Google Declares It Has the Best Cloud Service…Again
October 15, 2015
Google is never afraid to brag about its services and how much better they are compared to their competitors. Google brandishes its supposed superiority with cloud computing on its Google Cloud Platform Blog with the post, “Google Cloud Platform Delivers The Industry’s Best Technical And Differentiated Features.” The first line in the post even comes out as a blanket statement for how Google feels about its cloud platform: “I’ll come right out and say it: Google Cloud Platform is a better cloud.”
One must always take assertations from a company’s Web site as part of its advertising campaign to peddle the service. Google products and services, however, usually have quality written into their programming, but Google defends the above claim saying it has core advantages and technical differentiators in compute, storage, network, and distributed software tiers. Google says this is for two reasons:
“1. Cloud Platform offers features that are very valuable for customers, and very difficult for competitors to emulate.
- The underlying technologies, created and honed by Google over the last 15 years, enable us to offer our services at a much lower price point.”
Next the post explains the different features that make the cloud platform superior: live migration, scaling load balances, forty-five second boot times, three second archive restore, and 680,000 IOPS sustained Local SSD read rate. Google can offer these features, because it claims to have the best technology and software engineers. It does not stop there, because Google also offers its cloud platform at forty percent cheaper than other cloud platforms. It delves into details about why it can offer a better and cheaper service. While the argument is compelling, it is still Google cheerleading itself.
Google is one of the best technology companies, but it is better to test and review other cloud platforms rather than blinding following a blog post.
Whitney Grace, October 15, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Restlet Promotes Paul Doscher to the Cloud
October 8, 2015
What has Paul Doscher been up to? We used to follow him when he was a senior executive over at LucidWorks, but he has changed companies and is now riding on clouds. PRWeb published the press release “Restlet Appoints Paul Doscher As New CEO To Accelerate Deployment Of Most Comprehensive Cloud-Based API Platform.” Doscher is the brand new president, CEO, and board member at Restlet, leading creators of deployed APIs framework. Along with LucidWorks, Doscher held executive roles at VMware, Oracle, Exalead, and BusinessObjects.
Restlet hot its start as an open source project by Jerome Louvel. Doscher will be replacing Louvel as the CEO and is quite pleased about handing over the reins to his successor:
“ ‘I’m extremely pleased that we have someone with Paul’s experience to grow Restlet’s leadership position in API platforms,’ said Louvel. ‘Restlet has the most complete API cloud platform in the industry and our ease of use makes it the best choice for businesses of any size to publish and consume data and services as APIs. Paul will help Restlet to scale so we can help more businesses use APIs to handle the exploding number of devices, applications and use cases that need to be supported in today’s digital economy.’ ”
Doscher wants to break down the barriers for cloud adoption and take it to the next level. His first task as the new CEO will be implementing the API testing tools vendor DHC and using it to enhance Restlet’s API Platform.
Restlet is ecstatic to have Doscher on board and Louvel is probably heading off to a happy retirement.
Whitney Grace, October 8, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Legacy Servers: Upgrade Excitement
October 2, 2015
Enterprise management systems (ECM) were supposed to provide an end all solution for storing and organizing digital data. Data needs to be stored for several purposes: taxes, historical record, research, and audits. Government agencies deployed ECM solutions to manage their huge data loads, but the old information silos are not performing up to modern standards. GCN discusses government agencies face upgrading their systems in “Migrating Your Legacy ECM Solution.”
When ECMs first came online, information was stored in silos programmed to support even older legacy solutions with niche applications. The repositories are so convoluted that users cannot find any information and do not even mention upgrading the beasts:
“Aging ECM systems are incapable of fitting into the new world of consumer-friendly software that both employees and citizens expect. Yet, modernizing legacy systems raises issues of security, cost, governance and complexity of business rules — all obstacles to a smooth transition. Further, legacy systems simply cannot keep up with the demands of today’s dynamic workforce.”
Two solutions present themselves: data can be moved from an old legacy system to a new one or simply moving the content from the silo. The barriers are cost and time, but the users will reap the benefits of upgrades, especially connectivity, cloud, mobile, and social features. There is the possibility of leaving the content in place using interoperability standards or cloud-based management to make the data searchable and accessible.
The biggest problem is actually convincing people to upgrade. Why fix what is not broken? Then there is the justification of using taxpayers’ money for the upgrade when the money can be used elsewhere. Round and round the argument goes.
Whitney Grace, October 2, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Exalead Gets a New Application
September 22, 2015
Exalead is Dassault Systems’s big data software targeted specifically at businesses. Exalead offers innovative data discovery and analytics solutions to manage information in real time across various servers and generate insightful reports to make better, faster decisions. It is the big data solution of choice for many businesses across various industries. The Exalead blog shares that “PricewaterhouseCoopers Is Launching Its Information Management Application, Based on Exalead CloudView.”
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) analyzed the amount of time users spent trying to locate, organize, and disseminated information. When users spend the time on information management, they lose two valuable resources: time and money. PwC designed Pulse, a search and information tool as a solution to the problem.
“The EXALEAD CloudView software solution from Dassault Systèmes facilitates the rapid search and use of sources of structured and unstructured information. In existence since 2007, this enterprise information management concept was integrated initially in other software applications. Since it was reworked as EXALEAD CloudView, the configuration of the queries has become easier and they are processed much faster. Furthermore, the results of the searches are more precise, significantly reducing the number of duplicates and the time wasted managing them. PwC has deliberately decided to roll out Pulse on an international scale gradually, in order to generate plenty of enthusiasm amongst users. A business case is prepared for each country on the basis of its needs, the benefits and the potential savings. PwC also intends to make the content in Pulse accessible by other internal systems (e.g., the project workspaces), to integrate the sources, and to make the search function even smarter.”
Pulse is supposed to cut costs and reinvest the resources into more fruitful venues. One interesting aspect to note is that PwC did not build the Pulse upgrade, Exalead provided the plumbing.
Whitney Grace, September 22, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Microsoft Takes SharePoint Criticism Seriously
July 16, 2015
Organizations are reaching the point where a shift toward mobile productivity and adoption must take place; therefore, their enterprise solution must follow suit. While Office 365 adoption has soared in light of the realization, Microsoft still has work to do in order to give users the experience that they demand from a mobile and social heavy platform. ComputerWorld goes into more details with their article, “Onus on Microsoft as SharePoint and OneDrive Roadmaps Reach Crossroads.”
The article states Microsoft’s current progress and future goals:
“With the advent of SharePoint Server 2016 (public beta expected 4Q 2015, with general availability 2Q 2016), Edwards believes Microsoft is placing renewed focus on file management, content management, sites, and portals. Going forward, Redmond claims it will also continue to develop the hybrid capabilities of SharePoint, recognizing that hybrid deployments are a steady state for many large organizations, and not just a temporary position to enable migration to the cloud.”
Few users chose to adopt the opportunities offered by Office 365 and SharePoint 2013, so Microsoft has to make SharePoint Server 2016 look like a new, enticing offering worthy of being taken seriously. So far, they have done a good job of building up some hype and attention. Stephen E. Arnold is a longtime leader in search and he has been covering the news surrounding the release on ArnoldIT.com. Additionally, his dedicated SharePoint feed makes it easy to catch the latest news, tips, and tricks at a glance.
Emily Rae Aldridge, July 16, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Watson Based Tradeoff Analytics Weighs Options
July 13, 2015
IBM’s Watson now lends its considerable intellect to helping users make sound decisions. In “IBM Watson Tradeoff Analytics—General Availability,” the Watson Developer Community announces that the GA release of this new tool can be obtained through the Watson Developer Cloud platform. The release follows an apparently successful Beta run that began last February. The write-up explains that the tool:
“… Allows you to compare and explore many options against multiple criteria at the same time. This ultimately contributes to a more balanced decision with optimal payoff.
“Clients expect to be educated and empowered: ‘don’t just tell me what to do,’ but ‘educate me, and let me choose.’ Tradeoff Analytics achieves this by providing reasoning and insights that enable judgment through assessment of the alternatives and the consequent results of each choice. The tool identifies alternatives that represent interesting tradeoff considerations. In other words: Tradeoff Analytics highlights areas where you may compromise a little to gain a lot. For example, in a scenario where you want to buy a phone, you can learn that if you pay just a little more for one phone, you will gain a better camera and a better battery life, which can give you greater satisfaction than the slightly lower price.”
For those interested in the technical details behind this Watson iteration, the article points you to Tradeoff Analytics’ documentation. Those wishing to glimpse the visualization capabilities can navigate to this demo. The write-up also lists post-beta updates and explains pricing, so check it out for more information.
Cynthia Murrell, July 13, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Cloud is Featured in SharePoint 2016
July 9, 2015
Users are eager to learn all they can about the upcoming release of SharePoint Server 2016. Mark Kashman recently gave a presentation and additional information which is covered in the Redmond Channel Partner article, “Microsoft: Cloud Will Play Prominent Role in SharePoint 2016.”
The article begins:
“Microsoft recently detailed its vision for SharePoint Server 2016, which appears to be very cloud-centric. Microsoft is planning a beta release of the new SharePoint Server 2016 by the end of this year, with final product release planned for Q2 2016. Mark Kashman, a senior product manager at Microsoft on the SharePoint team, gave more details about Microsoft’s plans for the server during a June 17 presentation at the SPBiz Conference titled ‘SharePoint Vision and Roadmap.’”
Users are still waiting to hear how this “cloud-centric” approach affects the overall usability of the product. As more details become available, stay tuned to ArnoldIT.com for the highlights. Stephen E. Arnold is a longtime leader in search, and his distillation of SharePoint new, tips, and tricks on his dedicated SharePoint feed is a way for users to stay on top of the changes without a huge investment in time.
Emily Rae Aldridge, July 9, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Dassault Systemes’ “Single View of the Truth” Problem-Solving Approach
July 3, 2015
The article on Today’s Medical Developments titled Collaborative Design Software uses the online collaborative design video game Minecraft to consider the possibilities for programmers working together in the future. Dassault Systemes’ is in the process of implementing a change to many design engineers working more collaboratively off a master file. The article quotes Monica Menghini, a Dassault executive,
“Our platform of 12 software applications covers 3D modeling (SOLIDWORKS, CATIA, GEOVIA, BIOVIA); simulation (3DVIA, DELMIA, SIMULA); social and collaboration (3DSWYM, 3DXCITE, ENOVIA); and information intelligence (EXALEAD, NETVIBES)… These apps together create the experience. No single point solution can do it – it requires a platform capable of connecting the dots. And that platform includes cloud access and social apps, design, engineering, simulation, manufacturing, optimization, support, marketing, sales and distribution, communication…PLM – all aspects of a business; all aspects of a customer’s experience.”
The point is that Dassault wants to sell customers a dozen products to solve a problem, which seems like an interesting and complicated approach. They believe new opportunities could include more efficient design-building, earlier chances for materials specialists to cut costs by opting for lighter materials, marketing could begin earlier in the process and financial planners would have the ability to follow the progress of a design, allowing for a more transparency on every level of production.
Chelsea Kerwin, July 3, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
==
Compound Search Processing Repositioned at ConceptSearching
July 2, 2015
The article titled Metadata Matters; What’s The One Piece of Technology Microsoft Doesn’t Provide On-Premises Or in the Cloud? on ConceptSearching re-introduces Compound Search Processing, ConceptSearching’s main offering. Compound Search Processing is a technology achieved in 2003 that can identify multi-word concepts, and the relationships between words. Compound Search Processing is being repositioned, with Concept Searching apparently chasing Sharepoint Sales. The article states,
“The missing piece of technology that Microsoft and every other vendor doesn’t provide is compound term processing, auto-classification, and taxonomy that can be natively integrated with the Term Store. Take advantage of our technologies and gain business advantages and a quantifiable ROI…
Microsoft is offering free content migration for customers moving to Office 365…If your content is mismanaged, unorganized, has no value now, contains security information, or is an undeclared record, it all gets moved to your brand new shiny Office 365.”
The angle for Concept Searching is metadata and indexing, and they are quick to remind potential customers that “search is driven by metadata.” The offerings of ConceptSearching comes with the promise that it is the only platform that will work with all versions of Sharepoint while delivering their enterprise metadata repository. For more information on the technology, see the new white paper on Compoud Term Processing.
Chelsea Kerwin, July 2, 2014
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Microsoft Puts the Cloud First with SharePoint Server 2016
June 30, 2015
Discussion of the cloud seems to push users into two camps: for and against. While hybrid is probably truly the way of the future, folks are still currently either of the “love it” or “hate it” variety. Redmond Magazine has provided good ongoing coverage of the upcoming SharePoint Server 2016 release, and their article, “Microsoft Taking a ‘Cloud First’ Approach with SharePoint 2016,” gives more details about what can be expected.
The article says:
“SharePoint Server 2016 will be a very cloud-inspired product when commercially released next year . . . Microsoft’s cloud services have been looming in the background of prior SharePoint Server releases . . . Office 365 cloud services have played a role since SharePoint Server 2013, and they will do so going forward with SharePoint Server 2016.”
One of the main promotional points of the new release is a promised “unified experience” for SharePoint users. While cloud skeptics still have reason to be cautious, the promised improvements may win them over. To stay up-to-date with the latest news regarding SharePoint, stayed tuned in to ArnoldIT.com and the dedicated SharePoint feed. Stephen E. Arnold is a longtime leader in search and his expertise comes in handy when trying to stay current without spending a lot of time doing independent research.
Emily Rae Aldridge, June 30, 2015
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
