Thinking of End Users when Implementing Enterprise Search Solutions

April 18, 2012

We recently wrote about selling search internally to your boss. Karen Lynn looks at the flip-side of that discussion in, “Selling Search Internally – Part 2 – How to Get Buy In from the Staff.” Lynn points out that enterprise search investments can be an expensive endeavor, so be sure to include all stakeholders, especially end users, in the planning process to be sure you’re spending the resources on a solution that will be adopted. If your end users do not like the solution, don’t expect it to be used.

Lynn explains,

If they have input to its overall features and design, they will be more invested in using it. Involving users manufactures all kinds of good-will collateral that can help develop better morale and a positive workplace. Doing this early in the process also introduces change more slowly to users–and people rarely react well to lots of radical change. Making them a part of the process and doing it early with lots of prepping for change can affect overall satisfaction rates with the search implementation after it’s complete.

The author also stresses the importance of a training program. Implementation is by no means the last step in the deployment process. Lynn makes some valuable points and we agree that end users hold a valuable seat at the enterprise search round table. Training end users is a good opportunity to share how the search solution can help in day to day tasks, which is helpful for encouraging the adoption of new technologies.

One way to make the process easier is by deploying an easy to install solution that is end user friendly and offers comprehensive training and support. We like the feedback we’ve seen from customers of Fabasoft Mindbreeze. The Salzburg City Council of Austria had this to say about implementing Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise for their 900 users to better manage the 10,500 new documents that come in daily:

Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise makes our everyday work easier. Obtaining relevant information fast is something we now take for granted and it has become a key feature of our work and our approach to it. Above all our citizens benefit from it. They receive their information much faster.

Read more about Fabasoft Mindbreeze benefits for end users, including mobility and Cloud searching, at http://www.mindbreeze.com/.

Philip West, April 18, 2012

Comments

Comments are closed.

Search the site
Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive

Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.