Planning for the future of search

1. Planning for the future of search Enterprise Search Fall 2012 Martin White Managing Director, Intranet Focus Ltd. martin.white@intranetfocus.com @intranetfocus

2. Introductions Chemist and information scientist Co-authored ‘Intranet Management’ in 1998 Set up Intranet Focus Ltd in 1999 Visiting Professor, iSchool, University of Sheffield since 2002 Business experience in 35 countries Development of governance and implementation strategies for Microsoft SharePoint Impact of mobile solutions In the enterprise Development of information management and intranet strategies ? Specification, selection and implementation of enterprise search applications www.intranetfocus.com

3. Agenda • Search – the good news and the bad news • Information mis-management • Search is about people, not technology • Everything is changing at the same time • Future-proofing search; 12 critical success factors www.intranetfocus.com

4. Enterprise search – the good news • The HP, Oracle, IBM and Lexmark acquisitions raised the visibility of search to CIOs in late 2011 • The Big Data hype machine is causing companies to consider whether they have the capability to find business-critical information • Microsoft is cleaning up the SharePoint search options • Apache Lucene-Solr is becoming the default open-source search application • A number of surveys have been published which provide useful justification for investment in enterprise search www.intranetfocus.com

5. Enterprise search – the bad news • The IBM etc. acquisitions removed the search mid-market options, leaving 60+ companies with revenues of probably less than $30M • Big Data remains hype • Microsoft SharePoint search does not scale across the enterprise • Outside of Apache-Lucence there are very few open-source options • The surveys confirm the low level of investment in technology and in search support www.intranetfocus.com

6. Enterprise Search and Findability Study 2012 www.findwise.com www.intranetfocus.com

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10. http://www.emc.com/collateral/about/news/emc-data-science-study-wp.pdfhttp://www.emc.com/collateral/about/news/emc-data-science-study-wp.pdf www.intranetfocus.com

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12. Life is different in ERP Land http://www.computereconomics.com/article.cfm?id=1690 www.intranetfocus.com

13. Big Data Content Analytics Mobile Search Enterprise Search HELP! IT Business Social Search Cloud Search Sentiment Analysis Business Intelligence www.intranetfocus.com

14. Future-proofing search 12 Critical Success Factors From ‘Enterprise Search’, O’Reilly Media 2012 www.intranetfocus.com

15. CSR 1 Invest in a search support team Before you do anything else set up a search support team with the skills, enthusiasm, organizational knowledge and networks to get the best of the current search application(s). Even if the team is initially a team of one put the budget, headcount and job descriptions in place so that it can grow ahead of the requirements for support. www.intranetfocus.com

16. CSR 2 Get the best out of the current investment in search There is usually much that can be done to improve the current search applications once the search team and the search vendor focus in on options and priorities. The information gained from search log files is a very important element of defining search requirements and setting benchmarks for any new search application www.intranetfocus.com

17. CSR 3 Enterprise search is an approach and not a technology Implementing one single all-encompassing search application is unlikely to be successful and usually carries more risks than benefits. Enterprise search is about creating a managed search environment that enables employees to find the information they need to achieve organizational and/or personal objectives. www.intranetfocus.com

18. CSR 4 Set search within an information management context If the organization does not see information as a business asset it will never invest enough into search and is very susceptible to competitive and reputation risks. An information management strategy owned by a senior manager is an essential prerequisite to successful search. www.intranetfocus.com

19. CSR 5 Content quality is essential for quality search Current search technology can cope with poor quality content but there should be guidelines for content and metadata quality. It is of little benefit to the organization if a search lists twenty relevant documents with a content quality that renders them unfit to be trusted. www.intranetfocus.com

20. CSR 6 Understand user requirements and monitor user satisfaction Relevance is a personal measure of information value. Basing a business case on anecdotal information about the current search application and what other organizations have achieved with a particular piece of technology is not a suitable basis for an investment decision. It could be your career prospects that suffer. www.intranetfocus.com

21. CSR 7 Search then browse then alert then search then alert..... Users need to be able to search when needed, browse when needed and set up alerts as needed. These three processes need to be linked together to provide an effective information discovery environment. www.intranetfocus.com

22. CSR 8 Provide location-independent search The search application should be as effective via remote access desktops, smartphones and tablets as it is on a large screen monitor in the IT department. Not all search vendors have recognized the need for innovation in user interfaces for mobile devices. www.intranetfocus.com

23. CSR 9 Undertake intelligent log analysis Search log analysis needs to be conducted on a regular basis by a team that understands the activities and language of the business so that emerging issues in search failure can be identified at the earliest possible opportunity www.intranetfocus.com

24. CSR 10 Search is a dialogue Aiming to get the most relevant documents at the top of the search results list is a waste of effort. In an enterprise environment users will have complex queries that require them to be able to refine their query and re-evaluate the results with the minimum of effort. www.intranetfocus.com

25. CSR 11 Procure value not functionality When the time comes to invest in a new search application specify requirements on what you expect the search application to deliver and not on what features you would like to have supplied. www.intranetfocus.com

26. CSR 12 Search is a journey The process of ensuring that search is meeting user requirements never comes to an end. Every day there are new employees, new business challenges, new business opportunities and new developments in search technology. www.intranetfocus.com

27. Questions and suggestions? Martin.white@intranetfocus.com @intranetfocus www.intranetfocus.com

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