The Pros and Cons of Data Silos When It Comes to Data Analysis and Management
February 22, 2016
The article on Informatica Blog titled Data Silos Are the Death of Analytics. Here’s the Fix explores the often overlooked need for a thorough data management vision and strategy at any competitive business. The article is plugging for an eBook guide to data analytics, but it does go into some detail on the early stages of streamlining the data management approach, summarized by the advice to avoid data silos. The article explains,
“It’s vital to pursue a data management architecture that works across any type of data, BI tool, or storage technology. If the move to add Hadoop or NoSQL demands entirely different tools to manage the data, you’re at risk of creating another silo…When you’ve got different tools for your traditional data warehouse versus your cloud setup, and therefore different skill sets to hire for, train for, and maintain, you’re looking at a real mess.”
The suggestions for streamlined processes and analysis certainly make sense, but the article does not defend the reasonable purposes of data silos, such as power, control, and secrecy. Nor do they consider that in some cases a firm is required to create data silos to comply with a government contract. But it is a nice thought: one big collection of data, one comprehensive data strategy. Maybe.
Chelsea Kerwin, February 22, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Recommind Enables Easier Oversight into E-Discovery for Legal Industry
February 19, 2016
A recent article, entitled Recommind Adds Muscle to Cloud e-Discovery from CMS Wire, highlights an upgrade to Recommind’s Axcelerate e-discovery platform. This information intelligence and governance provider for the legal industry has upped their offering by adding a new efficiency scoring feature to enable “extensive visibility into the overall e-discovery review process.” Recommind make the updated based on polling their clients and finding 80 percent do not have oversight in regards to the technological competency of their outside counsel:
“Citing the same survey, he added that 72 percent of respondents pointed to insufficient visibility into the discovery practices of their outside counsel — legal professionals working with them but outside the firm — as a major concern. Axcelerate Cloud also eliminates the cost unpredictability that arises with traditional hosting charges with cloud-based e-discovery tools providers and the infrastructure maintenance required for on-premises solutions.”
When insights from big data is what a company is after, stronger cloud-based functionality is often the first step. Reminds us of enterprise search firm Autonomy which was eventually sold to HP. What will be next for Recommind?
Megan Feil, February 19, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
I Left My NoSQL Heart at the MarkLogic Conference
February 18, 2016
MarkLogic is a headlining company in the field of NoSQL enterprise databases, allowing companies to process, search, scale through massive data stores as well as build Web applications to handle the onslaught. As a respected enterprise leader, MarkLogic occasionally holds a conference to teach IT professionals as well as potential customers about its software benefits. This year MarkLogic will host the MarkLogic World 2016 US in San Francisco, California from May 9-12 at the Park Central Hotel.
The conference is described as:
“We kick the week off on Monday with three different hands-on workshops to choose from and end our week Thursday afternoon with our traditional closing keynote with our Founder and Chief Architect, Christopher Lindblad. New this year, we are including a special Partner Track, exclusive to MarkLogic partners and those interested in becoming one. If you are developing with MarkLogic, transitioning from RDBMS to MarkLogic, building apps on MarkLogic, or if you are just starting out on MarkLogic, this is the event for you. Sessions span from MarkLogic basics to technical deep dives covering data modeling, semantics, much & more.”
A Partner Track? That is a new feature at the MarkLogic convention, but what is its purpose? Will it be a daylong event where MarkLogic partners advertise their services or wares otherwise known as a commercial seminar without a free lunch? Will it be an informative explanation about how MarkLogic partners are shaping the NoSQL enterprise industry and combining their talents to advance the field? Maybe it is just a mix and mingle for networking?
The only way to know is to sign up for the conference and if you use the promo code “MLEMJAN” you can get in for free. It is also an excuse to visit San Francisco and ride the cable cars.
Whitney Grace, February 18, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Google 20% Time Policy Projects Take Users Around the World
February 18, 2016
The article on StumbleUpon titled 12 Lesser-Known Google Projects That Are Absolutely Amazing describes how certain Google employees took advantage of their creative time, or “20% time polcy” that dictates one day a week should be used experimentally. Hence some of these whimsical concepts like Google Sky, which functions similarly to Google Earth but in the far-out setting of space. Another idea is the game Ingress,
“Ingress transforms the real world into the landscape for a global game of mystery, intrigue, and competition. Our future is at stake. You must choose a side. A mysterious energy has been unearthed by a team of scientists in Europe. The origin and purpose of this force is unknown, but some researchers believe it is influencing the way we think. We must control it or it will control us.”
Other projects offer outlets to explore global culture and history, such as the World Wonders Project, which enables users to view high-res photos and 3D views of distant places like the Pyramids of Giza and Angor Wat. The Google Art Project contains quality images of important artworks from 400 art museums all over the world and allows users to build their own collections for take audio tours to learn more about famous pieces. Overall, the projects encourage increased engagement with technology, culture, and creativity.
Chelsea Kerwin, February 18, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
AI Startups Use Advanced AI Technology to Improve Daily Chores
February 11, 2016
The article on e27 titled 5 Asian Artificial Intelligence Startups that Caught Our Eye lists several exciting new companies working to unleash AI technology, often for quotidian tasks. For example, Arya.ai provides for speeder and more productive decision-making, while Mad Street Den and Niki.ai offers AI shopping support! The article goes into detail about the latter,
“Niki understands human language in the context of products and services that a consumer would like to purchase, guides her along with recommendations to find the right service and completes the purchase with in-chat payment. It performs end-to-end transactions on recharge, cab booking and bill payments at present, but Niki plans to add more services including bus booking, food ordering, movie ticketing, among others.”
Mad Street Den, on the other hand, is more focused on object recognition. Users input an image and the AI platform seeks matches on e-commerce sites. Marketers will be excited to hear about Appier, a Taiwan-based business offering cross-screen insights, or in layman’s terms, they can link separate devices belonging to one person and also estimate how users switch devices during the day and what each device will be used for. These capabilities allow marketers to make targeted ads for each device, and a better understanding of who will see what and via which device.
Chelsea Kerwin, February 11, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Squiz and Verint Team up to Save the Government from Itself
February 9, 2016
The article titled Verint and Squiz Announce Partnership to Further Enable Digital Transformation for Government on BusinessWire conveys the global ambitions of the two companies. The article positions Verint, an intel-centric company, and Squiz, an Australian content management company, as the last hope for the world’s governments (on the local, regional, and national level.) While things may not be so dire as all that, the merger is aimed at improving governmental organization, digital management, and customer engagement. The article explains,
“Today, national, regional and local governments across the world are implementing digital transformation strategies, reflecting the need to proactively help deliver citizen services and develop smarter cities. A key focus of such strategies is to help make government services accessible and provide support to their citizens and businesses when needed. This shift to digital is more responsive to citizen and community needs, typically reducing phone or contact center call volumes, and helps government organizations identify monetary savings.”
It will come as no surprise to learn that government bureaucracy is causing obstacles when it comes to updating IT processes. Together, Squiz and Verint hope to aid officials in implementing streamlined, modernized procedures and IT systems while focusing on customer-facing features and ensuring intuitive, user-friendly interfaces. Verint in particular emphasizes superior engagement practices through its Verint Engagement Management service.
Chelsea Kerwin, February 9, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
US and Europe Split After Much Attensity
February 9, 2016
Most companies that are split across oceans usually have a parent company they remain attached to, however, PR Newswire shares that “IMCap Partners Acquire Attensity Europe.” Attensity Group Inc. is a leading provider in customer interaction management and its sub-company Attensity Europe headed its solutions across the pond. Recently, IMCap Partners invested money in a deal for Attensity Europe to split apart from the parent and become an independent company. Thomas Dreikauss will remain the CEO and also become a new shareholder in the new company. None of the details related to the purchase price and other details remain private.
Attensity Europe plans to focus on developing its omni-channel customer service and its market-leading product Respond, multilingual and omni-channel response management software. Respond increases productivity processing customer written requests and ensures better transparency over the service level.
“ ‘The market for CRM solutions is growing by just under 14% a year on average, according to Gartner, and therefore at a much more rapid rate than the overall software market. With Respond Attensity Europe is focusing on the highly attractive and rapid-growth customer interaction management/customer care segment, providing a solution that also fully meets the requirements of very large customer service units. The solution’s analytics, scalability and integration capacity are setting standards in the industry. Respond is a highly flexible, future-proof platform for customer service covering all written communication channels, including social media,” indicated Rolf Menne, operating partner at IMCap. “In cooperation with the highly motivated team at Attensity Europe, we see extremely attractive growth potential.’”
Attensity Europe will be rebranded and already has plans to take off in the coming year.
Whitney Grace, February 9, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
IBM Sells Technology Platform with a Throwback to Big Datas Mysteries
February 2, 2016
The infographic on the IBM Big Data & Analytics Hub titled Extracting Business Value From the 4 V’s of Big Data involves quantifying Volume (scale of data), Velocity (speed of data), Veracity (certainty of data), and Variety (diversity of data). In a time when big data may have been largely demystified, IBM makes an argument for its current relevance and import, not to mention its mystique, with reminders of the tremendous amounts of data being created and consumed on a daily basis. Ultimately the graphic is an ad for the IBM Analytics Technology Platform. The infographic also references a “fifth “V”,
“Big data = the ability to achieve greater Value through insights from superior analytics. Case Study: A US-based aircraft engine manufacturer now uses analytics to predict engine events that lead to costly airline disruptions, with 97% accuracy. If this prediction capability had ben available in the previous year, it would have saved $63 million.”
IBM struggles for revenue. But, obviously from this infographic, IBM knows how to create Value with a capital “V”, if not revenue. The IBM Analytics Technology Platform promises speedier insights and actionable information from trustworthy sources. The infographic reminds us that poor quality in data leads to sad executives, and that data is growing exponentially, with 90% of all data forged in only the last two years.
Chelsea Kerwin, February 2, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Anonymity Not Always Secured for Tor and Dark Web Users
January 28, 2016
From the Washington Post comes an article pertinent to investigative security technologies called This is how the government is catching people who use child porn sites. This piece outlines the process used by the FBI to identify a Tor user’s identity, despite the anonymity Tor provides. The article explains how this occurred in one case unmasking the user Pewter,
“In order to uncover Pewter’s true identity and location, the FBI quietly turned to a technique more typically used by hackers. The agency, with a warrant, surreptitiously placed computer code, or malware, on all computers that logged into the Playpen site. When Pewter connected, the malware exploited a flaw in his browser, forcing his computer to reveal its true Internet protocol address. From there, a subpoena to Comcast yielded his real name and address.”
Some are concerned with privacy of the thousands of users whose computers are also hacked in processes such as the one described above. The user who was caught in this case is arguing the government’s use of such tools violated the Fourth Amendment. One federal prosecutor quoted in the article describes the search processes used in this case as a “gray area in the law”. His point, that technology is eclipsing the law, is definitely one that deserves more attention from all angles: the public, governmental agencies, and private companies.
Megan Feil, January 28, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
Is Yahoo Going the Way of AOL?
January 25, 2016
Yahoo hired former Googler Marissa Mayer as its new CEO to turn the company around. The company is headed towards stormy waters again, which could leave only the ship’s hull. Yahoo could sell its main operating business and all that would be left is Yahoo Japan, Alibaba shares, and $5 billion in cash. Mayer would then get the boot, says South China Morning Post in the article, “Yahoo Destined For Tech Graveyard Due To Poor Choice In Chief Executive Officer.”
Yahoo has gone through five CEOs in the past decade and its current shares are trading well below value, making the company only worth at an estimated $2 billion.
Yahoo’s current problems began when the company was formed. Founders Jerry Yang and David Filo were great inventors, but they were inexperienced running a company. Yahoo failed to accept Microsoft’s offer and while it floundered, Google stole the search market.
“Determining the right kind of chief executive for a tech company at a particular stage of development represents the most frustrating and critical issue. The weakness of chief executives with a tech start-up or product background like Mayer is that they try to invent and innovate a large corporation out of a problem and into a breakthrough strategy.”
The article explains that Yahoo needed to be knocked down and then rebuilt from the ground up. A huge movement like that requires more from a tech manager who is only used to positive growth, praise, and giving huge benefits to staff.
This points out that people with different talents are needed to manage a company as well as the importance of a diverse team with varied experience. Some people are meant to invent and work in the tech field, others are meant to be business leaders.
Whitney Grace, January 25, 2016
Sponsored by ArnoldIT.com, publisher of the CyberOSINT monograph
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