Google: Enterprise search needs to focus on users

IDG News Service - For the enterprise search market to grow rapidly, vendors should focus more on meeting the needs of end users, according to Dave Girouard, vice president and general manager for Google Inc.'s enterprise business.

"Enterprise search software is so clearly bereft of soul," Girouard said today at the Search Engine Meeting conference in Boston. "Enterprise search has not been useful to users. It's not simple, comprehensive or reliable."

He contrasted enterprise search usage with that of consumer search, where Google and its competitors' search engines are used as "the default interface to anything" on the Web, he said. "Enterprise search is used as a last resort, not as a starting point" and suffers from underutilization, Girouard said.

Topping Girouard's prescription to improve the health of the enterprise search market is his advice that software vendors think of employees and consumers as the same people. That means concentrating more on providing simple keyword searches as offered in the consumer world, he said.

"Search has an opportunity to be the human interface to all corporate information," Girouard said. He noted that the knowledge worker of the 1980s and 1990s who focused on learning and applying a couple of software applications is turning into "a self-directed innovator" who needs easy access to tools -- including search -- to help in their work, ultimately providing their employer with a competitive edge.

Google's announcement last week of the OneBox feature in an upgrade of its Search Appliance is part of the drive toward putting enterprise search at center stage in a user's palette of tools, according to Girouard. The feature enables users to carry out real-time searches on business applications from the likes of Cognos Inc., Oracle Corp. and Salesforce.com Inc. to access information such as contacts, calendar entries and sales leads.

Girouard estimated that it will likely take between six months and a year to determine what kind of traction OneBox is getting among users.

Looking ahead, Girouard predicted further verticalization as a key feature for enterprise search software -- including the ability to search a particular company or a specific department within a firm. As that verticalization occurs, it's important to ensure that the user experience with enterprise search software remains both familiar and consistent, he said.