Rules are good. The problem is getting people to do what the rule maker wants. Oracle wants Endeca to be a business intelligence system at the same time Oracle wants Endeca to be an ecommerce system. You can find the five rules in the white paper “The Five Rules of the Road for Enterprise Data Discovery.”
What are these rules?
I don’t want to spoil your fun. I want to encourage you to dig into Endeca’s rules and to work through the white paper to see if you are doing enterprise data discovery the Oracle way. What is “enterprise data discovery”? Beats me. I think it is 1998 style search based on Endeca’s 1998 technology disclosed in those early Endeca patents.
First, you want to get results without risk. That sounds great. How does one discover information when one does not know exactly what information will be presented? If that information is out of date or statistically flawed, how does Endeca ameliorate risk? Big job.
Second, Endeca wants you to blend data so you get deeper insights. What if the data are not normalized, consistent, or accurate? Those insights may not be deeper; they may be misleading.
Third, Endeca wants everything integrated. How does one figure out what is important in a syst3m that gives the user a search box, links to follow, and analytics? Is this discovery or just plain old 1998 style Endeca search? Where’s the discovery thing? Blind clicking?
Fourth, Endeca wants you to “have a dialog with your data”. I find this interesting but fuzzy. Does Endeca now support voice input to its ageing technology?
Finally, Endeca wants those data indexed and updated. The goal is “keep on discovering.” I wonder what the latency in Endeca’s system is for most users? I suppose the cure for latency and Endeca’s indexing method can be resolved with Oracle servers. How much does the properly configured fully resourced Endeca system cost? My hunch. More than a couple of Pebble Beach show winners.
The white paper is interesting because it contains an example of the Endeca interface and the most amazing leap from five rules to customer support. Oracle also owns RightNow and InQuira. Where do these systems fit into the five rules?
Confused? I am.
Stephen E Arnold, August 21, 2014
