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Blog: Colin White

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Wednesday, 28 March 2007

Is Google Losing Its Edge?

I seem to be reading more articles pointing out there are now much better options than using Google. If my experience is anything to go by I agree.

1. When evaluating search products for the enterprise, Google may have the mind share and the right price, but there seems to be universal agreement that Google search appliances don't approach the capabilities offered by Endeca, FAST and IBM. Why then are the BI vendors so pre-occupied with supporting Google? Perhaps they should be looking elsewhere.

2. I tried using Google's new blogging software, but it was the most bug-ridden and unusable piece of software I have come across in a long time. I sent bug reports to Google, but the reply said we read these, but don't guarantee to do anything about them.

3. I find more and more when researching the Web, Google may be okay for consumer products, but when it comes to technology research Ask.com is superior and more usable. Perhaps advertisers should be looking elsewhere as well.

4. I have been using Google desktop search for a while, but it bogs down system performance and keeps hanging my computers. I have continued to use it for searching Outlook files because it is so much better than what Microsoft offers. Ken Rudin of LucidEra suggested I try X1, which is a replacement for Yahoo desktop search. It was like a breath of fresh air! It was way faster. more reliable, easier to use, and more capable.

Google's bloated and buggy products seem to resemble those of its main competitor. What's your experience?

Posted by Colin White at 2:49 PM | | Comments (0)

Friday, 23 March 2007

What Does IT Mean to be the Father of Something?

I read with interest Dataupia's recent press release about its new management team. In it Foster Hinshaw (its President and CEO) is described as “the father of data warehouse appliances.” This started me thinking of whether there is a difference between being a father and being a creator, or inventor, of something. As the father and creator of my children I am very proud because I built them from the ground up. Most of the work of course was done by my wife, but it couldn't have happened without me! Is this true of fathers in the IT industry? Did they really create and invent the technology they are the father of?

Posted by Colin White at 3:38 PM | | Comments (0)

DW Appliances Hit the Big Time: Netezza Files for IPO

Data warehouse appliances are certainly creating mind share in the data warehousing industry these days. The buzz went up one notch today with Netezza filing for an IPO. Netezza was one of the first entrants in the DW appliance space. It helped create visibility for what has become a disruptive technology. Since then there have been several other entrants into this space and those companies can thank Netezza for doing the trail blazing.

Posted by Colin White at 1:25 PM | | Comments (0)

Thursday, 22 March 2007

What Has Business Intelligence Got to Do With Data Warehousing?

It is interesting that whenever we talk about business intelligence we immediately think of it in the context of data warehousing. The two always go together, right? Wrong! I think we have been indoctrinated into thinking this way. We have lost sight of the fact that data warehousing only came about because we couldn't design our operational systems right in the first place.

Posted by Colin White at 1:34 AM | | Comments (0)

Thursday, 1 March 2007

Oracle and SAP BI Battle Heats Up

Following rapidly after SAP's acquisition of Pilot Software, Oracle announced this morning they intend to acquire Hyperion Solutions for $3.3 billion. This heats up the battle between Oracle and SAP for BI and analytical application mind share.

The proposed Oracle acquisition further complicates an already confusing Oracle BI product set. The two obvious questions come to mind. First, the acquisition of Hyperion gives Oracle two multi-dimensional database engines -- one embedded in the Oracle database product, the other is Hyperion Essbase. Second, Oracle's strategy to date has been to offer Siebel Analytics as its premier analytics environment. The Hyperion acquisition adds a second set of analytical capabilities. Whereas the Siebel and Hyperion analytic applications could be considered to compliment each other, the BI toolsets definitely overlap.

The SAP acquisition of Pilot Software adds capabilities that SAP was lacking. However, the Oracle acquisition definitely propels Oracle's BI capabilities beyond those of SAP. The challenge for Oracle will be to integrate its wide range of tools and applications.

The question is who is next? Can Business Objects and Cognos continue to grow given the pressure coming Microsoft, Oracle and SAP?

Posted by Colin White at 8:38 AM | | Comments (0)