Learn from a Cloud Fail with Office 365
December 29, 2011
The Clever Workarounds blog, run by Paul Culmsee of Seven Sigma Business Solutions, discusses mainly SharePoint issues with specific reference to strategy, governance, and return on investment issues. A recent post, “The Cloud isn’t the Problem – Part 2: When Complex Technology Meets Process,” follows an article asserting the need that for adaptive change with Cloud computing. In the current post, these adaptive changes and challenges are discussed.
The author begins with an Office 365 fail story that all can learn from. Lesson learned? Even a typo can take out a large system. From the typo in the Microsoft Online Services Company Identifier came a chain of events that could have resulted in a production E3 service being mistakenly deleted. While no one person or platform is to blame, it shows a flaw in the system. The author reflects:
Now I hope that I don’t sound bitter and twisted from this experience. In fact, the experience reinforced what most in IT strategy already know. It’s not about the technology. I still like what Office 365 offers and I will continue to use and recommend it under the right circumstances. This experience was simply a sobering reality check though that all of the cool features amounts to naught when it can be undone by dodgy underlying supporting structures. I hope that Microsoft and Telstra read this and learn from it too. From a customer perspective, having to work through Telstra as a proxy for Microsoft feels like additional layers of defense on behalf of Microsoft. Is all of this duplication really necessary?
For a stable and reliable system that still provides the benefits of complex technology, consider a third party solution like Fabasoft Mindbreeze. Their Web Parts based information pairing capabilities leave you with powerful searches and a complete picture of your business information. Here Daniel Fallman discusses the technology, “To put it concrete terms, the current Fabasoft Mindbreeze InSite release enable a maintenance-free, always up-to-date conflation of information from different areas. Always relevant. Always interesting. Always to the point. For both you and your website’s users.” Consider Fabasoft Mindbreeze’s full suite of products to find a solution for your system.
Philip West, December 29, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
In-Depth Look at Continuous Integration Benefits in SharePoint 2010
December 28, 2011
We recently wrote about Andrew Connell’s list of suggested resources for your ALM and CI questions. In his post, the first suggestion for a ‘why’ introduction to the topic was Chris O’Brien’s “SharePoint 2010 Continuous Integration – Part 1: Benefits.” O’Brien points out a SharePoint environment adds some additional challenges and involvement to CI implementation contrary to what ease you may find in the .Net world. However, he identifies many benefits and argues that the positive feedback from users is evidence it is worth it. First, he points out where to start with CI:
Let’s be clear though – Continuous Integration (CI) is probably best suited to projects with the following characteristics: Development-oriented – perhaps with more than, say, 3 Visual Studio projects; Multiple developers; Fairly long-running (e.g. > 2-3 months; to give the team a chance to implement CI alongside the actual deliverables)
Some benefits include consistent builds, automated testing, and increased team cohesion through build notifications. The rest of the fairly lengthy article gives a great overview of CI benefits and what an implementation actually looks like. Links are also provided to the subsequent posts in the series which follow up with topics including TFS 2010 Build Processes and Using PowerShell to deploy WSPs from build output.
With ample staffing and ability investments into implementing the CI techniques, you can really make a big difference on SharePoint development projects. However, to add efficiency to your organization without the need for such training and research, consider Fabasoft Mindbreeze. Their out-of-the-box solution gives you mobility and information pairing:
Information pairing unites enterprise information and Cloud information. This results in a complete overview of a company’s knowledge – the basis for your competitive advantage – allowing you to act quickly, reliably, dynamically and profitably in all business matters.
Consider their full suite of products and solutions at Fabasoft Mindbreeze.
Philip West, December 28, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Text Analytics Offers Summit, Podcast
December 28, 2011
Social media has exploded, with billions and billions of pieces of content hitting the Web every day; making sense of it all can be overwhelming. That’s why Text Analytics News is sponsoring the first ever two day conference dedicated solely to social media analytics– the Social Media Analytics Summit in San Francisco next April 17–18. The conference description informs us:
The Social Media Analytics Summit offers unmatchable networking and knowledge sharing opportunities for social media and analytics professionals. The Summit will be a true forum for vendors, end users, and consultants alike to develop long-lasting business relationships. The conference agenda has been designed based on meticulous research with industry experts and is well-rounded with presentations, panels, case studies, and workshops, giving you deep insights into the social analytics industry from many angles.
Social media analytics is only going to keep growing; learning about this key field now is a wise investment. Here’s an inside tip: register with discount code BSEARCHSMA to save $150.
Text Analytics News’ Chief Editor Erza Steinberg also has a podcast available called the “Social Media Analytics Perspectives Panel,” which he recently recorded with professionals from Social Media Today, Radian6, J.D. Power & Associates, and Beyond The Arc. The podcast explores:
- Effective ways for leveraging social media information to gain a competitive advantage
- The cutting edges of social media analytics and sentiment analysis technology
- How to make business sense out of the flood of user-generated content across social media channels
Two sources of important information from Text Analytics News. Here’s hoping you can take advantage of both.
Cynthia Murrell, December 28, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Trends and Challenges of Enterprise Search Discussed in Online Presentation
December 27, 2011
One of the best ways to stay on top of trends and happenings in the world of enterprise search is to check out some online training opportunities, webinars, talks, and lectures. Many are free, or relatively inexpensive, and can be easily accessed at your convenience. Susan Koch’s recent presentation from the Online Information Conference 2011, “The Landscape of Enterprise Search,” is one of these handy information sources.
Topics covered include challenges in enterprise search, four trends from the industry, and advice for those deploying an enterprise search system. So what are some trends in the world of searching and indexing diverse business information? With consumers driving social network proliferation, it is no surprise integrated social functions make the list. Most other trends revolve around the user experience: easy integrated searching, combining structured and unstructured data, and combining different content types in search results.
The presentation also includes some points on what a buyer should consider when transitioning to enterprise search, like the following:
What specific functions are essential? What kind of content is to be processed? How frequently is the index to be updated? How will the data to be searched grow? How might future search needs be different?
It is important to consider third party solutions when deploying your new system. They often provide an easy solution while easing startup costs. We like Fabasoft Mindbreeze. Their suite of products is in line with enterprise search trends, including social media and integrated searching.
In “Informed Decisions: Connect your Enterprise and the Cloud,” Daniel Fallmann explains:
To make swift and informed decisions it is essential to get a fast understanding of the available information and of all relations and people/experts involved. Enterprise Search and especially Unified Information Access allow a perfect symbiosis of (on-premise) enterprise applications with Cloud services and Cloud Apps. With our latest release, the 2011 Winter Release, we have released a brand new feature that empowers the individual user to make use of Cloud services to seamlessly.
Check out Mindbreeze solutions for your enterprise search system.
Philip West, December 27, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Summly: the Web in Bullet Lists
December 27, 2011
Here’s another example of search amplification, this time from a London youth. Wired reports, “Teen’s iOS App Uses Complex Algorithms to Summarize the Web.” Summly was developed by sixteen-year-old Nick D’Aloisio, who found the usual keyword-based search methods to be outdated. Instead, his app’s algorithm uses HTML to extract text from a page, then condenses it into bullet points. Writer Christina Bonnington elaborates:
D’Aloisio developed his final algorithm by initially employing a training algorithm: His method looked at human-authored summaries of articles of various types and from various publications. It then used these summaries as models for what Summly should be spitting out, and how it should change its own metrics to better emulate the work of flesh-and-blood information curators.
Interesting approach. Bonnington sees the summarized results as akin to CliffsNotes for the Web. She says the results aren’t perfect; it sometimes makes a date or other number into an unhelpful bullet point. Overall, though, she found that Summly did well to quickly glean three or four key points of each page.
That sounds very convenient, especially compared to a long list of pages users must wade through themselves. I have to wonder, though, whether folks who rely on such an app will end up missing important information.
Cynthia Murrell, December 27, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Google and Reading Books Offline
December 26, 2011
I recall writing a short analysis of the methods Google used to prevent a person from reading an entire book on one of the Google services. There were both patent documents and technical papers. The methods were interesting and seemed to be difficult to work around. We learned that with a little coordination and a number of different “helpers”, it was possible to get most pages in a book, but even that method was far from fool proof.
Imagine my surprise when I read “Google Books for Chrome Gets Offline Support, One Less Excuse for Not Reading the ‘Classics‘”. According to the write up:
the Google Books app for Chrome now caches your titles for local reading. To download a book, just hover over the cover in library view and select “make available offline” from the pop-up. Then, even when you can’t get your Chromebook connected, you’ll be able to sit back and relax with a classic novel or seedy romance tale.
With libraries facing push back from publishers for lending eBooks, I found the Google service interesting. Will the addled goose read classics on his Chromebook? Nope, the goose is not a Chromebook user. Our question, “What’s next?” Might the Google allow reading public domain books on any device running Chrome? Might the Google “rent” a title because the methods for knowing who has what exists? Is Google now following Amazon? Worth watching as Google moves to redefine itself for 2012.
Stephen E Arnold, December 26, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Inteltrax: Top Stories, December 19 to December 23, 2011
December 26, 2011
Inteltrax, the data fusion and business intelligence information service, captured three key stories germane to search this week, specifically, watching things moving and traveling with the aid of big data analytics.
Our story, “Unstructured Social Data is a Gold Mine for Travel Sites” shed some light on how many travel sites like Travelocity are utilizing big data to aide customers.
Similarly, our story “Airports and Analytics Grow Closer Together” showed how the complex world of airports are getting less cumbersome by sorting their unstructured data.
Our third story deals more with our voices traveling, “Telecom Attracting Big Data Heavyweights,” shows how phone companies are embracing this technology to improve customer experience.
Clearly, it’s a growing time for travel and analytics. We’re keeping a close eye on the developments and you can be assured that we’ll keep you informed as things change.
Follow the Inteltrax news stream by visiting www.inteltrax.com
Patrick Roland, Editor, Inteltrax.
December 26, 2011
Resources for Your ALM and CI Questions
December 26, 2011
Recently, a SharePoint 2010 Developer instructor, Andrew Connell, posted some suggested sources to turn to for answering your frequently asked questions on Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) and continuous integration (CI) in “SharePoint 2010, ALM and Continuous Integration Resources.” Andrew Connell is a Microsoft developer specializing in the .NET Framework and content management, specifically Microsoft Content Management Server 2002 and SharePoint. He is also a multiple time recipient of the Most Valuable Professional for SharePoint Server Award. He explains:
When teaching SharePoint 2010 developer classes I typically get at least one question every other class as it relates to ALM. On occasion there is at least one student who is used to doing continuous integration (CI) in their non-SharePoint projects and want to know how to it in SharePoint 2010 projects. For me, the best person you can look to is Chris O’Brien.
ALM, the coordination of all aspects of software engineering, can be of benefit to your work processes. While Connell’s suggested resources are a little older, they have worthy advice on the topic and are a good place to start.
If after reading you find you still need assistance, consider a full-service firm like Fabasoft Mindbreeze. As a third party solution for your SharePoint system, their technology combines your on-premise information with Cloud information, connecting the right people to the right information. Here you can read more about how Mindbreeze adds more efficiency for SharePoint, “It enables all information that is connected to Mindbreeze to be displayed in Microsoft SharePoint. This takes place smoothly via Web Parts. In this way not only information contained within Microsoft SharePoint, but also all other information that is available within the respective company, can be consolidated within one “platform.”
Check out Fabasoft Mindbreeze’s full suite of solutions.
Philip West, December 26, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Good Content Should be Paired with SEO
December 24, 2011
Today, almost everything is accessible through the Web. Therefore, many companies utilize Web advertising in the form of SEO to increase Web traffic to their sites. Read Write Enterprise recently posted a video that addresses the importance of pairing good content with SEO strategies in the post “Google’s Matt Cutts: Good Content Trumps SEO.”
In the video, Matt Cutts, Google’s head of Webspam, answers a question about SEO practices and whether “poor” sites with bad SEO are penalized by Google. Cutts states:
Just because somebody dots every i and crosses every “t” and gets all their HTML structure right, doesn’t mean that it’s good content. Even if you do brain-dead stupid things and shoot yourself in the foot, but have good content, we still want to return it. In fact, Google tries to make it so that sites don’t have to do SEO. First and foremost is content, and there’s no bonus for having good SEO.
While Cutts emphasizes that Google wants to reward companies for providing good content, he also makes it clear that to receive the best results, you should work to make that compelling content accessible through SEO. If Google didn’t recognize the importance of SEO, why would they have AdWords?
Jasmine Ashton, December 24, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Ektron Brings Enterprise Search to SharePoint
December 23, 2011
SharePoint is a content management platform that markets itself as a product that anyone can use but, in reality, can be quite tricky without help from a third party solution. The Sacramento Bee reported on a new way to harness the power of existing information through enterprise search in “Ektron Announces Expanded Support for FAST Search for Microsoft SharePoint 2010.”
According to the article, Ektron, a privately held Web content management software company based in Nashua, New Hampshire, announced this week expanded support for FAST Search for Microsoft SharePoint.
We learned:
FAST Search for Microsoft SharePoint 2010 is an enterprise search platform that delivers relevant, accurate and timely answers that help organizations use information for a competitive advantage. It helps people search intelligently, which reduces costs and risks with flexible, closed-loop enterprise search and security features. FAST Search for Microsoft SharePoint 2010 also helps harness the power of existing information assets and IT investments through flexible, standards-based enterprise integration.
While it is great to hear that Ektron is creating software to make SharePoint more user-friendly, we’re surprised that Ektron does not hook into more third party solutions. Our suggestion is that Ektron licensees take a close look at the Mindbreeze search and content processing solution. Our investigations suggest that users will benefit significantly.
Stephen E Arnold, December 23, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
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