It had to happen eventually, I finally got around to installing Ubuntu...
The test machine was an old laptop that had basically crawled to a halt under Windows and was destined for TradeMe, so I figured I had nothing to loose and downloaded the latest copy of Ubuntu and installed it.
WOW, talk about "easy, fast, and good looking" EASY to install, the laptop now runs FAST and the gui environment is really nice.
Everything "just worked" ....I've even become an OpenOffice convert, it couldn't be easier as all my existing MS Office documents open, update and save flawlessly.
Want more software? there are so many community apps I have barely scratched the surface...the most surprising enhancement has been video performance. Previously the laptop struggled to play fullscreen video, now it plays flawlessly ??!!
I became so convinced that Ubuntu and Linux were the future that I went and bought a second hand Dell PowerEdge server and installed Ubuntu Server 10.04 LTS on it....just for fun :)
Once again, straight forward out of the box (actually off the CD) install of a LAMP environment which is also running an Oracle XE install as well for good measure
Support is fantastic, the support forums are amazing http://ubuntuforums.org/ with heaps of knowledgable experts willing to share their learnings - thanks!
Don't take my word for it ... visit http://www.ubuntu.com/ and download a copy, today!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
An information highway with no road signs or maps
You wouldn’t build a road and not provide a map. Yet organisations build detailed data warehouse and business intelligence systems and do exactly that – struggle to provide the end user with the ‘map’ of the system, otherwise known as the metadata.
From Wikipedia – Metadata: An essential component of a data warehouse/business intelligence system is the metadata and tools to manage and retrieve metadata. Ralph Kimball describes metadata as the DNA of the data warehouse as metadata defines the elements of the data warehouse and how they work together.
Following the map analogy – metadata describes the roads between the towns, the towns themselves, their populations, features and attractions, tourist warnings for the unfamiliar, lists of places to eat and sleep…..
The familiar Google search interface has become so ubiquitous that its how most users expect to find information at home, but inside the enterprise it’s a different story because there are invariably seven to eight different places you have to look, often with different interfaces!
Imagine if users of your data warehouse could search for metadata with the ease of ‘Googling’ it - straight away we are providing what the user expects (and requires) to be able to use the warehouse efficiently and productively....the map!
With Oracle we’re lucky - the database provides us with out of the box functionality for building our map and letting users search for the towns…
[coming soon] Using Oracle to expose your enterprise metadata
From Wikipedia – Metadata: An essential component of a data warehouse/business intelligence system is the metadata and tools to manage and retrieve metadata. Ralph Kimball describes metadata as the DNA of the data warehouse as metadata defines the elements of the data warehouse and how they work together.
Following the map analogy – metadata describes the roads between the towns, the towns themselves, their populations, features and attractions, tourist warnings for the unfamiliar, lists of places to eat and sleep…..
The familiar Google search interface has become so ubiquitous that its how most users expect to find information at home, but inside the enterprise it’s a different story because there are invariably seven to eight different places you have to look, often with different interfaces!
Imagine if users of your data warehouse could search for metadata with the ease of ‘Googling’ it - straight away we are providing what the user expects (and requires) to be able to use the warehouse efficiently and productively....the map!
With Oracle we’re lucky - the database provides us with out of the box functionality for building our map and letting users search for the towns…
[coming soon] Using Oracle to expose your enterprise metadata
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
The role of Search in Social Networking
I see Enterprise Search as an enabler of Social Networking (Computing) within the organisation.
The linkage between search and social networking isn't an immediate obvious one, but think about the last time you came across that 'neat presentation' that reinforced your thoughts on a subject, or that blog entry that 'clicked' with you, or the discussion group on a subject you are passionate about ..... chances are you 'searched' to find the entry point into that new source of knowledge (or network).
We are already creating shared content within the organisation - teams with their own intranets, news feeds, wikis and knowledge bases, but if these 'pockets' of shared knowledge are not searchable across the enterprise they can never be effectively shared across the enterprise ..... what i can't find, i can't link to, comment on, blog on, or share further within my networks.
I thought it was interesting how the seradigm article noted that user expectations are increasingly set outside the organisation....."Users' expectations are now set by Google for search, Twitter for microblogging, and Facebook for social networking. Users in corporates have to wait (often a long time) for their organisations to implement the technologies they can use for free on the Web."
The linkage between search and social networking isn't an immediate obvious one, but think about the last time you came across that 'neat presentation' that reinforced your thoughts on a subject, or that blog entry that 'clicked' with you, or the discussion group on a subject you are passionate about ..... chances are you 'searched' to find the entry point into that new source of knowledge (or network).
We are already creating shared content within the organisation - teams with their own intranets, news feeds, wikis and knowledge bases, but if these 'pockets' of shared knowledge are not searchable across the enterprise they can never be effectively shared across the enterprise ..... what i can't find, i can't link to, comment on, blog on, or share further within my networks.
I thought it was interesting how the seradigm article noted that user expectations are increasingly set outside the organisation....."Users' expectations are now set by Google for search, Twitter for microblogging, and Facebook for social networking. Users in corporates have to wait (often a long time) for their organisations to implement the technologies they can use for free on the Web."
Monday, March 29, 2010
The future of Knowledge Management
...is Business Intelligence (BI) + Enterprise Content Management (ECM) + Enterprise Search (SES)
When are knowledge managers going to realise that the Enterprise Data Warehouse, the Enterprise Intranet and the Enterprise documents and records are all components of the same service? What service? The delivery of Enterprise Knowledge and Information.
The concept of 'Search' made ubiquitous by Google has transformed the way we think about finding and accessing knowledge. The ease of the Google experience sets the expectations of users to how easy it is to search and consume knowledge and information without requiring any understanding of the disparate, disconnected systems that hold the information.
Yet, inside the enterprise - knowledge is fragmented across mutiple systems, rarely searchable, rarely versioned and categorised, not to mention maintained to the requirements of the Public Records Act (PRA). Vast, untapped data warehouses of business knowledge that managers are crying out for, but is only made available to small groups of users. Once again, rarely searchable, rarely versioned and catalogued. Intranets maintained as static copies of yesterdays information....is anyone seeing the connections here?
Why not serve your intranet (and extranet) form your ECM system? at the same time implement Enterprise Search over the top to make sure everyone can find all of the information that isn't yet in your ECM.
Let Search categorise and expose your valuable Data Warehouse (Business Intelligence) reports and information....anyone in the organisation searching for 'last months financials' can actually find out that a) the organisation has a data warehouse b) it contains a report called 'last months financial report' and c) that 'bob' wrote the report and here's his phone number and a link to the report....
Provide a single entry point to all enterprise information.....users can search 'everything' , from phone numbers to performance reports, news items to numbers, financials to flow charts. Difficult? No! The technologies already exist, the thinking is what's taking time to catchup up....
When are knowledge managers going to realise that the Enterprise Data Warehouse, the Enterprise Intranet and the Enterprise documents and records are all components of the same service? What service? The delivery of Enterprise Knowledge and Information.
The concept of 'Search' made ubiquitous by Google has transformed the way we think about finding and accessing knowledge. The ease of the Google experience sets the expectations of users to how easy it is to search and consume knowledge and information without requiring any understanding of the disparate, disconnected systems that hold the information.
Yet, inside the enterprise - knowledge is fragmented across mutiple systems, rarely searchable, rarely versioned and categorised, not to mention maintained to the requirements of the Public Records Act (PRA). Vast, untapped data warehouses of business knowledge that managers are crying out for, but is only made available to small groups of users. Once again, rarely searchable, rarely versioned and catalogued. Intranets maintained as static copies of yesterdays information....is anyone seeing the connections here?
Why not serve your intranet (and extranet) form your ECM system? at the same time implement Enterprise Search over the top to make sure everyone can find all of the information that isn't yet in your ECM.
Let Search categorise and expose your valuable Data Warehouse (Business Intelligence) reports and information....anyone in the organisation searching for 'last months financials' can actually find out that a) the organisation has a data warehouse b) it contains a report called 'last months financial report' and c) that 'bob' wrote the report and here's his phone number and a link to the report....
Provide a single entry point to all enterprise information.....users can search 'everything' , from phone numbers to performance reports, news items to numbers, financials to flow charts. Difficult? No! The technologies already exist, the thinking is what's taking time to catchup up....
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