Comments on: Search in the Enterprise: Silly Putty http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/2008/10/20/search-in-the-enterprise-silly-putty/ by Stephen E. Arnold Thu, 24 May 2012 08:08:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Stephen E. Arnold http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/2008/10/20/search-in-the-enterprise-silly-putty/comment-page-1/#comment-26373 Stephen E. Arnold Thu, 23 Oct 2008 15:50:14 +0000 http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/?p=2530#comment-26373 Daniel Tunkelang, In general the shift is to search enabled applications that contribute a fungible benefit to the organization. The day of the fuzzy wuzzy "one size fits all" search system may be nearing its end. The reason eDiscovery is hot is not that it is search. It is hot because search is embedded in something that can deliver a financial payoff and reduce certain costs associated with a legal matter. A fuzzy wuzzy search solution is not too good at this type of implementation. Companies want systems that work and deliver. Stephen Arnold, October 23, 2008 Daniel Tunkelang,

In general the shift is to search enabled applications that contribute a fungible benefit to the organization. The day of the fuzzy wuzzy “one size fits all” search system may be nearing its end. The reason eDiscovery is hot is not that it is search. It is hot because search is embedded in something that can deliver a financial payoff and reduce certain costs associated with a legal matter. A fuzzy wuzzy search solution is not too good at this type of implementation. Companies want systems that work and deliver.

Stephen Arnold, October 23, 2008

]]> By: Daniel Tunkelang http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/2008/10/20/search-in-the-enterprise-silly-putty/comment-page-1/#comment-26295 Daniel Tunkelang Wed, 22 Oct 2008 23:39:10 +0000 http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/?p=2530#comment-26295 Stephen, if I understand your argument correctly, you're saying that enterprises don't care enough about internal information to invest either money or effort in developing the means to access it, and as a result they build systems that yield poor returns in terms of user productivity and satisfaction. If that is the gist of your argument, I have to concede that it's true more often than I'd like. But there are exceptions. I think that the most successful enterprise customers are those who don't think generically in terms of "enterprise search" but rather in terms of particular problems driven by enterprise information needs. Those needs correspond to tangible (and sometime enormous) returns, thus justifying the comparably small investment needed to obtain them. Stephen, if I understand your argument correctly, you’re saying that enterprises don’t care enough about internal information to invest either money or effort in developing the means to access it, and as a result they build systems that yield poor returns in terms of user productivity and satisfaction. If that is the gist of your argument, I have to concede that it’s true more often than I’d like.

But there are exceptions. I think that the most successful enterprise customers are those who don’t think generically in terms of “enterprise search” but rather in terms of particular problems driven by enterprise information needs. Those needs correspond to tangible (and sometime enormous) returns, thus justifying the comparably small investment needed to obtain them.

]]> By: Stephen E. Arnold http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/2008/10/20/search-in-the-enterprise-silly-putty/comment-page-1/#comment-26284 Stephen E. Arnold Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:16:16 +0000 http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/?p=2530#comment-26284 Rebecca from Vivisimo Yep, you are absolutely correct. I emphasize that most users of search systems are dissatisfied. Why? Few vendors believe this. Few IT professionals really care about Buffy and Thad in marketing. Few senior managers know much about internal information. Will this change? Yep, search enabled applications. The financial noose is tightening around the necks of many vendors, and those who are not delivering services that generate a happy face inside the "o" of ROI will be following in the footsteps of Wikia and Yahoo. So, make users happy, and Martin White and I will stop focusing on this fundamental problem with search and retrieval in an enterprise. Stephen Arnold, October 22, 2008 Rebecca from Vivisimo

Yep, you are absolutely correct. I emphasize that most users of search systems are dissatisfied. Why? Few vendors believe this. Few IT professionals really care about Buffy and Thad in marketing. Few senior managers know much about internal information. Will this change? Yep, search enabled applications. The financial noose is tightening around the necks of many vendors, and those who are not delivering services that generate a happy face inside the “o” of ROI will be following in the footsteps of Wikia and Yahoo. So, make users happy, and Martin White and I will stop focusing on this fundamental problem with search and retrieval in an enterprise.

Stephen Arnold, October 22, 2008

]]> By: Search Done Right » Blog Archive » Guessing About Search Intent http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/2008/10/20/search-in-the-enterprise-silly-putty/comment-page-1/#comment-26281 Search Done Right » Blog Archive » Guessing About Search Intent Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:03:54 +0000 http://arnoldit.com/wordpress/?p=2530#comment-26281 [...] The first reaction to Manbar’s unhappiness was from industry pundit Steve Arnold, who seized upon Manber’s comments to once again don the Cassandrian mantle of doom regarding the search industry, noting for what seems like the umpteenth time that “enterprise search is leaving many users dissatisfied.” Once that was out of the way, Arnold had an interesting observation, “An employee needs information to perform work. Problem is that “work” is somewhat fluid. Some employees need to answer a customer’s question about an invoice. That’s one type of search. Other employees need to get a document signed and want a police style “where is she” service. That’s another type of search. Other employees don’t search at all. These folks are sitting in a meeting and need information pushed to them germane to the task at hand.” [...] [...] The first reaction to Manbar’s unhappiness was from industry pundit Steve Arnold, who seized upon Manber’s comments to once again don the Cassandrian mantle of doom regarding the search industry, noting for what seems like the umpteenth time that “enterprise search is leaving many users dissatisfied.” Once that was out of the way, Arnold had an interesting observation, “An employee needs information to perform work. Problem is that “work” is somewhat fluid. Some employees need to answer a customer’s question about an invoice. That’s one type of search. Other employees need to get a document signed and want a police style “where is she” service. That’s another type of search. Other employees don’t search at all. These folks are sitting in a meeting and need information pushed to them germane to the task at hand.” [...]

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