RSS (really simple syndication) is a favored XML format for individuals to get information from sources such as news sites
and blogs. In fact, a recent Pew Internet Foundation survey found nearly one in three individuals consumes RSS feeds. But
for enterprises, the most telling response was that 63 percent of these RSS users subscribe to work-related feeds.
That latter finding shouldn’t surprise IT managers. After all, RSS readers are easy to install and use. This technology does
a fine job helping workers cut through irrelevant information that floods portals, enterprise search results, and e-mail.
But as RSS’s popularity rises, so do risks. For example, precious network bandwidth is consumed when many employees update
the same feed. Plus, there are security risks associated with accessing inappropriate feeds.
To get around these issues and give more employees the benefit of RSS, organizations are adopting enterprise RSS solutions.
I tested three hot products in this burgeoning area: Attensa Feed Server, NewsGator Enterprise Server, and KnowNow 3 Enterprise
Syndication Solution.
As the names indicate, all use a central server to retrieve feeds once and then distribute them to many users -- often directly
to a Microsoft Outlook folder. Moreover, sophisticated user management and control allows managers to automatically subscribe
users to relevant feeds based on their roles. Yet users can still add their own subscriptions and share articles.
Another trait -- which you also find within enterprise search products -- is the ability to create special RSS taxonomies
that match, say, your product lines or business units; this convenience helps users find feeds for those special research
projects.
In all, enterprises using these solutions report measurable time savings -- often achieving full ROI in a few months.
Attensa Feed Server 1.1.7
Attensa’s RSS solution includes an Outlook reader that works stand-alone or can pull feeds located on a central Attensa Feed
Server sitting behind your firewall. Optionally, enterprises can install Attensa’s Exchange service to bypass the Outlook
plug-in and deliver feeds directly to Exchange mailboxes. An AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) Web Reader and mobile
clients -- Blackberry, Good Mobile Messaging for Exchange, and Windows Mobile 5 -- complete the picture.
Furthermore, this solution features a predictive ranking algorithm that evaluates users’ feed subscriptions and reading habits,
which helps prioritize new feeds.
After you’ve set up the Feed Server, by specifying a user directory server or manually adding users and groups, you continue
working in the AJAX administration Web site and begin adding feeds. You either pick from prepopulated lists or manually enter
feed links. However, there’s an added step of then creating category folders and dragging and dropping feeds into the desired
hierarchy before there’s a usable taxonomy.
From this point, I simply checked off options on forms to subscribe groups to individual feeds or multiple categories. Similarly,
I set defaults for each group, such as whether feeds would be delivered to Outlook and which publishing features were enabled.
There’s suitable reporting, including which users are reading what feeds, the number of feeds in the system, and related statistics.
For end-users, my testing indicated that Attensa for Outlook has minimal memory impact on Outlook. Feed Server works in the
background gathering and processing RSS feeds, which were quickly pulled into Outlook using the standard MAPI protocol. As
a result, when I signed into Outlook, the latest feeds were immediately available. Moreover, after I subscribed to a new feed,
that information was sent to the appliance so the feed was kept current for everyone else who also had it on their personal
subscription list.
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