by Angela Guess

The 2012 NoSQL Now! Conference featured a number of excellent discussions surrounding NoSQL solutions, advancements, tools, and use cases. One such discussion was led by Josiah Carlson, Chief Architect of ChowNow Inc. Carlson’s presentation was titled Why and When You Should Use Redis. Redis is an in-memory data structure server that has grown in popularity over the last few years for a variety of reasons. Being faster than the majority of other available databases (over 300k ops/second have been measured on 4-year old hardware), offering a data model unique to Redis, and support for master/slave replication are just a few. From the author of Redis in Action by Manning Publications, this talk introduces what Redis is, what it does, and the types of operations it supports.

At ChowNow, Josiah Carlson builds and maintains an online ordering platform for restaurants. On the evenings and weekends when not spending time with his wife, Josiah works on Redis in Action, which has 6 of 12 chapters written and is available to read now. In the past, Josiah built a Twitter analytics platform and ad serving network for Ad.ly, where he also served as Chief Architect prior to ChowNow. Josiah also spent over a year and a half at YouTube/Google, helping with the home page, channels, and groups products. While finishing his Ph.D. in Computer Science Theory at UC Irvine, Josiah worked at Networks in Motion (now Telecommunication Systems) as a Senior Software Engineer, where he helped with the GPS navigation product, helping to ship the first cell phone GPS navigation system to include traffic-enabled navigation and traffic updates while driving.

Quentin Hardy of the New York Times reports, “John Chambers says the profits from Cisco Systems’ new strategy are still one to three years away. The strategy, however, is already becoming more clear: Big Data will only work if it’s delivered through the network, and that could go hand-in-hand with consolidation among companies that specialize in data analysis and networking or traditional computing. ‘You can’t ship the information from 50 billion devices all the way up the line,’ said Mr. Chambers, Cisco’s chief executive, in an interview last week. That means that increasingly sophisticated computing has to be built into networking devices.”

Hardy continues, “This is, of course, an argument that plays to Cisco’s strengths. The company’s Unified Computing System, or UCS, of computer servers built into the network has in a relatively quick time become an important part of Cisco’s revenue. In December, Cisco’s chief executive laid out a plan for the world’s biggest maker of computer networking equipment to move more into software and consulting services. It is not the first time he’s tried to expand Cisco’s reach in those valuable markets, but in this case Mr. Chambers hopes to achieve it through “the Internet of Everything,” or a world rich in sensors and monitoring systems. Because of this trend, ‘We have the opportunity to be the top technology partner for the corporate world,’ Mr. Chambers said last week. ‘Companies pay a premium to have a trusted partner.’ Just because he’s being a little self-serving, however, doesn’t mean Mr. Chambers is wrong about what is happening at the big technology companies.”

Read more here.

photo credit: Cisco

Catalyst Repository Systems reports that the company will “showcase enhancements to its next-generation e-discovery platform, Insight, and advanced integrated predictive coding technology, Insight Predict, at the LegalTech West Coast 2013 conference, being held at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles, May 21-22. Catalyst will also introduce a first for the e-discovery industry — Insight’s new single-instance, multi-matter document (SIMM) storage. SIMM eliminates duplication by enabling the use of a single document across multiple matters, providing time and cost savings at every step of the e-discovery process, from processing through search, analytics, review, redaction and production.”

The article continues, “Catalyst will be offering hands-on demonstrations of all technologies at Booth #416. ‘We can’t wait to show LegalTech attendees what this technology can do,’ said John Tredennick, president and CEO of Catalyst. ‘We’re excited to demonstrate to users all the latest, industry-leading features we’ve built into Insight, including single-instance, multi-matter; full administrative control in the cloud; and integrated Predictive Ranking. Catalyst now provides the most efficient data management and workflow in the industry. These features have the potential to save clients millions of dollars’.”

Read more here.

photo credit: Catalyst

Joseph Menn of the Insurance Journal writes, “The U.S. government will use classified information about software vulnerabilities for the first time to protect companies outside of the military industrial complex, top officials told Reuters this week. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said that a system being developed to scan Internet traffic headed toward critical businesses would block attacks on software programs that the general population does not realize are possible. ‘It is a way to share information about known vulnerabilities that may not be commonly available,’ Napolitano said at the Reuters Cybersecurity Summit in Washington, D.C. The information would come from ‘a variety of sources’ including intelligence agencies, she said on Tuesday.”

Menn continues, “The National Security Agency and other intelligence agencies develop and acquire knowledge about software flaws in order to penetrate overseas networks. Until now, there has been no straightforward way for these agencies to share that classified data with U.S. companies outside the defense sector, even though those companies could become victims of cyber attacks. The plan is to discreetly share the data through what the government calls Enhanced Cybersecurity Services. Under a February presidential order, those services will be offered by telecommunications and defense companies to utilities, banks and other critical infrastructure companies that choose to pay for them.”

Read more here.

Tableau Software is looking for a Software Engineer – Data in Seattle, WA; Menlo Park, CA; or Austin, TX. The post states, “Tableau Software is one of the fastest growing technology companies in the world, with nearly 100% annual sales growth.  Tableau makes fast analytics and visualization products that help people see and understand data of any size or format. The company is on its way to becoming a large, market-defining company in the business intelligence industry and is next in a long line of high profile Stanford spinouts (e.g., Google, Yahoo, VMWare)… You’ll be expanding and enhancing the data handling capabilities of Tableau’s analytical product suite.  You’re a ‘data geek’ that has a deep passion for data and building robust, scalable and high-performance systems for working with large, diverse sets of data and allowing people to answer complex questions about that data.”

Qualifications for the position include: “Data Rock Star: You love data and you’re not afraid to say it!  You’re a guru in all things data: relational databases, data warehousing, OLEDB and/or ODBC, etc. Experienced:  You have at least three years of experience writing code and have a passion for solving complex problems, be they at work or in your spare time on your own projects. Highly Technical:  You have solid development skills with SQL and C++ on the Windows platform – it is a bonus if you also are familiar with MDX. Relentlessly High Standards: You believe in automation and writing tests for your own code as a way of maintaining high quality in your products.  You understand what it takes to write software that is used by thousands or millions of people.  You love writing things that ‘just work’ – things that are robust, scalable, and that perform well. A True Team Player:  You enjoy collaborating, learning from or teaching others so we can all become better developers. ”

Learn more and apply here.

photo credit: Tableau

Kimberly Nevala of KM World reports, “Creating a sustainable governance practice means transcending the pilot phase to become ‘business as usual’.   Does your program have what it takes? Here are some indicators.” She begins: “Your Program Has a Plan.  And it’s Business-Driven. Keeping governance on the corporate agenda means keeping it warm with executives and stakeholders alike.  Identifying information initiatives and requirements as part of—rather than separate from—established business planning processes ensures governance retains a seat at the table.”

Next up, “You Know When to Say When. Your governance program is complete when you have the minimum amount of data governance and management capabilities required to get the job done.  No more.  No less. Frameworks and maturity models are excellent as a reference.  Particularly when performing a health check or identifying areas for consideration.  However, they shouldn’t be used as a prescription or blueprint.  One size does not fit all. That being said: the job (i.e. your business objectives, data needs and pain points) will change over time.  This is why your program needs a plan.”

Read more here.

A recent article out of the company states, “Syncsort, a global leader in Big Data integration solutions, today announced the availability of its Spring ’13 release, including two brand new Hadoop products and breakthrough enhancements to DMX that turn Hadoop into a more robust, feature rich and easy-to-use ETL solution. Big Data is prompting organizations to look at Hadoop to process more data in less time and for less money, but Hadoop is not yet a complete ETL solution. Syncsort’s two new offerings for Hadoop – DMX-h ETL Edition  and DMX-h Sort Edition are designed to strengthen Hadoop by providing the full functionality required to deliver enterprise ETL capabilities. They provide greater ease-of-use and maximize node performance compared to non-native, code-generating ETL tools. In addition, performance and connectivity enhancements to DMX expand usage by end-users and partners.”

Josh Rogers , SVP of data integration business at Syncsort commented, “Analyzing Big Data is critical to our customers’ ability to sustain competitiveness, but the avalanche of information is breaking traditional data integration architectures ─ many of the tools are too code and resource intensive and ultimately drive costs too high. With our new DMX editions, we are strengthening Hadoop by providing seamless and powerful ETL and sort capabilities and at the same time, reinvigorating the value proposition of ETL by leveraging the power of Hadoop to scale core processing of Big Data.”

Read more here.

photo credit: Syncsort

A new article out of the company reports, “Catalyst Repository Systems, a pioneer in providing secure repositories for e-discovery and other complex legal matters, today announced the formation of the Catalyst Client Advisory Board. This blue-chip board of industry experts will help advise on the future development of Insight and how Catalyst can better serve the needs of its corporate and law firm clients. Consisting of representatives of leading corporations, law firm and industry experts, the Client Advisory Board will advise Catalyst on client needs and preferences, pricing structures and industry trends. The board will also suggest enhancements to existing products and services and provide feedback on new products and services.”

John Tredennick, Catalyst’s founder and CEO commented, “Providing ‘Wow’ service to our clients is the driving force behind everything we do at Catalyst… That is why we formed this advisory board. The insights and feedback these board members provide will help us better serve our clients and continue to develop our revolutionary Insight platform to better suit their needs.” The article notes, “The board’s inaugural roster includes members from law firms and corporate legal departments as well as e-discovery experts and analysts.”

Read more here.

photo credit: Catalyst

Basis Technology is looking for a Principal Software Engineer – Scalability in Cambridge, MA. The post states, “Are you a talented and experienced systems engineer eager to play a central role in the design and development of cutting edge solutions employing ‘big data’ and text analytics? Do you have deep experience with building the ‘plumbing infrastructure’ for large enterprise applications? Have you been challenged to scale your system to process millions of documents with billions of records? If so, Basis Technology would like to talk with you about our current opening for a Principal Software Engineer/Architect. If you thrive both on understanding and advancing the latest technologies and on helping to develop them into scalable, mission critical systems, then you are our ideal candidate.”

Qualifications for the position include: “Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in relevant subject area (e.g., computer science). 7+ years hands-on experience with distributed and multithreaded system-level programming in Java with a focus on making vertically scalable algorithms and architectures also horizontally scalable.  2-3 years experience with incorporating 3rd party distributed computing technologies such as NoSQL (e.g., MongoDB, Accumulo) and Search (e.g., sharded Solr, Elasticsearch) into a software platform. Strong troubleshooting and performance tuning skills at the OS, network and Java application level. Familiarity with the development and integration of open source software components. Proficiency with development tools such as Eclipse, Maven, Git, Jira and unit testing frameworks. Proficiency the Linux operating system and scripting languages.  Experience with cloud deployment and management models a strong plus.”

Learn more and apply here.

photo credit: Basis Technology

Ingrid Lunden of TechCrunch reports, “One year to the day of the troubled Facebook IPO, the climate for tech IPOs in the public markets is significantly less stormy, especially for companies in the enterprise space. Today, not one but two, Tableau Software and Marketo, are debuting on New York stock exchanges. Business intelligence provider Tableau Software, trading as ‘DATA’, is one of the more highly anticipated tech IPOs of the year, and so far it has not disappointed. It priced its IPO at $31 per share, and it popped 58% in early trading, and closed at 64% above opening price, or $50.75/share.”

She continues, “Meanwhile, Marketo, a cloud-based marketing services company, priced its IPO at $13 per share. It will be trading as MKTO on the NASDAQ exchange. It went up by more than 50% in early activity and then continued to creep up: it closed at nearly 78% above the IPO pricing and trading at $23.10. Taken together, the two are strong endorsements for the market for enterprise services and some of the still-emerging trends within it. Tableau Software, as its stock ticker unsubtly hints, is aimed more at a big-data play, offering visualization and analytics that it says are easy enough for non-technical people to use. Up to now, it still offers the majority of its services as downloadable, on-premises software rather than as cloud-based apps.”

Read more here.

photo credit: Tableau