The Business Value of Enterprise Search
A review of cost effective solutions for managers

Enterprise Search - Introduction
Only ten or fifteen years ago the task of searching for information was a fairly straightforward matter. Most information was held in transactional databases and various query languages could be used to search for pertinent records. A typical search might involve extracting details of all customers with particular demographics, or with a history of problematical payments.

Most of the other information in the organization was stored in filing cabinets - contracts, memos, product descriptions and any other information that was needed for the organization to function correctly. Today most of this information is stored electronically and the problem of information search has grown with the diversity of information sources.

The proliferation of email use has in itself created problems. Various regulatory requirements typically mean that emails must be archived and made available for interrogation. Word processing documents may contain anything from details of new product developments through to contracts with customers. Sensitive documents could be stored away under lock and key - today they typically sit on a disk drive allowing anyone to view them that has the relevant permissions.

From a purely economic point of view information search is becoming a more costly exercise, with plenty of scope for inefficiencies, security breaches, high maintenance overheads and unmanageable complexity. It is for these reasons that we stay focused on the basic economics of information search and avoid the three letter acronyms and unintelligible jargon that affects most IT markets. The goal of information search is simple enough - to be able to access information in a timely and efficient manner without incurring crippling costs. This is not as easy as it sounds, although if we maintain our focus on the central task before us we can avoid the unproductive detours that technology in itself might introduce.

In an ideal world information search would be justified using a simple cost/benefit approach. The costs will be relatively easy to estimate, whereas the benefits are much more difficult to assess. Technology simply gives us the tools to do the job, it is people who determine whether information search is a productive activity or an unmanaged free-for-all.

The key to successful enterprise search for many organizations will be simplicity. There are of course areas of every business where complexity cannot be avoided, but it is worth remembering that the people who use search technology simply want a button they can click in the applications they use, and for a meaningful search to be executed.

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Introduction written by: Martin Butler
Business Value Series – No. 1

Summary
Information search is a generic function in all organizations that is worthy of planned implementation and managed usage. As information sources proliferate, so the need to present a single search interface will become more important. While the search function has often been treated as an afterthought, it is deserving of at least as much attention as information creation processes (data entry, document creation etc.) and is the primary mechanism for creating value from an organization’s information resources.

We expect information search to become a major issue in all organizations as the need to reduce information costs becomes a more pressing issue. Only careful analysis of search needs will result in a level of investment in the semantics of the information an organization possesses that is appropriate. Some information may need very little preparation, while other information may be central to the way the organization works and require lengthy processing (creation of tags, taxonomies, ontology, abstracts etc.)

The guiding principle is to always ensure that the benefits derived from information search exceed the costs associated with the search. This may seem obvious, but it is quite common for information workers to spend inappropriate amounts of time searching for information that has little real value. Recent research on the benefits of knowledge sharing reveal that costs can quickly exceed benefits.

Expect information search to become a much larger component in your organization’s IT armoury, and with it will come a need for constant awareness of cost and value.

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