Fast Search ESP 2009: Some Soft Information about a Hard Problem
April 20, 2009
A happy quack to the reader who sent me a link to this interesting and suggestive article “One Year with Microsoft – A Fast Perspective”. The write up appeared on April 17, 2009, on the Microsoft Enterprise Search Blog. You must read the posting here. The author is Nate, which does not tell me much. In such circumstances, I remind myself that the posting may be a spoof. For my purposes, the snippets of text below are intended as aides de memoire for myself. I have added some preliminary, informal comments to capture the excitement I experienced when I read the post. (The original Microsoft intent to buy Fast Search announcement is here.)
Now to work:
Nate, the author, has worked in “the industry” for 13 years with six years in the Fast Search & Transfer business. Keep in mind that search has been around for more than 40 years and six years is a good start. I assume the author’s experience in search has been shaped by what I call “the Google era”. The sale of Fast Search was precipitated because Fast Search was struggling with money. Fast Search and Google came out of the gate at about the same time in the late 1990s. Google ended up with $20 billion in revenue in the same interval that Fast Search & Transfer approach $80 million (estimated after the 2007 revenues were revisited), a police action, and a a hugely complicated search system that was tough to install. I heard that Google’s “search is simple” campaign was partly in response to the complexity of the installation process for Fast Search ESP and similar old style systems.
The author explained where Fast Search fits in the giant Microsoft Corporation. I did not understand the acronyms, but there were enough units involved to tell me that search is not at the top of the tech pyramid at Microsoft.
Nate presented the acquisition as a pat on the back for a job well done. I respectfully suggest that a financial restatement and a police action are not meritorious.
Nate referenced the Fastforward 2009 conference (which I believe I heard will be merged into another Microsoft conference) as the place where the vision for Fast Search was set forth. He provided a link to a SharePoint unit manager, Kirk Koenigsbauer. The bulk of the Web log write up is a restatement of information presented at the Fast conference earlier in 2009. The key points in my opinion were:
First, commitment. Nate reminded me that Oslo is where the search action is. The discussion of commitment puzzled me. A passage that I noted was:
To be honest, search is such a generally valued concept and the possibilities are so compelling when it’s combined with other Microsoft products and technology that it’s all we can do to stay focused on our main priorities. It’s a good problem.
The word “honest” snagged me. Was the earlier part of the write “not honest”? The statement “it’s all we can do to stay focused on our main priorities” underscored the likelihood that Microsoft is still not sure what’s important in behind the firewall search.
Second, vision. Nate asserted that Microsoft’s vision for search and Fast Search’s vision for search “matched”. I stopped and got out my yellow highlighter and worked through this statement. Microsoft’s vision has been to catch Google and deliver “findability” that keeps SharePoint users and administrators happy. In my descriptions of Fast Search, I use the word “complex” quite a bit. Nate’s vision was, if I read the “visioin” paragraph correctly is to think about Microsoft Surface, which is a touch screen interface. The idea I surmise is to change the interface to search, not the plumbing of search. I received an award from a government agency that included a picture of “lipstick on a pig”. The idea was to remind me that the work I had done would not change the outcome of a government policy, just make it pretty. I thought of that award’s snapshot of a pig when I read about the push to interface.
Third, product plans. Nate references the roadmap. I love roadmaps. I asked myself, “When will there be specific product details?”
Nate concluded by revealing that:
There you have it, my first post for the Microsoft Enterprise Search Blog. Look for more posts from me in this general category of enterprise search vision and strategy. I welcome all comments on this and future entries. Next up – Search plus Natural User Interfaces.
I crave write ups about:
- Information about on going support for Linux and Solaris installations of Fast Search
- Detail about the migration plans to Windows servers
- Return on investment analyses comparing Linux versus Windows servers
- Documentation about the interaction of Fast ESP subsystems with one another
- Index updating cycles
- Scaling best practices
- A reference architecture for processing terabyte flows of unstructured information in a 24 hour refresh cycle
- Version upgrade roll backs methods when a point upgrade goes off the rails.
Those topics would hold my interest more than comments about commitment, vision, and plans. The addled goose honks, “Detail, please.”
Stephen Arnold, April 20, 2009
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