SharePoint Search and GSA Enhancements
October 21, 2009
The goslings and I have been following the news from the SharePoint conference, which was Sold! Out! Among the points we noticed were support for Boolean queries (ham NOT eggs), facets, and wild cards. We picked up some rumblings that there are versions of the Fast ESP high end search system. The info flowing to us left us confused, which is our normal state of affairs.
One interesting but not unexpected aspect of the “search news” from the SharePoint conference was Google’s announcements about its enterprise search solution. Google said:
Today we’re announcing more than 10 new features available on the GSA from Google Enterprise, including one that automatically improves results over time, the Self-Learning Scorer.
The key point for me is the two word phrase “self learning”. Microsoft focused on catching up with third party search solutions. Google pushed forward with “smart software”. The notion that humans have to do the work to find information in SharePoint is trumped by Google’s idea that the smart software makes the information find the user who needs it.
Google explains the approach this way:
With the new Self-learning Scorer, we’re adding a new step to the mix: analysis. As the GSA continually serves up results, it’s also learning to dynamically improve – automatically. This gives the GSA new self-improving intelligence, and adds a new step to the enterprise search cycle.
Who is going to care about Google’s beefing up the Google Search Appliance? I am not sure. Microsoft has the marketing sophistication and Google has the technology sophistication. As the flow of tweets from the SharePoint conference make clear, there are lots of SharePoint search believers.
You can check out the full Google announcement by reading “Singing a New Tune”.
With few SharePoint and GSA analysts focusing on the total cost of ownership of each of these systems, much of the information is out of a business context. Microsoft can bundle and discount. Google’s GSA pricing is not given much attention.
The escalation and confrontation between Google and Microsoft has added some zip to a somewhat commoditized enterprise search market.
Stephen Arnold, October 21, 2009
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