of SBA usage.
1.6 NEW FLEXIBILITY FOR SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS
We also hope to make software developers aware of the new options SBAs offer: one doesn’t always need to access an existing database (or create a new one) to develop business applications or to meticulously identify all user needs in advance of programming, and one need not settle for applications that must be modified every time these needs or source data change.
1.6.1 LECTURE ROADMAP
While this diversity of audiences and the short format of the book necessitate a surface treatment of many issues, we will consider our mission accomplished if each of our readers walks away with a solid (if basic) understanding of the significance, function, capabilities and limitations of SBAs, and a desire to go forth and learn more.
To begin, we’ll first take a look at the ways in which information access needs have changed, then provide a comparative view of ways in which search engines and databases work and how each has evolved. We’ll then explain how SBAs work and how and when they are being used, including presenting several case studies.
Finally, we will situate this shift within the larger context of evolutions taking place on the Web, including conceptions of the Deep Web, the Semantic Web, and the Mobile Web, and what these evolutions may mean for the next generation of SBAs.
1This new type of application has alternately been referred to as a "search application," "search-centric application," "extended business application," "unified information access application" and "search-based application." The latter is the label used by IDC’s Susan Feldman, one of the first industry analysts to identify SBAs as a disruptive trend and an influential force in the SBA label being adopted as the industry standard. Feldman has recently moved toward a more precise definition, limiting SBAs to "fully packaged applications" supplying "all the tools that are commonly needed for a specific task or workflow," that is to say, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software [Feldman and Reynolds, 2010]. However, we prefer a broader definition to underscore one of the great benefits of the SBA model: the ability for anyone to rapidly and inexpensively develop highly specific solutions for unique contexts, and, following the same pattern as database applications, we expect both custom and COTS SBAs to flourish over the next decade.
2SBAs are fueling a significant portion of the growth in the search and information access market, which IDC estimates grew at double digit rates in 2007 and 2008, and at a healthy 3.9% (to $2.1 billion) in 2009 [Feldman and Reynolds, 2010]. Gartner, Inc. estimates an compound annual growth rate of 11.7% from 2007 to 2013 for the enterprise search market [Andrews, 2010].
3See, for example, recent workshops like Using Search Engine Technology for Information Management (USETIM’09) that was held in August 2009 at the 35th International Conference on Very Large Data Bases (VLDB09), which examines whether search engine technology can be used to perform tasks usually undertaken by databases. http://vldb2009.org/?q=node/30
4From the The Claremont Report on Database Research, the summary report of the May, 2008 meeting of a group of leading database and data management researchers who meet every five years to discuss the state of the research field and its impacts on practice: http://db.cs.berkeley.edu/claremont/claremontreport08.pdf
5Offloading a database means extracting all the data that a user might want to access and indexing a copy of this information in a search engine. The term offloading refers to the fact that search requests no longer access the original database, whose processing load is hence reduced.
CHAPTER 2
Evolving Business Information Access Needs
2.1 CHANGING TIMES
Figure 2.1: The 1946 ENIAC, arguably the first general-purpose electronic computer, weighed in at 30 tons and consumed 63 sq. meters of floor space. To celebrate ENIAC’s 50th birthday, a University of Pennsylvania team integrated the whole of ENIAC on a 7x5 sq. mm chip. (U.S. Army Photo, courtesy Harold Breaux.)
Before we examine search and database technologies in more detail (paying particular attention to recent evolutions giving rise to Search Based Applications), it’s important to first understand the changes in the business information landscape which are driving these evolutions.
Globalization, the Internet, new data capture technologies (e.g., barcode scanners, RFID), GPS, Cloud services, mobile computing, 3D and virtualization...a whole host of evolutions over the past two decades have resulted in a veritable explosion in the volume of data businesses must manage, and near-runaway complexity in enterprise information ecosystems. Data silos are mushrooming at an impossible pace, and the number and types of users and devices interacting with organization’s information systems are proliferating.
While opinions may vary as to specific recommendations for addressing these challenges, it’s clear that, at a minimum, organizations need:
• Better ways to manage large data volumes (improved performance, scalability and agility)
• More data integration (physical or virtual)
• Easier (yet secure) access for more types of users and devices
2.2 THE NEED FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE AND SCALABILITY
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги,
