Local html search and a 2nd opinion

AtomBomb

So, first off aplogies as this is going to be 2 unrelated topics in one thread (well, they are related to me anyway).

1) I would like to put a bunch of employee photos on a shared drive. I would like to tag these photos with searchable terms (first name, last name, job title, branch). I would like to then create a page in html (or whatever, I just choose html because it's simple) that would allow users to type in some search terms and then have the relevant photos displayed. Everyone using the page would already have access to the shared folder where the photos would be kept. Is there a simple way to do this?

2) One of my superiors has set up a meeting with Knowledge DNA. He's asked me to attend as I'm the tech guy here. I've read over their site, but it's really vague. It reminds me of commercials for embarassing medical products with unrelated footage of happy people doing non-medical things (Does the pill help you fish better? It has something to do with old guys riding bicycles?). I can't find a fee schedule, and their "demo" is just a promotional video. To me, it just seems like an email aggregator. I'm assuming that all email is forwarded to their site where it is pasted into threads that everyone can look at. I think their software is supposed to do the categorizing (if an email is a new thread or an addition to an exsisting one) and determine if the email is a duplicate or irrelevant. I don't really see why this would be any better than a message board, or even the "inefficent and frustrating" email system. What am I missing? Do any of you have experience with this service or a similar one?

Daenris

1) I'm sure someone will come along with a better suggestion, but I use Gallery2 for my pictures. I don't use it but it does have the option of adding a tagging module (http://codex.gallery2.org/Gallery2:Modules:tags) which should allow it to accomplish what you want.

I don't have any experience with Knowledge DNA, so I won't comment on that.

AtomBomb

Thanks for the suggestion Daenris. I'm checking that out now.

I wonder if it would just be easier to switch to a web based app? The information isn't sensitive and most of it is already publicly available via other means. Would flickr work? I don't really have any experience with it. Are there more "professional" (bland) free services like flickr?

japan

AtomBomb wrote: »

2) One of my superiors has set up a meeting with Knowledge DNA.

KnowledgeDNA™ is the leader in on-demand, real-time business intelligence and execution. KDNA™ intelligently manages business information, reducing information overload, shortening communication cycles and enabling good and timely decision-making. Essentially, it augments enterprise execution accuracy and velocity. KDNA™ is "everything you need, nothing you don't."

Alarm bells are ringing.

I don't think you're going to find anyone with experience with this or similar, products, because it doesn't seem to be anything in particular.

The one thing I can suggest is that if the guy appears and talks about nothing but technology, he's full of shit. You need to be talking about processes. If you can't get an example of a process which this software can enable (that you can't do currently), or an existing one that it would enhance, then it's useless.

One thing to be wary of, being the "tech guy" is that I would suspect much of their sales tactics will rely on arguing hypotheticals. If he gives a vague example, and you counter with "yes, but that could be done with x, y or z other technology" then you're on their turf. You need to concentrate on why you would implement a process similar to their example, and what the benefits would be.

AtomBomb

Thanks Japan, that pretty much reinforces what I was thinking. I think they convinced my superior that we have a problem that he wasn't aware of (because it's not actually a problem) and they can fix it, which sounds like classic scam tactics to me. It's funny though, he even said that he'd looked over the website but "didn't really understand what it could do for us", so I don't think it will be too hard to convince him that we don't need this. I just wish he'd talked to me before agreeing to a meeting.

"Too many layers of complexity making it hard to keep track of things? We can solve your problem by introducing yet another layer!"

Thanks Japan.

embrik

I also recommend Gallery. However, you will need to have a webserver to host the software on.

Alternatively, Windows Vista supports tagging directly in the OS. You can then search for those tags.

Lewisham

"Your superhighway of communication leaves people stranded"

This company is nonsense. He's a salesman. And what he is going to do is sell your boss something your employees don't want and won't use. But he will know he's not selling a good product: he's going to weave his salesman magic on your boss who doesn't understand this stuff and convince him to buy it anyway. The web site is full of nothing but vapid buzzwords that your boss is going to love.

Then when it inevitably fails, the boss is going to pin the failure on you for not "doing your job".

You need to talk with your boss before this meeting. You need to sit down and ask him what problem he thinks they have and why he thinks KnowledgeDNA are going to solve it. I am betting the problem is something more akin to important information being kept in people's inboxes not the duplication of that information. The answer to that is proven and simple: corporate intranet wiki.

japan

Lewisham wrote: »

You need to talk with your boss before this meeting. You need to sit down and ask him what problem he thinks they have and why he thinks KnowledgeDNA are going to solve it. I am betting the problem is something more akin to important information being kept in people's inboxes not the duplication of that information. The answer to that is proven and simple: corporate intranet wiki.

There are any number solutions to that particular problem, and none of them involve paying somebody money. From their example (multiple people in different sites that all need to collaborate to solve an issue), it's more likely that the problem would be more easily solved by a more efficient business process, clear reporting lines and responsibilities, and a central point of contact.

Using the example of my own job, we have a couple of teams of people who have no particular area of responsibility. Their job is to be the central focus of any multi-department problem. They hold all the files, they have all the information, every department is answerable to them through a designated contact, and they decide who does what and have the final say on resolution (even though in practice they'll often delegate this to someone from the most relevant department once all the relevant information has been compiled).

It works the other way, too. Any department can refer on any issue when it starts spreading beyond their own area of responsibilty, and there are clearly defined processes to do so.