Business Objects, a leading provider of business intelligence (BI) software, will acquire Inxight Software, a privately held text analyticscompany, in a deal that is expected to close in July. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Inxight provides solutions for unstructured information discovery, including text analytics, federated search and data visualization. So, if a firm has multiple legacy search technologies in place, Inxight combines searches across those platforms, unifies the results and makes sense of them in context using KM and linguistic technologies. Also, some of the firms in the fast-moving e-mail management market use Inxight software as an underlying search platform.

With the combined Business Objects/Inxight technology offering, users will have streamlined access to information inside and outside the organization, both unstructured (such as e-mails, attachments, electronic documents, notes fields and Web content) and structured (databases and data warehouses).

John Schwarz, CEO of Business Objects, says, “Business intelligence (BI) solutions have traditionally focused on structured data discovery, however 80 percent of corporate information is stored in an unstructured format. With the acquisition of Inxight, Business Objects will be the first to provide customers with a BI platform that can streamline all of their internal and external information assets—both structured and unstructured data. This will dramatically accelerate our customers’ ability to locate hidden intelligence in search results that might otherwise be overlooked.”

Ian Bonner, president and CEO of Inxight, supports Schwarz’s claim with a focus on the user, saying, “I’m a firm believer that technology for technology’s sake is nothing. I believe that you must add value to the user—the customer—and improve their work lives by giving them better and more complete information. The merging of business intelligence capabilities from Business Objects with our search and text analytics capabilities is absolutely the right thing ultimately for the customer. The good news is that we are going to be able to satisfy the emerging needs of users so they may be more productive and make better decisions.”

Inxight software allows customers to access, cluster and be alerted to relevant information contained in the open Web, deep Web (patent databases, SEC filings), subscription and internal sources. Its understanding of all major languages, including English, Arabic, German, French, Farsi, Spanish and Simplified Chinese, powers the ability to automatically identify and tag named entities in a document, such as people, companies, places, weapons, addresses and dates. It also identifies events—such as M&A and travel activities—as well as relationships between entities.

Capable of identifying out of the box more than 35 types of information within a document, entity extraction can also be customized to recognize pattern- or list-based, industry- or customer-specific entities, events and relationships, such as SKUs, drug compounds, terrorists, etc.

A key Inxight competitor, TEMIS, issued a statement soon after the Business Objects/Inxight deal was announced. In it, Eric Brégand, TEMIS CEO, responds, “With this recent market change, TEMIS becomes the largest pure text analytics independent software vendor.” TEMIS also announced a special migration program for customers and partners potentially impacted by the acquisition of Inxight by Business Objects.

Bonner of Inxight, however, says, “We still hold the largest installed base and have the most satisfied customers in the text analytics market segment and, combined with the financial muscle and resources of Business Objects, we will only be able to service our
customers better.”

The pure-play text analytics software market is fast being absorbed into other software infrastructure and vertical market provider segments. A few months earlier, Reuters announced its acquisition of text analytics provider ClearForest.

“There definitely is a rollup of the text analytics market segment,” says Barak Pridor, ClearForest CEO and new executive VP of text analytics at Reuters. “The acquisition of ClearForest by Reuters is mostly a vertical integration in the financial segment, as we not only service information providers, but have a great many financial industry segment users, and that is the key market segment Reuters services. The Business Objects acquisition of Inxight is more of a horizontal integration—it gives Business Objects new technology capabilities they can deliver across market segments.”

Gerry Campbell, president/global head of search & content technologies at Reuters, says, “Reuters’ history is all about using technology to improve customer value and create competitive advantage. Text analytics, for Reuters, is about extending our competency in content by creating a coherent knowledge set—bringing structured (fielded data, including metadata such as ticker symbols, etc.) and unstructured content (free text) together into complete picture for
our customers.

“For instance, financial news stories have a direct impact on related securities. By connecting companies and events in news stories quickly and accurately with the underlying instruments, we can provide a direct link between news and other financial information. This saves time and cost for our customers, while eliminating any guesswork. Our goal is to unlock Reuters’ content to make markets more efficient and people more knowledgeable.” 

Business Objects, a provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, has closed the acquisition of privately-held Inxight Software, Inc., a provider of software solutions for unstructured information discovery, including text analytics, federated search, and data visualization. All customary closing conditions and shareholder approvals have now been completed. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

The combination of Business Objects and Inxight Software is intended to provide organizations with a BI solution to address a breadth data assets. With the combined technology, companies will have access to both structured information within databases and data warehouses, and unstructured information such as emails, documents, notes fields, and web content that is estimated to comprise more than 80% of all organizational data. Inxight brings a combination of text analytics, federated search, and visualization capabilities to the BusinessObjects XI platform to enable the discovery, management, and analyzing of unstructured content inside and outside of organizations.

(www.businessobjects.coml; www.inxight.com)

Enterprise Search Sourcebook 2008

Here’s your chance to share what you know with peers, colleagues, and the industry at large.

Information Today,Inc., the producer of Enterprise Search Summit—the first and leading event focused on deploying search technology within organizations—is looking for people with strong feelings, deep opinions, and exciting tales to tell about deploying search technology in the enterprise.

We’d like to publish your thoughts and observations in the 2008 edition of our Enterprise Search Sourcebook.

Our editors are looking for articles (of from 1200 to 2500 words) to include in the 2008 edition.  Articles can be on any topic related to the general subject of enterprise search.  See some suggestions, below.

So, if you have general observations to make about the state of enterprise search or its role in your organization, let us know of your interest by filling out our online submission form. 

The deadline for telling us you'd like to write an article for EnterpriseSearch Sourcebook is August 31.  

Dick Kaser
ITI, VP., Content

Enterprise Search -- Topics of Interest to our Editors

You should feel free to propose any topic that is related to the subject of enterprise search.  Here’s what we’ve selected to cover in related venues. 

Enterprise Search -- General Topics

• Classification & Taxonomies
• Content Management & Search Technology
• Entity Extraction & Other Automatic Processes
• Faceted Navigation & Search
• Project & System Management
• Results Display & Visualization
• Search Analytics
• Systems & Information Architecture
• Tagging & Metadata
• Tools for Discovery

Trends & Themes We Published About in 2007

• Convergence of search and business intelligence
• Mobile enterprise search
• Adding social network analysis to search
• The future of findability
• Using analytics to improve search
• Principles of effective search
• Restoring browse to the enterprise
• Search and information architecture
• Search appliances in practice
• Taxonomies, metadata and search
• Desktop search
• Case Studies:  Searching your enterprise

Issues Addressed at Our Conferences

• Integrating search with dynamic content systems
• Building an effective search interface
• Deploying an enterprise-wide search platform
• Search and business intelligence
• E-discovery and compliance
• Searching enterprise e-mail
• Search for decision-making
• Blending folksonomies and taxonomies
• Desktop search in the enterprise
• Tuning search engine metrics and log analyses
• Mining data to improve the user experience
• Search engines as a platform for applications development
• Semantic search
• Faceted search in the enterprise
• Tends in enterprise search
• Contextual search and text analytics
• Designing search results pages
• Integrating enterprise data with search results
• Open source & search solutions

Don't be limited by the items on these lists.  Our editors are open to whatever you think is important to share with the 20,000 readers of Enterprise Search Sourcebook.

Check Out Last Year's Edition

Put Your Idea on the Table

CommVaulth has released CommVault Simpana 7.0 software suite. CommVault Simpana 7.0 software is designed for companies to store, manage, and discover enterprise information across all tiers of storage. With this software, global enterprises can manage data growth and access information traditionally locked inside backup and archive copies. CommVault Simpana 7.0 suite is designed to provide archiving and replication solutions, additional platform coverage, and deliver a set of new product features, including: Enterprise-wide Search and Discovery; Single Instance Store (SIS); Content Indexing; Data Classification; Security and Encryption Capabilities; Post-processing for Encryption, Content Indexing and SIS.

The CommVault Simpana 7.0 suite is designed with a virtual information pool of searchable content from files, emails and attachments stored across separate backup, archive, and online data sets. CommVault’s new search and discovery offerings are designed for organizations to respond to legal discovery actions and compliance audits. The CommVault Simpana 7.0 suite offers various capabilities, including: Discovery and Business Compliance Search--CommVault id designed for users to respond to litigation requests and regulatory compliance policies; Business User Search – CommVault’s self-service search capability is designed so data that has been locked in backup or archive copies is instantly available from a single search interface. Search results are automatically limited and restricted based on the organization’s existing security scheme CommVault has also introduced Single Instance Store (SIS) which is designed to reduce the number of duplicate copies of data stored on disk. SIS stores only unique files and attachments across backup cycles and archive sets, spanning different applications and client systems. CommVault’s SIS can be hosted on any disk library. SIS is embedded within CommVault’s singular architecture.

The CommVault Simpana 7.0 suite also includes; High Performance and Scalable Content Indexing--CommVault’s integration of the FAST InStream enterprise search technology platform provides users a contextual index supporting 370 content types and 77 different languages. Indexed items can be comprised of email messages, attachments, postings, files, and documents from Microsoft Exchange Server and Sharepoint products, IBM Lotus Domino software, and NAS file shares, across Microsoft Windows, Linux, and UNIX file systems; Data Classification-enabled Smart Clients--Targeting large file system clients, data classification compresses the operating window for backup jobs by minimizing file scanning on the client system; Expanded Security and Encryption Capabilities--security and role-based authentication, including Microsoft Active Directory integration, Single-Sign-On authentication, and broader data encryption include popular ciphers such as the AES-256 standard; Post-processing Option –CommVault’s post-processing option is designed so customers can apply data management processes such as encryption, single instancing, content indexing, and disaster recovery copies during the post-processing phase.

(www.commvault.com)  

ISYS Search Software announces the integration of ISYS:web 8 into Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS).

ISYS reliably reports that administrators can quickly deploy full ISYS search capabilities, greatly facilitating users to act upon subsequent discoveries through SharePoint’s document management and collaboration tools. The result, claims ISYS, allows users to spend less time looking for information and more time actually working with it.

ISYS emphasizes that its offering maintains the full integrity and functionality of both ISYS:web 8 and MOSS, giving users the freedom to simultaneously search across multiple sources of content.

Ask.com has unveiled Ask3D, a re-engineered and redesigned version of Ask.com. Ask3D includes powerful new search technology, a three-panel design, and new features. With the new version of Ask.com, people get customized information from a range of content, including videos and music clips, all on one page. Ask3D replaces the previous version of Ask.com and is available at through the original URL www.ask.com. Ask3D has been designed with "Morph," an algorithmic content-matching and ranking technology, designed to deliver the most relevant content for each search query, which places the content onto one single page. Morph chooses from content of all types, including web pages, images, video, and music clips and news. Morph technology works in tandem with Ask.com's ExpertRank algorithm, which determines the most relevant search results by identifying communities on the web instead of displaying links by popularity.

Ask3D's three-panel design displays customized results, taken from a range of content available on the web, all on one page. Representing the three dimensions of search, Ask3D's panels include: "Query Expression" in the left panel. This panel serves as the search "control panel," where people can refine their search without having to leave the page by offering automatic suggestions help narrow, expand or find related search terms. This service is called "Zoom Related Search"; "Results" within the center panel. Here, people can find their primary search results with links to web pages and immediately preview sites from the results page by using the "Binoculars" feature, which allow users to preview a web page. They also offer information such as the number of pop-ups on a given site, whether or not a site is Flash-based, and the amount of time it will take a site to load on a 56K connection. The top of this panel also shows the top Smart Answer, which provides quick snippets of information; "Content" within the right panel. This panel provides people with information. The right panel offers a variety of content including images, news items, blogs, weather, time, videos and music clips. People can preview videos and listen to music clips, right from the results page.

Ask.com now has a new homepage and offers customizable backgrounds that allow users to choose from a variety of designs. The new Ask.com also now features icons on the homepage and offers search suggestions; Users can now view video previews, listen to music clips, or search through specific content such as images and news, all from the main results page. Ask3D offers an image rollover feature, which enlarges an image so that people can see it in more detail; Ask3D now offers Smart Answer search results based on a person's location; Users can find their favorite videos and preview clips right from the search results page and can filter results by video types, such as Flash, QuickTime, and RealPlayer, or by length; With Ask 3D’s new filtering capabilities, users can now sort images by categories including size, Buddy Icons, color, black and white, and various media types.

(www.ask.com; http://about.ask.com/en/docs/about/site_features.shtml)

Vyante Inc. has launched a Beta Version of its product, ChatterSpike. ChatterSpike is designed to analyze information from the internet across various content sources (such as news wires, search engines, websites, blogs, customer reviews, government reports, subscription content, industry research, etc.) on a daily basis and display it on a consolidated dashboard illustrating the quantity of data and its variations over time. The Beta version is designed as the base level of the product to which future functionality will be added. This base includes Quantitative Data Charts which provide data on the magnitude of information or chatter on the internet. ChatterSpike can list the top websites which contain chatter about a topic and a list of the top "related words" based on average frequency over time, the feature is designed so the user can identify the words most frequently associated with their topic of interest. ChatterSpike is designed to specify the period of time over which the data is displayed, allowing the user to narrow the analysis to specific events and data spikes that are of interest.

(www.chatterspike.com; www.vyante.com)

blinkx has announced a global partnership with RealNetworks in which blinkx will power video search for the new RealPlayer. A video search box powered by blinkx will be embedded in the RealPlayer window, designed for users to have direct access from within the Player to a fully-searchable index of online video, including favorite TV moments, news clips, short documentaries, music.

(www.blinkx.com; www.real.com)

blinkx has announced a syndication agreement with Sesam.se. Under the terms of the agreement, blinkx will power video search for the Sesam.se website, combining results from blinkx's index of the web with Swedish video content. blinkx will generate revenue based on video searches that are conducted. Sesam.se enables users to search Swedish and international websites, pictures, news, and encyclopedic articles. Sesam.se combines different search services and presents the results from relevant services. Sesam.se is part of the Norwegian media corporation Schibsted. Blinkx provides more than 100 partners and twelve million hours of indexed video and audio content, including favorite TV moments, news clips, short documentaries, music videos, video blogs and more, blinkx uses speech recognition technology to deliver results.

(www.blinkx.com; www.sesa.se)

SearchInform Technologies Inc. has updated SearchInform, a corporate system of text search and search for documents with similar to the query content in large data volumes, designed with electronic document and DIRECTUM interaction management system indexing feature, with added support of Open Office file formats. DIRECTUM is a corporate electronic document and interaction management system designed for work efficiency for employees in different areas of their cooperation. Starting with the current version by clicking on the needed document, the user can to view the document’s contents in the electronic document flow system interface. SearchInform 4.1.02’s updated design takes the program’s functionality features as the new version supports indexing and search in .ODT (OpenOffice Word 2.0) and .ODS (OpenOffice Excel 2.0) file formats. OpenOffice products have acquired their market due to open source, freeware products, and custom developments for different ÎÑs.

The design changes took place in the program’s interface. Main features of SearchInform 4.1.02: phrase search with due consideration to stemming and thesaurus; softInform Search Technology of search for similar document; high indexing speed (from 15 to 30 Gb/hour); query caching system; support of text formats such as, outlook & TheBat electronic messages, mp3 & avi tags, and logs of MSN and ICQ instant messaging programs; correct work with archives; universal data sources (indexing DBMS and other data sources.)

(www.searchinform.com)

Google Inc. has acquired Postini. Postini's services--which include message security, archiving, encryption, and policy enforcement--have been designed to protect a company's email, instant messaging, and other web-based communications. Under the terms of the agreement, Google will acquire Postini for $625 million in cash, subject to working capital and other adjustments, and Postini will become a wholly--owned subsidiary of Google. The agreement is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close by the end of the third quarter 2007.

Postini solutions include Email Security, IM Security, Web Security, Message Archiving, Message Encryption, and Policy-enforced TLS. Google will continue to support Postini customers and invest in Postini products.

(www.google.com; www.postini.com)

Autonomy Corp. has acquired Zantaz for $375 million in cash. Autonomy, of Cambridge, England, will operate Zantaz, of Pleasanton, California, as a division of Autonomy. Zantaz CEO Steve King will retain his position at the Zantaz division. Ediscovery is an emerging market within the field of data storage, archiving, and recovery. The combination of Autonomy and Zantaz has been intended to bring together consolidated archiving, ediscovery, analytics, and real-time policy management services into one system. Zantaz will bring to Autonomy an email archiving capability from the Zantaz portfolio both as a software product and as a hosted service offering. Autonomy will provide Zantaz with added market reach it had not been able to develop on its own. The deal is expected to close by August, if shareholder and regulatory approvals are granted.

(www.autonomy.com; www.zantaz.com)

Fast Search & Transfer has announced the acquisition of AgentArts Inc. AgentArts’ patented technology translates various types of user activity into meaningful content relationships. The technology is designed to help understand online user habits and to recommend content and promotions based on user patterns, as well as enabling social recommendation and Web 2.0 features.

(www.fastsearch.com; www.agentarts.com)