Curated for content, computing, and digital experience professionals

Year: 2009 (Page 9 of 39)

Competition among Search Vendors

Is there any real competition when it comes to enterprise search? Articles like this one in ComputerWorld make good points but also foster the idea that this could be a differentiator for buyers: Yahoo deal puts IBM, Microsoft in enterprise search pickle, by Juan Carlos Perez, August 4, 2009.

I wrote about the IBM launch of the OmniFind suite of search products a couple of years ago with positive comments. The reality ended up being quite different as I noted later. Among the negatives were three that stand out in my mind. First, free (as in the IBM OmniFind Yahoo no-charge edition) is rarely attractive to serious enterprises looking for a well-supported product. Second, the substantial computing overhead for the free product was significant enough that some SMBs I know of were turned off; the costs associated with the hardware and support it would require offset “free.” Third, my understanding that the search architecture for the free product would provide seamless upgrades to IBM’s other OmniFind products was wrong. Each subsequent product adoption would require the same “rip and replace” that Steve Arnold describes in his report, Beyond Search. It is hard to believe that IBM got much traction out of this offering from the enterprise search market at large. Does anyone know if there was really any head-to-head competition between IBM and other search vendors over this product?

On the other hand, does the Microsoft Express Search offering appeal to enterprises other than the traditional Microsoft shop? If Microsoft Express Search went away, it would probably be replaced by some other Microsoft search variation with inconvenience to the customer who needs to rip and replace and left on his own to grumble and gripe. What else is new? The same thing would happen with IBM Yahoo OmniFind users and they would adapt.

I’ve noticed that free and cheap products may become heavily entrenched in the marketplace but not among organizations likely to upgrade any time soon. Once enterprises get immersed in a complex implementation (and search done well does require that) they won’t budge for a long, long time, even if the solution is less than optimal. By the time they are compelled to upgrade they are usually so wedded to their vendor that they will accept any reasonable offer to upgrade that the vendor offers. Seeking competitive options is really difficult for most enterprises to pursue without an overwhelmingly compelling reason.

This additional news item indicates that Microsoft is still trying to get their search strategy straightened out with another new acquisition, Applied Discovery Selects Microsoft FAST for Advanced E-Discovery Document Search. E-discovery is a hot market in legal, life sciences and financial verticals but firms like ISYS, Recommind, Temis, and ZyLab are already doing well in that arena. It will take a lot of effort to displace those leaders, even if Microsoft is the contender. Enterprises are looking for point solutions to business problems, not just large vendors with a boatload of poorly differentiated products. There is plenty of opportunity for specialized vendors without going toe-to-toe with the big folks.

Delivering a Global Customer Experience: An Interview with Jonckers Translation & Engineering

Third in a series of interviews with sponsors of Gilbane’s 2009 study on Multilingual Product Content: Transforming Traditional Practices into Global Content Value Chains.

We spoke with Kelli Kohout, global marketing manager for Jonckers Translation & Engineering.  Jonckers is a global provider of localization, translation, and multilingual testing services, with operations across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Kelli talked with us about Jonckers’ role in the global content value chain, why they supported the research, and what she found compelling about the results.

Gilbane: How does your company support the value chain for global product content? (i.e., what does your company do?) 

Kohout: Ultimately, Jonckers is helping clients develop content that earns understanding, adoption and loyalty from global customers.

Sometimes clients come to us with original content that will not localize well – in other words, that is not easy to turn into localized versions that achieve the desired response from audiences.  We provide best practices for improving the quality of their source content, asking additional questions regarding their organizations’ goals for their global clients, in order to improve the success of global adoption.  In doing so, we prove Jonckers’ philosophy that resulting translations can even improve on the source (in-country translators with longevity, institutional knowledge, up-to-date cultural knowledge, commitment).  We also help clients save time and money by delivering content that is flexible enough to be used for more than one purpose.

Gilbane: Why did you choose to sponsor the Gilbane research? 

Kohout: Our clients no longer compete solely on the basis of a better product or service – it’s about customer experience.  And in today’s economic environment, our clients are struggling with how to generate revenue by increasing innovation and global reach, which means increasing the amount and accessibility of multilingual content.  Simultaneously, they need to decrease expenses, like the costs associated with providing customer service.

This all points to the increasing need to localize effectively and efficiently.  Jonckers sponsored this study for the common good – the more we share trends, best practices and lessons learned, and the more we know what challenges our clients are facing, the more effective and valued localization services will be.

We also hope this study will raise awareness of some important localization best practices that will make companies more successful.  For instance, we see clients beginning to realize the importance of involving localization planning early in the product development lifecycle, but there’s still room for improvement there.  When localization is an afterthought, the outcome is not as good, there are extra costs, and bigger picture timelines can be adversely affected.

Similarly, more clients are recognizing the value of integrating the localization effort more closely with other functions.  As the study points out, there are more cross-functional champions within organizations who understand the big picture and have the mindshare with executives.  These champions can advocate for the needs of the localization function and help demonstrate its value.

Gilbane: What, in your opinion, is the most relevant/compelling/interesting result reported in the study?

Kohout: We’re seeing an increase in our clients’ global business objectives, but the study confirms that – on the whole – we’re still in the early stages of understanding the global content value chain.  For example, one of the top corporate objectives related to localization is customer satisfaction, which is important, but few are fully utilizing localization to manage their brand globally.  So there’s still room to evolve.  In addition, there’s a focus on generating revenues from emerging markets, but very few have yet tapped the potential from established geographies.

For insights into customer experience as a new basis for competitive advantage, see “Content Utility as the Value Proposition” on page 15 of the report.  You can also learn how Jonckers contributed to Adobe’s effort to build a globalization infrastructure that improves customer satisfaction, raises quality, and saves costs.  Download the study for free.

Gilbane Group Appoints Bill Trippe VP, Content Strategies

For Immediate Release:

Cambridge MA, September 29, 2009. Gilbane Group Inc. today announced that Bill Trippe has been promoted to Vice President & Lead Analyst, Content Strategies. In his new role at Gilbane Group, Bill will be a core part of the management team, and will be focused on continuing to grow Gilbane Group’s strategy consulting and advisory business.

Trippe was previously Lead Analyst for Gilbane’s XML Technologies and Content Strategies Consulting Practice, where he led efforts helping businesses, publishers and government agencies build successful strategies especially for large and complex content management and publishing requirements. His new role reflects his success and the need to grow the management team to accommodate the growth in consulting business.

“Bill and I have worked together in variety of capacities for many years, and I’m thrilled that we’ll be working together even more closely.” said Frank Gilbane, CEO of the Gilbane Group. “Bill’s expertise and experience combined with his strong interpersonal skills keep him in high demand from both customers and colleagues”.

“Clearly articulated content strategies are essential to getting business case funding in today’s economic climate,” comments Mary Laplante, VP Client Services, Programs and Consulting. “Bill’s new role is a response to growing demand by users and buyers for help with developing sustainable content strategies that deliver measurable value.”

“I am excited to be taking on this new role at Gilbane. The content management landscape continues to be dynamic and compelling, and I look forward to helping our clients leverage technology for productivity, new product development, and overall growth and success.” said Bill Trippe, VP & Lead Analyst, Content Strategies.

Tweet this: Gilbane Group Appoints Bill Trippe VP, Content Strategies http://bit.ly/1Ju6mM #gilbane

About Gilbane Group, Inc.
Gilbane Group Inc. is an analyst and consulting firm that has been writing and consulting about the strategic use of information technologies since 1987. We have helped organizations of all sizes from a wide variety of industries and governments. We work with the entire community of stakeholders including investors, enterprise buyers of IT, technology suppliers, and other consultant and analyst firms. We have organized over 60 educational conferences in North America and Europe. Our next event is Gilbane Boston, December 1-3, 2009 http://gilbaneboston.com/. Information about our widely read newsletter, reports, white papers, case studies and analyst blogs is available at https://gilbane.com.

Follow Gilbane Group on Twitter, or Facebook.

Contact:
Gilbane Group, Inc.
Ralph Marto, 617-497-9443 ext 117
ralph@gilbane.com

Xyleme and Flatirons Deliver XML-Based Learning Solutions on EMC Documentum

Xyleme Inc. and Flatirons Solutions have announced their alliance to offer EMC Documentum services to training organizations in order to meet comprehensive, global learning requirements. With this collaboration, Flatirons Solutions provides a set of integration services for leveraging Xyleme’s native XML authoring and publishing tools within an organization’s current EMC Documentum infrastructure. The combination creates an integrated enterprise learning suite capable of delivering multi-modal training output and enhancing company-wide collaboration. The overall goal of the alliance is twofold: Create a single source of content at the enterprise level that enables a rapid time-to-market for new and customized learning products; Utilize open standards and native XML to provide the flexibility to handle new emerging channels and technology. http://www.xyleme.com http://www.flatironssolutions.com/

McAfee and Adobe to Provide Integrated Security Solutions

McAfee, Inc. and Adobe Systems Inc. have announced a global alliance partnership to jointly deliver new solutions that should offer more comprehensive security to both companies’ customers. Together, McAfee and Adobe will deliver an integrated Data Loss Prevention (DLP) and Enterprise Digital Rights Management (DRM) solution to expand the reach of data protection beyond the enterprise boundaries. The combination of McAfee’s experience in policy-based data classification with Adobe’s experience in policy-based document protection should allow organizations to secure critical business information such as intellectual property or regulatory compliance data. With this new solution, organizations worldwide can automatically apply access control to sensitive information based on classification of the data, then enforce corporate governance policies to reduce  information loss. Further, as part of the partnership, McAfee has made a free diagnostic tool, McAfee Security Scan, available as an optional download to customers when installing Adobe Reader and Adobe Flash Player software from Adobe.com. The McAfee tool enables consumers to check for anti-virus software and firewall protection on their computers. When the scan is complete, users see a report detailing the presence and status of security protection, and are presented with special offers for McAfee security software. http://www.mcafee.com/ http://www.adobe.com/

Telerik Launches Marketplace for Sitefinity ASP.NET CMS Add-ons

Telerik announced the launch of a new marketplace for add-ons for its Sitefinity ASP.NET content management system (CMS). The marketplace should allow the rapidly growing Sitefinity community to share and sell controls,  modules, themes and templates for Sitefinity ASP.NET CMS. In addition, the marketplace will offer a number of free tools and resources contributed by Sitefinity MVPs and community members that are available for immediate download including ‘Site Map’ control, ‘Tab Links,’ ‘What’s New’ control and many others. Telerik also announced a community wide call for submissions to the marketplace.  Developers submitting an add-on by the end of October will be eligible to win prizes including a free Sitefinity license. http://www.telerik.com/ Submissions:  http://www.sitefinity.com/marketplace/submit-module.aspx

Partnerpedia Integrates Twitter for B2B Social Networking

Partnerpedia announced that its Private Networks online partner community and channel enablement solution will be integrated with Twitter for content syndication and B2B social networking. Companies should be able to stream corporate Twitter feeds directly to their profiles in Private Networks, providing updates to the community. The added feature also incorporates syndicating content published in Partnerpedia for sharing through Twitter. Expanding on Partnerpedia Private Networks’ customized branding options, companies link their corporate profiles on social networking sites to their corresponding profile in the Private Networks community. This should enable companies to extend communications beyond the Partnerpedia community and increase exposure to new potential partners. An extension of Partnerpedia’s free Open Community, Private Networks helps companies to create a privately branded online community for their network of partners. Leveraging social media, collaboration and sales enablement tools, Private Networks is designed to accelerate company business through partners. Twitter integration for Private Networks should be available at the end of October 2009 at no additional cost. https://www.partnerpedia.com/

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2024 The Gilbane Advisor

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑