Search Points of View: One Home Run, Three Singles
August 21, 2008
Keri Morgret (I think) prepared a summary of a round table session devoted to the joys and heart aches of operating an in-house search engine for behind-the-firewall search and retrieval. The participants were:
- Andy Feit, MarkLogic
- Bill French, MyST Technology Partners
- Avi Rappoport, SearchTools.com
- Rebecca Thompson, Vivisimo.
The article is “Enterprise Search: Running Your Own Search Engine”, and it appeared in the August 18, 2008, Search Engine Roundtable. Ms. Morgret’s summary identifies the key points of each participants’ remarks. I found this summary quite interesting and very suggestive. I agree with many of the points contained in the compendium of remarks. There are several issues that warrant a comment from the addled goose.
First, the assumption implicit in this summary is that organizations need an on premises search system. I don’t agree. My research suggests that organizations need multiple search, content processing, and text analytics systems. The idea of a “one size fits all” solution doesn’t now work and won’t work in the future. In fact, my understanding of MarkLogic’s point is that success comes from defining a problem and solving it. Each of the examples offered–customer support, for example–can benefit from a solution. One system could deliver several distinct solutions, but my understanding is that success comes with focus. My view is that an organization will have multiple systems. Some will be tightly integrated. Some will not be tightly integrated.
Second, I am not too happy when search engine optimization techniques find their way into enterprise or behind-the-firewall search. The focus in an organization is making the system support a user’s business information need. MarkLogic’s approach seems anchored in this type of real world focus. Blurring the fiddling to spoof Google’s crawler with the challenge of information access in an organization is intellectually messy. Apples are apples; oranges are oranges. Enterprise search is a distinct, complex challenge.
Third, I struggle with the co-mingling of search, communication, and collaboration. I’m not sure which is more misleading: blending enterprise search with search engine optimization or turning search into some Groove-variant. Search is sufficiently complex without adding dollops of social functionality. Adding a metatag (index term) is not collaboration. It is indexing. Suggesting otherwise triggers an asthma attack for me.
I think the value of these multi-player discussions is generally high. I know I learn from the different points of view even if I don’t agree with them. For this set of remarks, I’m pleased with how MarkLogic approaches the problem of information access in an organization. The other participants offer some good ideas, but I think that other agendas are informing their remarks. For example, Vivisimo wants to emphasize that its search platform support collaboration. I think it permits a user to add an index term, and I am reluctant to make the leap that Vivisimo and its approach to search empower collaboration in an enterprise. SearchTools.com’s presentation is a bit of laundry lists of ideas. Some of these ideas are solid; others seem to be out of place. Mixing and matching buzzwords may not clarify search or contribute to enterprise information access. MarkLogic’s approach follows a path that makes business sense. Consultants are–well–consultants.
Read this interesting article yourself. For me, the bulk of the information in this summary was of interest because it makes clear the difficulty of discussing search, content processing, and text analytics without a clear definition and scope to bound the remarks. My thought is, “Give MarkLogic more time on the next panel.”
Stephen Arnold, August 20, 2008
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