Intranet Connections and Super Search Version 13
April 2, 2015
I read “Maximize Productivity with Super Search from Intranet Connections (Version 13.0 Release).”
For decades I have been gathering information about enterprise search and content processing. The name of the company was not familiar to me. The assertions in the news article were, however.
Puzzled, I went through my archive of search vendor information and did not find content about Intranet Connections. I noted the date on this article and wondered if the company were an April Fool’s spoof. I know I am getting on in years, but when I wake up and plop in front of my primitive, coal-fired computer, my memory works reasonably well. I know my name and the day of the week.
The write touts an enterprise search system that includes:
- New Search Engine
- Preview Display Cards
- Intuitive Search Filters
- Advanced Search Options
- Controlled Search Security.
I know from the years of experience I have logged examining, testing, and creating search and content processing systems like the one we sold to the long ago Lycos, that “new” is a slippery concept. For some folks, learning about Google’s site operator is a new thing. For others it is a reminder of the many useful search functions that Google no longer exposes to the ad consumers looking for objective information via Google.com.
I am not sure how often a search system innovates across 13 versions. Intranet Connections seems to have been founded in 1999, which makes the company 16 years young. Most of the long lived search engines don’t change too much from the original core; for example, Autonomy IDOL. On the other hand, other companies just discard a search system and graft in open source Lucene and slap on the “new” label. Others take inspiration from Fast Search and call it new.
The company states on its LinkedIn page here:
Intranet Connections is a business intranet software solution that enables organizations to connect, collaborate and create more efficiently yielding significant time-cost savings and stronger employee engagement. We combine key business tools to automate workflows and processes, while delivering improved communication and collaboration among employees to engage and promote culture within the digital workplace.
How new is Version 13 of a search system. I learned from the write up:
“Enterprise intranet search functionality is proving to be more critical than ever as today’s mature intranets face thousands of data entries, pages, forms, and uploaded corporate documents and policies. Employees’ expectations are higher than ever to deliver on an intranet search utility that is fast, focused, intelligent and super simple. We wanted to introduce intranet search that is not just functional but an entire experience.” Douglas also reports that Super Search was a result of close collaboration with Intranet Connections’ customers who were active in feedback for the design and feature set capabilities, ensuring the product release would enhance their needs for enterprise intranet search.
And adds that it can deliver software capable of “triggering emotions on the Intranet using Intranet design such as theme, videos, and photos.” Furthermore, the system seems to be able to marry an “Intranet and an enterprise social network.”
These are significant assertions.
Okay, that sounds great but we are in Version 13, not Version 1.1. The new version was announced in August 2014. In “Intranet Search Designed for Maximum Productivity” I learned:
The first thing customers will notice is the completely redesigned user interface. It is really geared towards making search simple and fast as possible for the average user. We also introduced “one-click filtering”. If a user knows they are looking for a document, a form, or a person, they have the option to filter their results with a single click. This automatically removes search results that aren’t in the specified category. More advanced search options are available for power users, but are hidden by default. These users can choose to filter their results by specific sites, application, modified date, author, or tags. We also introduced the content of feature cards. Most of the time, users can determine if a search result is what they are looking for by the title, category, or short description. However, if there are multiple documents that are similar, a little bit more information may be necessary. Instead of requiring the user to click into the item to view more details, and navigate away from search, we introduced the concept of a feature card. Additional summary information for a search result can be displayed within the search screen, preventing the need to jump back and forth from search and content.
Intrigued by my Overflight systems lack of information about Super Search, I visited the company’s Web site. I learned that the system begins at $15,000, which strikes me as a bargain. Low cost search systems often face significant financial demands as the company struggles to keep pace with the needs of customers, support demands, and the inevitable tweaks that are needed to deal with the wild and crazy nature of behind-the-firewall content.
At www.IntranetConnections.com I learned that the company makes “Intranet software made for you.” I assume that means me. I do have a 2.5 million test corpus which has been known to take days of indexing. One German company promised speedy performance, and I had to leave the system on for five days before I could run a test query. The initial crawl failed because this particularly German, Lucene based system choked on Microsoft’s file locks. Yep, every Microsoft system has these types of files. I wondered, “Yo, why not provide some tools to deal with this like a !readme.txt file.”
Back to Intranet Connections.
The company delivers what I think of as a one-stop, 7-11 solution. The Web site highlights a people directory, forms, document management, Intranet Web sites, but not search. After I scrolled through information about the corporate Intranet, the finance Intranet, and the healthcare Intranet. But no direct link to Super Search.
I used my tools to examine the site and located a blog post about Super Search in an article labeled “Super Search Launch [sic] Scavenger Hunt.” There was a phrase about Super Search, “And much more”. But there was no link. I did locate a link to a story with the title “Super Search (V13.0) dated January 27, 2015. That page did provide links to a feature guide, a support page, a webinar recording (Does anyone have webinar fatigue as I do?) and a recursive link to the blog. There is also a link to the installation guide. The guide is 300 words long and helpful provides me with a user name and password. The guide also makes clear that I need to be deep into the Microsoft world. Mac and Linux users do not seem to be encouraged. Unlike the German outfit, Intranet Connections provides a link to information necessary to get the search engine working.
It appears that the company offers an alternative to Microsoft SharePoint. The firm, based in Vancouver, has 1,600 customers. Some have a high profile like NASA and the Mayo Clinics. My hunch is that the company has assembled / developed a suite of software. Search is included.
Other observations:
- I struggled with the “new” concept. I mean after 13 years, how “new” is “new.”
- I had to do some poking around to get access to the fact sheet and basic information
- The pricing of $15,000 seems to apply to the full collection of software available from the company
- I have yet to figure out how I managed to know zero about a company with a search system named “super.”
I need to improve my enterprise search information collection. Some help from vendors with more comprehensive and easy-to-find information would be helpful.
Stephen E Arnold, April 2, 2015
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