Enterprise Search: Roasting Chestnuts in the Cloud
March 6, 2015
I read “Seeking Relevancy for Enterprise Search.” I enjoy articles about “relevance.” The word is ambiguous and must be disambiguated. Yep, that’s one of those functions that search vendors love to talk about and rarely deliver.
The point of the write up is that enterprise content should reside in the cloud. The search system can then process the information, build an index, and deliver a service that allows a single search to output a mix of hits.
Sounds good.
My concern is that I am not sure that’s what users want. The reason for my skepticism is that the shift to the cloud does not fix the broken parts of information retrieval. The user, probably an employee or consultant authorized to access the search system, has to guess which keywords unlock the information in the index.
Search vendors continue to roast the chestnuts of results lists, keyword search, and work arounds for performance bottlenecks. The time is right to move from selling chestnuts to those eager to recapture a childhood flavor and move to a more efficient information delivery system. Image source: http://www.mybalkan.org/weather.html
That’s sort of a problem for many searchers today. In many organizations, users express frustration with search because multiple queries are needed to find information that seems relevant. Then the mind numbing, time consuming drudgery begins. The employee opens a hit, scans the document, copies the relevant bit if it is noted in the first place, and pastes the item into a Word file or a OneNote type app and repeats the process. Most users look at the first page of results, pick the most likely suspect, and use that information.
No, you say.
I suggest you conduct the type of research my team and I have been doing for many years. Expert searchers are a rare species. Today’s employees perceive themselves as really busy, able to make decisions with “on hand” information, and believe themselves to be super smart. Armed with this orientation, whatever these folks do is, by definition, pretty darned good.
It is not. Just don’t try telling a 28 year old that she is not a good searcher and is making decisions without checking facts and assessing the data indexed by a system.
What’s the alternative?
My most recent research points to a relatively new branch or tendril of information access. I use the term “cyberosint” to embrace systems that automatically collect, analyze, and output information to users. Originally these systems focused on public content like Facebook, Twitter posts, and Web content. Now the systems are moving inside the firewall.
The result is that the employee interacts with reports generated with information presented in the form of answers, a map with dynamic data showing where certain events are now taking place, and in streams of data that go into other systems such as a programmatic trading application on Wall Street.
Yes, keyword search is available to these systems which can be deployed on premises, in the cloud, or in a hybrid deployment. The main point is that the chokehold of keyword search is broken using smart software, automatic personalization, and reports.
Keyword search is not an enterprise application. Vendors describe the utility function as the ringmaster of the content circus. Traditional enterprise search is like a flimsy card table upon which has been stacked a rich banquet of features and functions.
The card table cannot support the load. The next generation information access systems, while not perfect, represent a significant shift in information access. To learn more, check out my new study, CyberOSINT.
Roasting chestnuts in the cloud delivers the same traditional chestnut. That’s the problem. Users want more. Maybe a free range, organic gourmet burger?
Stephen E Arnold, March 6, 2015
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