Enterprise Search Strategy Refined

While still centered on SharePoint Server, Microsoft’s enterprise search strategy will be refined in 2007: forthcoming desktop software (including Office 2007) will use the search engine built into Windows Vista; a new desktop client will consolidate results from local, networked, and Web searches; and SharePoint Server will get improved search functions and a less expensive edition tailored for enterprise search. The moves could increase the appeal of Vista and SharePoint and hamper Google’s encroachment into the enterprise, but they will do nothing to simplify Microsoft’s confusing array of search technologies, leaving ample room for partners to help customers sort through their choices.

Enterprise Search

Enterprise search tools provide keyword and other types of search capabilities to help workers locate information that’s hard to find or that they didn’t realize was available. This information may be stored in text documents, e-mail, notes, surveys, spreadsheets, presentations, purchased reports, data feeds, and other sources. Enterprise search tools generally look for data on internal systems, such as intranets, messaging systems, shared files on networks, databases, and local hard drives, although some vendors also use “enterprise search” to mean searching for data on an organization’s public-facing Web sites.