers Intelligent Document Management and Process Automation at IKEA Italy.” It seems the deal cincher was the system’s single platform to be deployed across the enterprise. The write up reveals:
IKEA Italy needed a single, centralized repository where employees could quickly and efficiently access relevant business documents and improve the automation of its internal and customer-facing business processes. Furthermore, it needed to improve collaboration between different departments. IKEA Italy selected Autonomy WorkSite and TeleForm to fulfill these requirements. Autonomy’s solutions, built on the Intelligent Data Operating Layer (IDOL), provide IKEA Italy with a single platform for document management and business process automation across the company’s multiple repositories.
Other benefits for Ikea Italy include robust document management functionality; adequate scalability; and multi-language search capabilities. That last facet should prove very valuable; the company’s internal documents are in several languages.
HP bought Autonomy in 2011. The company, originally founded in 1996, is a leader in meaning-based information technology. They take great pride building tools that efficiently extract meaning from unwieldy tangles of unstructured data.
Originally founded in Switzerland, Ikea’s quality, customer-assembled furniture business now spans the globe. It arrived in Italy in 1989. Ikea arrived at Autonomy in 2012. What took so long?
Cynthia Murrell, March 28, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
New Alert Feature for Clarabridge Social Media Analytics
March 28, 2012
Social functions are refining their role in the business intelligence niche. The BrainYard reports, “Clarabridge Adds Alerts to Social Media Analytics.”
So what do you do with all that information your business collects from social media? A backlog in the analysis of time-sensitive data could cost a company in lost opportunities. Clarabridge now addresses this problem with automatic alerts. Writer David F. Carr explains:
Clarabridge 5.0 provides tools for collaborating around an analysis. By configuring more proactive notifications, Clarabridge users might also configure the system to automatically send alerts to the correct regional manager–or product manager, or department head–making it more likely that the organization will take action immediately after detecting a specific problem or opportunity. . . . ‘If somebody just tweeted, “I went into Kohl’s and slipped and fell, so now I’m going to sue,” if you’re Kohl’s you want to know that,’ [Clarabridge VP Sidra] Berman said.
Collaboration is the focus of Clarabridge 5.0, formally released March 20, 2012. After all, much of this data points to challenges that require action from multiple departments. Though the alert function is a useful tool, it is important to remember that it will take skillful action to make the most of the new feature.
Clarabridge aims to delve deeper into the meaning behind each piece of content than the competition. Having spent years developing its sentiment and text analytics technology, the company boasts that it is uniquely positioned to support enterprise-scale customer feedback initiatives.
Cynthia Murrell, March 28, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Connotate Acquires Fetch Technologies
March 27, 2012
I know, “Who? Bought what?”
Connotate is a data fusion company which uses software bots (agents) to harvest information. Fetch Technologies, founded more than a decade ago, processes structured data. The deal comes on the heels of some executive ball room dancing. Connotate snagged a new CEO, Keith Cooper, according to New Jersey Tech Week. Fetch also uses agent technology.
Founded in 1999, Fetch Technologies enables organizations to extract, aggregate and use real-time information from Web sites. Fetch’s artificial intelligence-based technology allows precise data extraction from any Web site, including the so-called Deep Web, and transforms that data into a uniform format that can be integrated into any analytics or business intelligence software.
The company’s technology originated at the University of Southern California’s Information Sciences Institute. Fetch’s founders developed the core artificial intelligence algorithms behind the Fetch Agent Platform while they were faculty members in Computer Science at USC. Fetch’s artificial intelligence solutions were further refined through years of research funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Air Force, and other U.S. Government agencies.
The Connotate news release said:
Fetch is very excited to combine our information extraction, integration, and data analytics solution with Connotate’s monitoring, collection and analysis solution,” said Ryan Mullholland, Fetch’s former CEO and now President of Connotate. Our similar product and business development histories, but differing go-to-market strategies creates an extraordinary opportunity to fast-track the creation of world-class proprietary ‘big data’ collection and management solutions.
Okay, standard stuff. But here’s the paragraph that caught my attention:
Big data, social media and cloud-based computing are major drivers of complexity for business operations in the 21st century,” said Keith Cooper, CEO of Connotate. “Connotate and Fetch are the only two companies to apply machine learning to web data extraction and can now take the best of both solutions to create a best-of-breed application that delivers inherent business value and real-time intelligence to companies of all sizes.
I am not comfortable with the assertion of “only two companies to apply machine learning to Web data extraction.” In our coverage of the business intelligence and text mining market in Inteltrax.com, we have written about many companies which have applied such technologies and generated more market traction. Examples range from Digital Reasoning to Palantir, and others.
The deal is going to deliver on a “unified vision.” That may be true; however, saying and doing are two different tasks. As I write this, unification is the focus of activities from big dogs like Autonomy, now part of Hewlett Packard, to companies which have lower profiles than Connotate or Fetch.
We think that the pressure open source business intelligence and open source search are exerting will increase. With giants like IBM (Cognos, i2 Group, SPSS) and Oracle working to protect their revenues, more mergers like the Connotate-Fetch tie up are inevitable. You can read a July 14, 2010, interview with Xoogler Mike Horowitz, Fetch Technologies at this link.
Will the combined companies rock the agent and data fusion market? We hope so.
Stephen E Arnold, March 27, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
The Invisibility of Open Source Search
March 27, 2012
I was grinding through my files and I noticed something interesting. After I abandoned the Enterprise Search Report, I shifted my research from search and retrieval to text processing. With this blog, I tried to cover the main events in the post-search world. The coverage was more difficult than I anticipated, so we started Inteltrax, which focuses on systems, companies, and products which “find” meaning using numerical recipes. But that does not do enough, so we are contemplating two additional free information services about “findability.” I am not prepared to announce either of these at this time. We have set up a content production system with some talented professionals working on our particular approach to content. We are also producing some test articles.
Until we make the announcement, I want to reiterate a point I made in my talks in London in 2011 about open source search and content processing:
Most reports about enterprise search ignore open source search solution vendors. A quiet revolution is underway, and for many executives, the shift is all but invisible.
We think that the “invisible” nature of the open source search and content processing options is due to four factors:
Most of the poobahs, self appointed experts and former home economics majors have never installed, set up, or optimized an open source search system. Here at ArnoldIT we have that hands on experience. And we can say that open source search and content processing solutions are moving from the desks of Linux wizards to more mainstream business professionals.
Next, we see more companies embracing open source, contributing to the overall community with bug fixes and new features and functions. At the same time, the commercial enterprises are “wrapping” open source with proprietary, value-added features and functions. The leader in this movement is IBM. Yep, good old Big Blue is an adherent of open source software. Why? We will try to answer this in our new information services.
Third, we think the financial pressure on organizations is greater than ever. CNBC and the Murdoch outfitted Wall Street Journal are cheering for the new economic recovery. We think that most organizations are struggling to make sales, maintain margins, and generate new opportunities. Open source search and content solutions promise some operating efficiencies. We want to cover some of the business angles of the open source search and content processing shift. Yep, open source means money.
Finally, the big solutions vendors are under a unique type of pressure. Some of it comes from licensees who are not happy with the cost of “traditional” solutions. Other comes from the data environment itself. Let’s face it. Certain search systems such as your old and dusty version of IBM STAIRS or Fulcrum won’t do the job in today’s data and information rich environment. New tools are needed. Why not solve a new information problem without dragging the costs, methods, and license restrictions of traditional enterprise software along for the ride? We think change is in the wind just like the smell of sweating horses a couple of months before the Kentucky Derby.
Our approach to information in our new services will be similar to that taken in Beyond Search. We want to provide pointers to useful write ups and offer some comments which put certain actions and events in a slightly different light. Will you agree with the information in our new services? We hope not.
Stephen E Arnold, March 27, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Harnessing a Strong ROI for your SharePoint Investments
March 27, 2012
Return on Investment (ROI) is no doubt a main focus for both IT and financial officers in the organization. Technology investments can be heavy on the front end and hard to measure as the system develops. The topic is addressed in, “Why is Measuring a Hard ROI for SharePoint Just so Hard?”
The author explains the issue,
“The reality is that all businesses have soft costs such as turnover, lost productivity, low morale, lost sales and missed opportunities. And any combination of those might drive soft cost dollars in your organization which can have big impact on your bottom line — sometimes just as much as the hard costs and other times even more. Many organizations simply don’t measure these types of costs because they don’t understand it or simply don’t have the capability to measure them. Or perhaps people are just focused on meeting deadlines without questioning the value or impact to the customer. Meanwhile, project management within many organizations seems like chaos, deadlines get missed, decisions are delayed, tiger teams get formed, and the insanity of our day to day work life continues.”
Budgets are tight and the economy has been shaky for a while. Everyone is taking a close look at dollars coming in and out of the business. The brief article may be worth a read to help you develop a roadmap for measuring ROI. The piece is part of a larger series of articles on measuring ROI that you may want to check out.
To boost your ROI now without the need for training and studying, consider adding an intuitive third party solution, like Fabasoft Mindbreeze. Here is a highlight:
“The Fabasoft Mindbreeze Appliance is the optimal basis for highly efficient enterprise-wide search and easy configuration. To utilize the full potential of a software solution it is essential that hard- and software are fully aligned. Even more, the required time for deployment to the user is critical for gaining the highest ROI. The Fabasoft Mindbreeze Appliance components have been optimally synchronized in numerous tests. The Fabasoft Search Appliance cuts down the time-to-user dramatically.”
A strong ROI is imperative for the sustainability of your enterprise search investments. Learn more about the Fabasoft Mindbreeze solution at http://www.mindbreeze.com/.
Philip West, March 27, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Overcoming Perceived SharePoint Barriers with Mindbreeze
March 26, 2012
Over at the AIIM.org SharePoint Experts Blog, Rich Blank confronts the tensions between SharePoint adoption, social technologies, and business goals in, “Is SharePoint an Obstacle in Your Organization.”
Blank summarizes:
“Bottom line is that SharePoint is not the obstacle. SharePoint has simply forced organizations to focus on real underlying information management, governance, compliance, service delivery, and cultural change issues at scale. In fact, if you view things holistically, the vast Microsoft ecosystem provides all the capabilities, security, and compliance required for effective communication, collaboration, news/information, team sites, communities, social, search, ECM at an attractive total cost of ownership.”
Blank suggests that organizations can focus on delivering collaboration as a service in order to introduce capabilities to users. He also warns against rushing into the hype of social business without carefully considering the overall architectural vision and basic information management principles.
This is not the first discussion on SharePoint out-of-the-box capabilities not meeting collaboration expectations in the organization. One way to make your SharePoint system accessible and more powerful is by integrating a third party solution. We like the feedback we’ve heard from customers of Fabasoft Mindbreeze. Mobility and Cloud search capabilities are just some of the Mindbreeze benefits. With information pairing, Mindbreeze allows you to connect valuable business knowledge with the right people:
“It sounds easy at first glance but it’s technologically highly complex. 6 years of research and development work later, Fabasoft Mindbreeze has the answer: Information pairing. This involves the boundless networking of company relevant information within an enterprise or organization and placing it in the Cloud. In my opinion acting in this way in all business issues is reliable, dynamic and profitable – the basis for competitive advantage.”
Read more about the full suite of solutions at http://www.mindbreeze.com/.
Philip West, March 26, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Publishers Pose Threats to Text Mining Expansion
March 26, 2012
Text mining software is all the rage these days due to its ability to make significant connections by quickly scanning through thousands of documents. This software can recognize, extract and index scientific information from vast amounts of plain text, allowing computers to read and organize a body of knowledge that is expanding too fast for any human to keep up with. However, Nature.com recently reported on a some issues that have developed in this growing industry in the article “Trouble at the Text Mine.”
According to the article, text mining programmers Max Haeussler and Casey Bergman have run into trouble trying to get science publishers to agree to let them mine their content.
The article asserts:
Many publishers say that they will allow their subscribers to text-mine, subject to contract and the text-miners’ intentions, and point to a number of successful agreements. But like many early advocates of the technology, Haeussler and Bergman complain that publishers are failing to cope with requests, and so are holding up the progress of research. What is more, they point out, as text-mining expands, it will be impractical for individual academic teams to spend years each working out bilateral agreements with every publisher.
While some publishers are getting on board the text mining train, many are still trying to work out how to take advantage of the commercial value before signing on. Too bad it takes more than a degree in English to make text mining deliver useful results. Bummer.
Jasmine Ashton, March 26, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
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