vip report's product review of firstrain

VIP Report:Product Review of FirstRain

Report

VIP Volume: Reports on Products

Product Review of FirstRain

In-depth, independent review of the products, plus links to related resources

“FirstRain recognises that although timely access to quality business intelligence is essential for most organisations, the availability of massive amounts of information on the internet has decreased the perceived economic value of information itself...”

August 2011

^ Back to Contents | www.vivaVIP.com © Free Pint Limited 2011- 2 -

Contents

Product Review of FirstRain 4

In-depth review of product by experienced researcher, including screenshots and commentary

Introducing FirstRain 4VIP’s View 5Sources of Information, coverage and content 5Audience 5Alerts 5 Screenshot Figure 1: Dashboard 6

Screenshot Figure 2: Set up portfolio 7

Screenshot Figure 3: Daily Brief 8

Search, reports and output options 9 Screenshot Figure 4: Company Brief 9

Screenshot Figure 5: Industry Market Map 10

Screenshot Figure 6: Search menu 11

Table 1: Industry Explorer - Broad Business Lines 12

FirstRain mobile and enterprise integration 13 Screenshot Figure 7: FirstRain on iPhone 14

Timeliness 14Help and user support 14Licensing 15Conclusion 15Contact details 15

Other Products 16

Related VIP Product Reviews

Web Resources 17

Web-based resources relating to company

About the Reviewer 18

Biographical notes about the product reviewer


Product Review of FirstRain (ISBN 978-1-907594-81-6) is a VIP Report published by Free Pint Limited.

The opinions, advice, products and services offered herein are the sole responsibility of the contributors. Whilst all reasonable care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the publication, the publishers cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions.

Except as covered by subscriber or purchaser license agreement, this publication MAY NOT be copied and/or distributed without the prior written agreement of the publishers. Product names used in this report are for identification purposes only, and may be trademarks of their respective owners. Free Pint Limited disclaims any and all rights in those marks. All rights reserved.

This version of the report was published in August 2011 and was accurate as of that date.

Contact Information

Free Pint Limited4-6 Station Approach, Ashford,Middlesex, TW15 2QN, United KingdomRegistered Office: Delaport Coach House, Lamer Lane, Wheathampstead, Herts, AL4 8RQ Registered Number: 3754481

Telephone: 01784 605000International: +44 1784 605000Email: [email protected]: http://www.vivaVIP.com/ Publisher’s Note

To improve the usability of VIP, we have shortened many long URLs with DigBig, a free utility that creates persistent links (http://www.digbig.com). When you click a DigBig URL, or paste it into your browser, you will be directed to the original URL.

Disclaimer

Report

About this Report

VIP (http://www.vivaVIP.com/) publishes in-depth reports on products, vendors and user experiences relating to premium content products. The monthly VIP Magazine, available by paid subscription, includes news analysis and highlights from the latest product reviews. Subscribers also receive, as part of their subscription, the full product review reports published each month.

Users can also purchase individual reports and back-issues of the magazine to meet their immediate needs. The free VIP Wires Weekly HTML newsletter offers a regular update of the material which VIP’s editorial team is reviewing and commenting upon.

To subscribe to VIP, purchase reports or back-issues or subscribe to the VIP Wires Weekly visit http://www.vivaVIP.com/

This report was published by VIP in August 2011 and was

accurate as of that date. Reprinted with the permission of Free Pint Ltd.

All other rights reserved.To find out more about

First Rain contact:Ryan Warren

VP, MarketingFirstRain Inc.

www.FirstRain.com

http://www.FirstRain.com/


Product Review of FirstRainBy Perrin Kerravala

Perrin Kerravala View Author Biography

Introducing FirstRainFirstRain is a business information search solution that specifically targets the problem of information overload in the enterprise. Coining itself The Business Monitoring EngineTM, FirstRain employs patented search technology to crawl the web and extract only high value business events (news, blog posts, press releases, company and people information, government filings, commentary and more). FirstRain offers a variety of methods to deliver content into the workflow of busy business professionals, including mobile applications, portal integration, or simply over the web.

The FirstRain value proposition was built on several persuasive facts:

� The typical knowledge worker spends about 25% of their day searching for information (Basex).

� The annual economic loss caused by information overload stands at $900 billion (Basex).

� One out of every three businesses searches fails (Outsell).

FirstRain recognises that although timely access to quality business intelligence is essential for most organisations, the availability of massive amounts of information on the internet has decreased the perceived economic value of information itself. This means that there may be less tolerance for traditional providers of licensed information – why pay exorbitant fees for complex, difficult-to-learn content providers, when what is really required is breaking news that is freely available on the internet?

However, as the statistics above suggest, enterprises are still faced with the problem that most of the consumer internet is purely entertainment-based and has no business value. This leads to information overload, wasted time and still less than comprehensive searches using mainstream search engines like Google.

Therefore, FirstRain attempts to occupy that very large gap that exists between Google and licensed news providers. No matter what their level of research expertise, FirstRain users can conduct quick, simple searches and create alerts that yield highly precise results.

The current incarnation of FirstRain was launched in 2006, after a major company restructuring. Today, the company has hundreds of client companies and tens of thousands of users worldwide, mostly in the financial, pharmaceutical and high tech industries. FirstRain’s effectiveness is also partly indicated by the notable resale partnerships they have made with Capital IQ and FactSet, and web content distribution deals with financial industry heavyweights such as Fidelity.com and Dun & Bradstreet.

FirstRain is a venture capital-backed company headquartered in San Mateo, California, with about 100 employees in California, New York and Gurgaon, India.

“...FirstRain employs patented search technology to crawl the web and extract only high value business events (news, blog posts, press releases, company and

people information, government filings, commentary and more)...”

“...FirstRain attempts to occupy that very large

gap that exists between Google and licensed news

providers.”



ü Vastly increases precision when searching for quality business information on the internet, largely thanks to the FirstRain Business Web taxonomic system.

ü Emphasis is on sophisticated monitoring services, so that business professionals can easily stay on top of breaking developments on their companies, industries and topics of importance.

ü Numerous mobile and enterprise integration options allow organisations to choose the method of content delivery that works best for them.

û Users must have separate subscriptions to premium data providers like WSJ and FT.com to access them via the platform.

FirstRain: VIP’s View

Sources of Information, coverage and content FirstRain is an internet search engine that captures and indexes the Business Web. Because new pages are indexed every day, FirstRain was reluctant to size their database for VIP; however, they estimate that they are processing hundreds of thousands of websites and millions of documents per day.

FirstRain segments web content in the following categories, which represent the typical types of information that they consider to be the Business Web:

� Blogs

� Call transcripts

� Industry sources

� SEC filings – 10K, 10Q, 8K, and Forms 3, 4, and 5

� Medical journals

� News and web

� News wires

� Press releases.

To date, FirstRain only captures English language content, and the company has no immediate plans to capture foreign language content. FirstRain’s crawler picks up stories from behind several well-known paywalls, such as WSJ.com publications, but users will require their own logins to access full-text content from such sites.

Audience FirstRain would be suitable for any organisation that needs to track developments and conduct web research on companies, industries, and business-relevant topics such as economics, politics or scientific and technical developments. Because FirstRain is so easy to use, it is suitable for users at all levels of research expertise – novice to expert searchers. The product’s customisable Monitoring functions and content delivery options make it a good option for busy C-level executives. Their clients mostly hail from North America, but also Europe and Asia.

FirstRain is primarily a current awareness research tool that makes free, relevant web content easy to find. As such, it does not provide unique or specialised content as found in licensed providers of news, scientific, technical or medical information, or historical information (over 5-10 years old).

However, the company makes no attempt to compete with 40-year news archives or peer-reviewed academic databases; rather, their audience is business professionals who need to stay on top of new, widely reported developments, every day. I believe that workers who go to the internet first when they need information – and there are many more of those than many information professionals would like to admit – would respond very positively to FirstRain.

AlertsAlerts, or Monitors, are a major feature of the FirstRain platform. FirstRain enables users to build sophisticated Monitors very quickly using a three-step process.

“...they estimate that they are processing hundreds of thousands of websites and millions of documents per day.”

“I believe that workers who go to the internet first when they need information – and there are many more of those than

many information professionals would like to admit – would respond very positively to FirstRain.”

“FirstRain enables users to build sophisticated Monitors very quickly using a three-step process.”

VIP Report: Product Review of FirstRain | August 2011



Monitors are such a prominent part of FirstRain that links to create new Monitors are displayed immediately upon logging in to the FirstRain Web Application (website – see Figure 1). Users can create a completely custom Monitor, or they can choose from one of three role-based Monitors:

� My Portfolio or Stock Watch List: designed for those who are interested in tracking the financial health of a group of companies, such as portfolio managers, investment analysts or other financial professionals.

� My Competitors and Key Market Influences: designed for professionals who want to track industry developments, such as competitor activities and economic, political and regulatory developments.

� My Customers or Target Account List: designed for business development, sales or marketing professionals who need to track any events that affect their clients or prospects.

Fig. 1: Dashboard

FirstRain developed the role-based Monitors based on the real-life information needs of their customers. I believe that they address the requirements of many business professionals across several industrial sectors. However, if the role-based Monitors are not quite suitable for a user’s purposes, they can create a custom Monitor from scratch.

To create any Monitor, users are led through a three-step process. After selecting the type of Monitor they want to create (one of the role-based Monitors or a custom one), they are then prompted to select their desired companies.

Users can enter several companies at once by entering a list of company names into a text field with each company name on a separate line.

I simply cut and paste my list of company names from a spreadsheet that I regularly use. This generated a list of possible indexed matches, from which I check-marked the correct entities. It proved to be a quick, easy process to build the company list.

“However, if the role-based Monitors are not quite suitable for a user’s purposes, they can create a custom Monitor from scratch.”




Next, users are prompted to select their Focus areas and filters – the topics to track and exclude [Figure 2]. The role-based Monitors are pre-populated with specific topics and exclusions so that users don’t have to spend time finding and choosing all possible relevant topics. The default selections recommended by FirstRain vary per Monitor type, and also by the projected Monitor volume, based on the companies chosen.

Fig. 2: Set up portfolio

For example, I set up a My Portfolio/Stock Watch List Monitor for a list of public oil and gas companies, and FirstRain made the following recommendations:

Recommended “Business Basics” topics:

� Analyst Comments

� Analyst Ratings

� Awards & Recognition

� Bankruptcy

� Business Expansion & Exit

� Corporate Governance

� Customer Wins or Losses

� Earnings & Dividends

� Financing Activities

� Investor Events

� Management and Board Changes

� Management Quotes

� Marketing Initiatives

� Market Share Information

� M&A and Spin-offs

� Operating Activities

� Partnerships and Agreements

� Pricing Information

� Product Initiatives

� Regulatory, Litigation and Patents

� Special Dividends.

Content types – exclusions:

� 10Q, 10K, 8K, and SEC form 3, 4, and 5 filings

� Call transcripts

� Press releases.

FirstRain indicated they developed these recommendations through feedback from their users on the performance of the Monitors. Indeed, the recommendations for my alert appear to track all the major subjects I would be interested in, but exclude frequent announcements that often have little business value (for example, many SEC filings announcements).




Users can modify the recommended topic selection, to add any missing topics or exclude others. To do so, they would click the “Add or Modify” button. This brings up a pop-up box, with tabs to select from “Business Basics” topics, Content Types, Geographic Region, and Advanced criteria. For Geographic Region, users can pick broad regions such as Asia-Pacific or North America, or drill down to individual country, or US State. For the Advanced criteria, users can add in keywords or a phrase, to which they can apply Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT as required. Lastly, users can add Industries (Business Lines) or indexed topics by clicking “Add More Interests”.

Users would have to search for and select their own topics when creating a custom Monitor. For all Monitors, FirstRain provides a handy “Preview and Set Layout” link, so that users can see how the Monitor would function and appear. FirstRain indicates the number of article hits this alert would have generated over the last seven days. Users can also change the order in which results are displayed (sections for each company or topic).

Finally, in the last step, users are prompted to set their delivery preferences. Users can indicate their desired delivery times, email format and the display order of the different tracked topics. For the delivery schedule, users can specify any day of the week, plus the time of day to the nearest 15 minutes, and also build in additional times of day to send a report. This flexibility is important for time-sensitive topics.

The platform doesn’t offer an option for immediate delivery of new hits but, admittedly, this would probably deliver an overwhelming amount of news. When selecting delivery format, FirstRain offers some helpful information for helping users choose their best option (HTML or plain text). The platform provides recommendations for which option is preferable, depending on your hardware device – including links to what a sample report would look like in each format.

“FirstRain provides a handy “Preview and Set Layout” link, so that users can

see how the Monitor would function and appear. FirstRain indicates the

number of article hits this alert would have generated over the

last seven days.”

Setting up a Monitor triggers the creation of the Daily Event Brief, which is a report on your Monitor results. The Daily Brief is headed with a section called “Highlights for this Monitor,” which present one or two headlines from each company or topic tracked in the Monitor. Following that, headlines for each company or topic are presented in separate sections. Users can navigate through the sections by using embedded HTML bookmarks. The sections only include a few headlines per topic, so that the Brief is a manageable length, but each section can be expanded by clicking “More”.

Each Brief includes useful links to edit the Monitor criteria, change delivery settings or unsubscribe. The Daily Event Brief can be delivered by email, mobile device, RSS or through social media applications like Twitter, Chatter, Jive and Yammer. An email version of the Daily Brief is shown in Figure 3. Depending on a client’s licensing setup, the Daily Event Brief can be delivered to multiple recipients or incorporated into FirstRain Enterprise Portals (iFrame-based integration widgets that can be dropped into custom portals such as intranets or CRM applications), which will be discussed further in this report.

Fig. 3: Daily Brief

“The Daily Event Brief can be delivered by email, mobile device, RSS or through social media applications like Twitter, Chatter, Jive and Yammer.”




Search, reports and output optionsThe FirstRain Web Application has four immediate search options: Companies, Industries, Topics, and Search. They are accessible via tabs in the horizontal navigation bar on the homepage.

Companies: the Companies search permits users to look up information on a single company. Users search for a company name by typing in a name into the “Find a Company” search box. Users can also click on a company name from two menus, “Recently Viewed” companies or “Companies in My Monitors”.

Searching for a company produces a list of possible matches. Hovering over a match produces a pop-up box with introductory information about that company including its industrial sectors, recent headlines and an interesting Content Volume indicator. The Content Volume indicator is a thermometer-shaped graphic that indicates how much information FirstRain has on the company.

I thought this was useful, especially when searching for private companies that might not have much of an internet footprint. This is because, for these types of companies, users may spend time searching for information and wonder why they’re not getting much information back – is it because they are searching ineffectively or because not much information exists? The Content Volume indicator answers this question immediately.

Clicking on a company name takes users to the Company Brief, which is a summary of the most recent information about the company in FirstRain [Figure 4]. The Company Brief prominently features a bar graph of the amount of news on the company over the past six months, graphed against the company’s stock price (if applicable). News spikes are highlighted with colour-coded symbols representing the likely event type that triggered the spike (for example, a management change). Below the chart, the most recent headlines on or related to the company are presented. The headlines are divided by category, which include:

� Recent Web Results

� Significant Past Events

� SEC Filings

� Analyst Comments

� Competitors – Top Events

� Industry Topics – Top Events

� Company Profile (summary points, such as address, brief description, and current market cap)

� Management Turnover

� People (list of executives).

These categories include the most recent web headlines, but include a button for “More”, if users want to obtain further news from further back in time. All the links open up external web pages. If users are short on time, stories can be bookmarked to read later.

Fig. 4: Company Brief

“The Content Volume indicator is a

thermometer-shaped graphic that indicates how

much information FirstRain has on the company.”




News headlines on FirstRain are presented in a clean, simple fashion. The story headline is presented, plus the source name and article date. Small icons denote the type of content – whether a newswire article, press release, etc. Clicking on the links opens the articles in a new window, as all the content is internet-based.

However, users will not be able to access the full text of articles that are behind a subscription paywall (unless they have their own logins, of course). Such articles are marked with a small key icon. The Company Brief also includes a Market Map, which is a dynamically-generated list of related Companies and Topics (such as competitors, business lines and subsidiaries) that FirstRain has applied to the company based on information gathered by their semantic categorisation systems. Finally, the Company Brief includes lists of the company’s board members and C-level executives.

The Company Brief can be exported to PDF with a single click. Users can also set up a monitor immediately from the Company Brief by clicking the “Monitor This” button; users can choose to add the company to an existing Monitor, or create a new Monitor using the three-step process described previously.

Industries: FirstRain provides a complex taxonomy of industrial sectors that they call Business Lines. FirstRain’s Business Lines are noticeably more detailed than traditional industrial classification systems like SIC, NAICS or GICS (although FirstRain claims that these industry standards are also fully mapped to and supported by their taxonomy), and include more than 4,000 inter-related sectors and sub-sectors. Terms are regularly added as new phrases or expressions become common; such new terms are noticed by FirstRain’s intelligent web crawlers, and then reviewed by FirstRain analysts and subjected to customer feedback before being added to the database.

FirstRain’s system recognises that some industries are actually composed of a number of verticals and horizontals (for example, electronic health records). Such industries are often poorly described in traditional taxonomies and can be hard to research in most databases. For example, generating a list of companies in the electronic health records space would be cumbersome in a typical company database, but can be accomplished in FirstRain with a few clicks.

Users can search or browse for information on different industrial sectors. The top level of FirstRain’s Business Lines is reproduced in Table 1, and available in the Industries tab as the Industry Explorer. Users can click on

any of these to reveal an Industry Brief. The Industry Brief includes further Business Lines that are related, or are sub-sectors. For example, the Drug Manufacturers-Major Industry Brief includes links such sub-sectors as Anti-Diabetes Drugs, Central Nervous System Disorder Drugs, and Solid Tumour Drugs, plus also related industries like Biotechnology and Health Services.

If users do not want to browse for industries using the Industry Explorer, they can alternatively search by industry keyword to find relevant matching industries.

Similar to the Company Brief, the Industry Brief provides a summary of the most recent web headlines on a particular industry. News volume over the past six months is represented in bar graph, and recent headlines are presented by category.

The Industry Brief includes an Industry Market Map, which summarises FirstRain’s indexing on the sector. Industry Market Map components include Business Lines, Related Industries, Companies, Industry Topics, and Top Sources, as shown in Figure 5. Links to create Monitors or PDFs are provided.

Fig. 5: Industry Market Map




Topics: FirstRain also includes more than 4,000 topics covering a vast range of business areas. FirstRain doesn’t provide a drill-down menu for topics, so users must search by keyword to find possible matches. I found the topics a bit harder to work with, as I often wasn’t sure which topics to pick, or which were more all encompassing or more specific. For example, a search for “sovereign debt” yields the following possible matches:

� Sovereign Debt

� Sovereign Debt Crisis

� Sovereign Debt Ceiling

� European Debt Crisis

� Debt Issuance.

All of the above topics would probably be of interest to those conducting research on recent Eurozone debt issues. Users can hover over each topic match to view the Content Volume indicator to help decide relevance; however, for my search, the Content Volume was “high” for every topic, so it didn’t help me drill down further.

Despite my occasional difficulties, I found that the topics were named plainly enough that they didn’t require scope notes or other documentation to understand them. They are most useful when combined with company names or industries when creating Monitors.

Clicking on a Topic leads to a page of search results for that Topic. Again, the web volume of news is displayed in a bar chart, with any news spikes highlighted.

Topic search results can be manipulated in a few ways. Users can print results, export to PDF, set up a Monitor according to that criteria, or set up an RSS feed.

Search: FirstRain offers an advanced search screen for users who want the extra power of doing detailed, configured searches. The interface is very simple – a single search box – and users can employ command language to specify what fields to search for terms in. Users can specify the following fields:

� Company name

� Ticker

� Topic

� Industry

� Geographic region

� Source name

� Content type (e.g. blogs)

� Business Line.

Users can also employ AND, OR and NOT operators, and also conduct phrase searching using quotation marks.

In any page of search results, users can drill down and focus on particular topics by clicking “Show” in the upper left. This opens a menu that displays the most frequently applied company names, topics and industries in the result set, including the number of hits for those categories. Users can also exclude content types or sources from this menu [Figure 6].

Fig. 6: Search menu

“I found the topics a bit harder to work with, as I often wasn’t sure which topics to pick, or which were more all encompassing or more specific.”




FirstRain’s Business Web GraphFirstRain envisions their indexing system very differently from many traditional business information providers. Rather than employing a hierarchical taxonomy of terms, FirstRain has developed a proprietary concept called the Business Web Graph. The Business Web Graph comprises over 9,000 terms describing industrial sectors and business concepts (topics), which are all interconnected. The terms are constantly revised; FirstRain’s intelligent systems can recognise new, regularly appearing terms, which are analysed by FirstRain staff and verified with customised feedback before being incorporated into the taxonomy.

FirstRain’s Business Web Graph permits them to have search terms that describe niche or complex topics that cross multiple industries and concepts, such as:

� Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games � Corn-Based Ethanol � Office Vacancy Rates � Oil Rig Bidding.

All web articles and company and industry profiles in FirstRain are indexed with multiple Business Lines and Topics. Their detailed tagging or indexing greatly improves search precision, even when a user’s search isn’t particularly sophisticated. This improvement in search precision will help many users (particularly non-research specialists) save time and search frustration.

Table 1: Industry Explorer – Broad Business LinesTECHNOLOGY

Computer Hardware Personal Computers Data Storage DevicesNetworking & Communication Devices Computer Peripherals Diversified Computer SystemsComputer Based Systems

Computer Software And Services Application Software Business Software & ServicesSecurity Software & ServicesMultimedia & Graphics SoftwareInformation Technology ServicesTechnical & System SoftwareHealthcare Information ServicesInformation & Delivery Services

Internet Internet Service ProvidersInternet Information ProvidersInternet Software & Services

Telecommunications Wireless CommunicationsCommunication EquipmentDiversified Communication Services Processing Systems & ProductsTelecom Services – DomesticLong Distance Carriers Telecom Services - Foreign

Electronics Semiconductor - Broad Line Semiconductor - Memory Chips Semiconductor - Specialized Semiconductor - Integrated Circuits Semiconductor Equipment & Materials Printed Circuit Boards Diversified Electronics Scientific & Technical Instruments

BASIC MATERIALS

Energy Major Integrated Oil & Gas Independent Oil & Gas Oil & Gas Refining & Marketing Oil & Gas Drilling & Exploration Oil & Gas Equipment & Services Oil & Gas Pipelines

Chemicals Chemicals - Major Diversified Specialty Chemicals Synthetics Agricultural Chemicals

Metals Steel & Iron CopperAluminum Industrial Metals & Minerals Gold Silver Nonmetallic Mineral Mining

HEALTHCARE

Drugs Drug Manufacturers - Major Drug Manufacturers - Other Drugs - Generic Drug Related Products Drug Delivery & Accessories Biotechnology Diagnostic Substances

Health Services Medical Appliances & Equipment Medical Instruments & Supplies Health Care Plans Long-Term Care Facilities Hospitals Medical Laboratories & Research Home Health Care Medical Practitioners Specialized Health Services

CONSUMER GOODS

Automotive Auto Manufacturers - Major Trucks & Other Vehicles Recreational Vehicles Auto Parts

Consumer Durables Appliances Electronic Equipment Housewares & Accessories Business Equipment Home Furnishings & Fixtures Toys & Games Sporting Goods Photographic Equipment & Supplies

Consumer Non-Durables Textile - Apparel Clothing Textile - Apparel Footwear & Accessories Packaging & Containers Rubber & Plastics Personal Products Paper & Paper Products Cleaning Products Office Supplies

Food And Beverage Food - Major Diversified Farm Products Processed & Packaged Goods Meat Products Dairy Products Confectioners Beverages - Brewers Beverages - Wineries & Distillers Beverages - Soft Drinks

Tobacco Cigarettes Tobacco Products, Other

Table continued »




Table 1: Industry Explorer – Broad Business Lines (continued)FINANCIAL

Financial Services Asset Management Diversified Investments Investment Brokerage - National Investment Brokerage - Regional Credit Services

Banking Money Center Banks Foreign Money Center Banks Foreign Regional Banks Savings & Loans

Real Estate Real Estate Development Mortgage Investment Property Management REIT - Residential REIT - Office REIT - Healthcare Facilities REIT - Hotel/Motel REIT - Industrial REIT - Retail REIT - Diversified

Insurance Life Insurance Property & Casualty Insurance Accident & Health Insurance Surety & Title Insurance Insurance Brokers

UTILITIES

UtilitiesElectric Utilities Gas Utilities Water Utilities Diversified Utilities

CONGLOMERATES

INDUSTRIAL GOODS

Aerospace/Defense Aerospace/Defense - Major Diversified Aerospace/Defense Products & Services

Industrial Industrial Equipment & Components Industrial Electrical Equipment Diversified Machinery Farm & Construction Machinery Pollution & Treatment Controls Metal Fabrication Machine Tools & Accessories Small Tools & Accessories Textile Industrial

Materials And Construction Residential Construction Heavy Construction General Building Materials Cement Lumber, Wood Production Waste Management General Contractors Manufactured Housing

SERVICES

Media Advertising Agencies Marketing Services Broadcasting - TV Broadcasting - Radio CATV Systems Movie Production, Theaters Publishing - Newspapers Publishing - Periodicals Publishing - Books Entertainment - Diversified

Retail Apparel Stores Grocery Stores Catalog & Mail Order Houses Department Stores Discount, Variety Stores Drug Stores Electronics Stores Home Improvement Stores Home Furnishing Stores Auto Parts Stores

SERVICES (continued)

Specialty Retail Sporting Goods Stores Toy & Hobby Stores Jewelry Stores Music & Video Stores Auto Dealerships Specialty Retail, Other

Leisure Lodging Resorts & Casinos Restaurants Sporting Activities Gaming Activities General Entertainment Specialty Eateries

Transportation Major Airlines Regional Airlines Shipping Trucking Railroads Air Delivery & Freight Services Air Services, Other

Diversified ServicesBusiness Services Consumer Services Personal Services Education & Training Services Research Services Technical Services Management Services Staffing & Outsourcing Services Security & Protection Services Rental & Leasing Services

Wholesale Food Wholesale Drugs Wholesale Computers Wholesale Electronics Wholesale Industrial Equipment Wholesale Medical Equipment Wholesale Building Materials Wholesale Basic Materials Wholesale

FirstRain mobile and enterprise integrationFirstRain offers several ways for client organisations to integrate their content and search capability into their local workflow. This includes mobile apps, iFrame-based enterprise portals, and enterprise collaboration solutions. VIP could not test these features directly, so they will simply be described below. FirstRain provides technical assistance for clients who want to deploy these solutions in their organisations.

Mobile apps: sensitive to the fact that many of their clients require immediate access to breaking news, FirstRain offers several mobile access options. The company has developed apps for iPhone and Android, although not for Blackberry, which the company feels

is primarily email focused, and less app-based, so they do not have immediate plans to do so. Users can receive their Event Briefs and read and bookmark articles using the mobile apps. The FirstRain Web Application (website) is also fully functional on tablet devices, and the company will shortly be launching a dedicated iPad app. See Figure 7 for how FirstRain looks on an iPhone.

“...sensitive to the fact that many of their clients require immediate access to breaking news, FirstRain offers several mobile access options.”



Fig. 7: FirstRain on iPhone

Enterprise portals: FirstRain offers an iFrame-based web widget that can be dropped in to a company’s intranet. The widget can deliver several Monitor results at once, and can be customised to the look and feel of the client organisation’s intranet. Results delivered on the widget can be integrated with the FirstRain Web Application – so that users can access the FirstRain website directly from their intranet.

Alternatively, clients can opt to license only the widget, rather than provide single user access to their employees. In this scenario, the widget would be loaded with the organisation’s desired custom monitors, which would be updated continuously throughout the day.

Enterprise collaboration solutions: FirstRain content can be integrated into a client organisation’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, such as SalesForce.com. This enables users to access relevant, timely web news that affects their clients through systems that they are likely to be interacting with on a daily basis. FirstRain content can also be integrated into social tools like SharePoint, Jive and Twitter.


Timeliness FirstRain’s patented, content-ranking search engine constantly collects new Business Web content, so that thousands of pages are added daily, on a real-time basis. I compared Google News search results with FirstRain search results, and FirstRain regularly picked up the first few Google News hits on all the searches I conducted. Many of these articles were less than an hour old. I felt confident that I was capturing all the most important news on my searches, even if I wasn’t capturing every article possible.

Help and user support FirstRain offers minimal help features, but I didn’t find this problematic – the product is user friendly enough that it doesn’t require manuals or long instructions to help users navigate it. Most of their support services are accessible through a “Help” link in the upper right corner. FirstRain users are encouraged to send their questions to [email protected]. Their support page doesn’t indicate when users can expect a response back, or during what hours the support email address is monitored.

The Support page also presents users with four other support options: a Resources page, an FAQ page, a Product Blog and a Feedback form. It also includes immediate links to several FAQs, which they call Top Support Issues.

Resources page: the Resources page provides a series of files that should be described as marketing material, rather than true help documentation. These include customer case studies, white papers, datasheets (really, marketing brochures) and webinars.

FAQ page: this was the most helpful support feature for me. It provides step-by-step instructions on how to perform the most common functions on FirstRain, accompanied by screenshots. Some sample FAQs are:

� Setting up and editing monitors

� Setting up content delivery via RSS and email

� How to pull company or industry briefs

� How to use the Search bar for power searching

� How to retrieve forgotten login credentials or reset passwords

� How to change your password or time zone.

“I felt confident that I was capturing all the most important news on my searches, even if I wasn’t capturing every article possible.”

“FirstRain content can be integrated into a client organisation’s Customer Relationship Management

(CRM) system, such as SalesForce.com.”


mailto:[email protected]



Product Blog: while definitely a marketing mechanism, the Product Blog was useful for me to learn about FirstRain’s capabilities. The blog posts pertain to a variety of topics, including search tips and detailed announcements on new features. The Blog prominently features posts from FirstRain CEO Penny Herscher, who comments on corporate activities, new developments and customer feedback. Although interesting, the Blog is unlikely to serve as a useful resource for clients who need assistance with functionality.

Feedback: the last help feature, Feedback, simply provides a link for users to email FirstRain support with a question.

LicensingFirstRain offers a flat rate, per user pricing for access to the FirstRain Web Application, and requires a five user minimum. The per user price decreases as the number of users increases. They also offer lower, per user “Viewer” pricing for those users who may only be accessing content via the Daily Briefs, Portals (integration widgets) or other methods that don’t include individual and customised Web Application access. Additionally, FirstRain offers flat rate annual pricing for FirstRain Enterprise Application widgets, which includes customisation and annual support.

Conclusion FirstRain is an innovative product that seeks to address the needs of those workers that need quality business news, but are suffering from information overload. Many libraries and resources centres have attempted to address such problems by buying licensed news and article archives; however, such products generally have a steep learning curve and tend to be best leveraged by information professionals or full time researchers.

In my experience, the real life information requirements of most business professionals often go unmet. These workers do not require fifty-year news archives, do not have time to take training on complex search tools and therefore often avoid these tools, dramatically lowering the return on investment for information for the enterprise. These workers are likely to turn to mainstream internet sources like Google to meet their needs, as they are familiar tools that are often quite precise when searching for personal, entertainment-related matters (for example, researching local restaurants or stores, or planning vacations).

However, relying on the consumer internet for business information is risky; staff may miss important news due to ineffective searching, or find inaccurate or questionable information. FirstRain seeks to solve these problems by capturing quality information and calling it the Business Web. Their dynamic and flexible indexing terms allow users to conduct precise searches with only a few keywords, which may reduce information overload while saving time. Further, FirstRain’s flexible delivery mechanisms (including mobile applications and enterprise integration tools) make it even easier for users to consume the content, using their preferred devices.

FirstRain doesn’t capture the full text of exclusive content that is buried behind paywalls, but users can still find out about those articles using FirstRain, while locating other related content.

I view FirstRain as a “good enough” current awareness solution – the time saved in searching makes up for any loss of exclusive content. More importantly, FirstRain is effective and user friendly – ensuring that users will come back to it, time and again.

Contact details Ryan WarrenVP, MarketingFirstRain Inc.www.FirstRain.com

“They also offer lower, per user “Viewer” pricing for those users who may only be accessing content via the Daily Briefs, Portals (integration widgets) or other methods that don’t include individual and customised Web Application access.”

“In my experience, the real life information requirements of most business professionals often go unmet.”

“FirstRain seeks to solve these problems by capturing quality information and calling it the Business Web.”

This report was published by VIP in August 2011 and was

accurate as of that date. Reprinted with the permission of Free Pint Ltd.

All other rights reserved.To find out more about

First Rain contact:Ryan Warren

VP, MarketingFirstRain Inc.

www.FirstRain.com

“I view FirstRain as a “good enough” current awareness solution – the time saved in searching makes up for any loss of exclusive content.”





The following products reviewed by VIP may provide comparable coverage:

If your VIP subscription covers the issue in which the product was reviewed, you can log in to your FreePint Master Account to access the issue, or contact [email protected] for assistance.

Content was accurate as of the date of publication (listed).

Product Review of Eureka.ccReview published August 2010: http://web.freepint.com/go/shop/report/1692

ü Deep coverage of Canadian and French sources including a number of Canadian exclusive titles.

ü Whilst it does not offer the same high number of sources as the larger aggregators, Eureka.cc still provides a good selection covering important sources of news, general business and economic subjects, and industry sectors.

ü Allows media monitoring to be set up in various ways for different individuals and user groups, with a high level of customisation.

ü Different subscriptions are available to a wide range of customers, from large organisations down to personal users, who can pay per article or use entry-level monthly subscriptions.

û Whilst strong in French and English sources, it has very little coverage of other languages.

û A total of 14 ‘Keys’ can be used for searching sections including Lead paragraph, Subject, Byline etc., but only 8 are listed in the drop-down menu. There is no link to other Keys – the user has to know they exist to find them in the Online Help manual.

û The truncation operator is an unlimited wildcard and cannot be used to restrict by number of letters, although in some instances the declination operator could be used in its place.

û Although there is some indexing available for more efficient searching, it is weak in geographic searching and there is currently no structured company coding.

Product Review of Newsdesk 4Review published November 2010: http://web.freepint.com/go/shop/report/1734

ü Real-time content

ü Authoritative news sources

ü Comprehensive social media sources

ü Ability to search across all media types

ü Good range of languages

ü User-friendly interface

ü Excellent filtering leads to targeted results

ü Useful email and newsletter facilities

û It is not currently possible to exclude paid-for content

û Comprehensive help pages, however the portal would benefit from on-screen help menu listing search operators.

Other Products

Log in to your FreePint Master Account to access past reports covered by your subscription:

Visit http://web.freepint.com/ to log in, and select ‘Publishing Module’.

Email [email protected] if you need assistance.

Non-subscribers can purchase back issues using the links above.

If your subscription does not cover a report you need, you can purchase it at special subscriber rates.

Contact [email protected] for further information or assistance.

http://web.freepint.com/



Find additional information and insight relating to this product through the following FreePint Family resources:

VIP http://www.vivaVIP.com/

� Press releases from this company can be found on the VIP Wire: http://web.vivavip.com/forum/Wire/

� Editorial commentary covering this company can be found at the VIP LiveWire: http://web.vivavip.com/forum/LiveWire/

Subscribe to receive the VIP Wires Weekly, a free update of the latest commentary from our editors, plus current press release headlines.

Find additional product reviews in back issues of VIP Magazine or in VIP Reports by visiting http://web.freepint.com/go/shop/vip/

Web Resources

http://www.vivavip.com/order/desktop/


Upgrade to a VIP SubscriptionIf you make, support or advise on content purchase decisions, or if you do business in the content and information arena, credit your report purchase towards a VIP Magazine subscription.

You get VIP Magazine (PDF) every month, with feature stories, industry commentary and highlights from our product reviews, plus two or more in-depth product reports to add to your collection. VIP also regularly conducts User Surveys to gather benchmarking data about what premium content users are using – or not – to meet their organisation’s needs.

To upgrade to a subscription, please complete the form below and return it:

Fax: UK: 01784 605555 (International: +44 1784 605555)Or simply email your request to: [email protected]

Perrin Kerravala is a Senior Librarian at Export Development Canada (EDC). EDC is Canada’s export credit agency, offering innovative commercial solutions to help Canadian exporters and investors expand their international business. Before joining EDC, Perrin worked as an Information Specialist at the Canadian federal Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and at BMO Capital Markets, an investment banking firm.

Subscribe to VIP

About the Reviewer

Name:

Company:

Title:

Telephone:

Email address:

Best time to reach:

Interested in:[ ] Single site [ ] Multi-site (up to 5 locations) [ ] Enterprise (unlimited locations) [ ] Not sure

[ ] Please also send me information on how FUMSI (http://www.fumsi.com/) can help us Find, Use, Manage and Share Information at work

Free Pint Limited, 4-6 Station Approach, Ashford, Middlesex, TW15 2QN, United KingdomRegistered Office: Delaport Coach House, Lamer Lane, Wheathampstead, Herts, AL4 8RQ Registered Number: 3754481

Telephone: 0870 141 7474 International: +44 870 141 7474 Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.vivaVIP.com


http://www.fumsi.com/

The FreePint Family

Jinfo offers searchable databases of current information-related vacancies and upcoming events - conferences, workshops, webinars, etc. Free to search; cost-effective to advertise vacancies and events.http://www.jinfo.com/

Our editors help you find high quality, free PDF reports on the web, published by government agencies, universities, think tanks and other public interest groups.http://www.docuticker.com/

Our contributing editors monitor and report on changes in free, freemium and premium sources. Updated daily, ResourceShelf is free! http://www.resourceshelf.com/

VIP publishes in-depth unbiased product reviews on premium products, plus analysis of what’s happening in the information industry, to support senior information professionals. Increase the value of even the tightest budget with VIP resources and guidance.http://www.vivaVIP.com/

Sites, resources and community to support business information professionals worldwide. The free twice-monthly FreePint Newsletter keeps you informed about everything relating to the FreePint Family.http://www.freepint.com/

Practical articles, reports and resources to help everyone in your organisation Find, Use, Manage and Share Information at work.http://www.fumsi.com/

Free Pint Limited is registered in England and Wales.Registered Office: Delaport Coach House, Lamer Lane, Wheathampstead, Herts, AL4 8RQ Registered Number: 3754481

vip report's product review of firstrain

Documents