Posts Tagged ‘Microsoft’

PerkinElmer launches Search Genius software for use with Microsoft SharePoint framework

May 10th, 2012

A global leader focused on improving the health and safety of people and the environment, has launched the Search Genius application, designed for the Microsoft SharePoint platform. The new system provides researchers with a single software system to search, save and share unstructured data stored throughout their organization, thereby making enterprise-wide knowledge accessible for more productive and effective workflows.

The Search Genius platform is a powerful search application that enables researchers to use both text and structure searches of reports and technical documents stored using the SharePoint framework and E-Notebook system, as well as text searches of the Internet. With the Search Genius platform, researchers can more readily gain broader access to previously difficult-to-access data. This enables greater and more holistic visibility to organization-wide information resources that researchers can then more easily leverage into new and existing projects. Scientists can also save their search results and easily create links and annotations that document their ideas and facilitate collaboration.

“Researchers in life sciences, whether in academia or commercial biopharma, are increasingly finding that simply generating data and analysis are not enough to provide the workflow efficiency and productivity they need to succeed,” said Michael Stapleton, general manager, Informatics, PerkinElmer. “The ability to find information that correlates with their immediate and long-term requirements, as well as to utilize and share it across their organization, is becoming a paramount ongoing need. Search Genius provides researchers with access to data that enables them to make decisions faster, based on its ability to collect, consolidate and analyze, so they can act on disparate pieces of information that may otherwise not be thought of or known to be important or relevant.”

The Search Genius platform utilizes Microsoft’s FAST Search Server 2010 to create an out-of-the-box solution for researchers that is not separated and isolated from other applications. Researchers can use the Search Genius platform to carry out text and structure searches from the Microsoft SharePoint platform as well as from inside PerkinElmer’s E-Notebook system, while simultaneously conducting and documenting their research.

The application also allows for the extension of search capabilities to include any data sources that can be indexed by FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint, including Electronic Laboratory Notebook (ELN) content from other vendors and from scientific journals. Completely integrated into the FAST Search Server 2010 for SharePoint framework, the Search Genius system requires no additional IT overhead.

The Search Genius platform allows researchers to easily save the hits that result from their searches, something that is difficult to do with most web search engines. This makes it possible to organize their research ideas within an organizational space that includes text and structure searches from multiple sources. Scientists can also annotate those hits with notes to help them recall the inspiration behind their search – not just where they found the information.

Features of the Search Genius application include: integrated search of ELN content, SharePoint content and the Internet, structure searches of SharePoint and E-Notebook content, ability to annotate and share search results, easily created hyperlinks to interesting content, access from the SharePoint framework directly or from PerkinElmer’s E-Notebook and complete integration into the SharePoint 2010 FAST framework, avoiding additional IT overhead.

PerkinElmer is a leading provider of discovery, collaboration, and knowledge enterprise solutions, desktop software, scientific databases and consulting services to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and chemical industries.

Source:http://pharmabiz.com/NewsDetails.aspx?aid=68917&sid=2

Epicor Moving Its Applications to Microsoft’s Azure Cloud

May 9th, 2012

Epicor is planning to work with Microsoft to bring Epicor’s ERP (enterprise resource planning) applications to the Azure cloud service, the companies announced Tuesday during Epicor’s Insights conference in Las Vegas.

The companies already had a close relationship, as Epicor’s software uses Microsoft’s .NET development stack. In addition, Epicor has been working on Azure-related products for several years, including a search engine. But the pending move of its ERP software to Azure represents a bigger step to the cloud for Epicor.

For some time, Epicor has sold a SaaS (software as a service) product called Epicor Express, but this is aimed at small companies with limited user counts. Azure will allow Epicor to target larger cloud deployments, said analyst Frank Scavo, managing partner of IT research firm Strativa.

This week, Epicor also unveiled the third major version of its ICE (Internet component environment) application integration platform. Epicor plans to use ICE together with Azure’s on-demand SQL database service and compute infrastructure to create a PaaS (platform as a service) to develop add-ons and tie together its software.

The company’s plans for Azure emerge as Microsoft itself has begun moving its own Dynamics ERP software lines to the cloud platform, with the first set for arrival there in the fourth quarter. Epicor’s announcement didn’t state a timetable for its own plans.

While Epicor goes head-to-head with Dynamics in many software deals, Microsoft tends to be “very good about serving an ISV community that does compete with them,” Scavo said.

In any case, Azure hasn’t been ready until now to handle the features and performance needed to run cloud ERP, Scavo said.

The move makes sense for Epicor, since it will also gain the use of Azure’s global data center footprint. Nor does it need to worry about developing its own PaaS, as cloud-centric companies like Salesforce.com have done, Scavo said. “There’s a case to be made to leave the structure of the platform to someone who’s good at it.”

Overall though, “it’s a forward-looking move,” he added. “There’s not a large percentage of Epicor customers today that are demanding Epicor give them a way to leave their on-premise systems and go to the Azure cloud. But the tide is moving in that direction, especially with new customers.”

Source:http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/255225/epicor_moving_its_applications_to_microsofts_azure_cloud.html

Microsoft Wants to Distribute Software Socially and Virally

May 8th, 2012

Microsoft says that the sheer number of applications makes it more and more difficult for software developers to reach the eyeballs they need to score downloads. A viral distribution method that is based on word of mouth to distribute software may be much more effective in the future, a patent application that was filed in November 2010 claims.

That may be rather common sense until that point, but Microsoft believes that such an idea that results in software downloads that can be traced back to social “likes” deserves to be awarded with a patent. The only noteworthy specific feature of the technology described in the patent application is a capability for a device to automatically find a version of a recommended app that runs on the device of the user – which would cut out the “inconvenience” for a user to search for that app.

Source:http://www.tomshardware.com/news/software-patent-microsoft-social-likes,15558.html

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