Why enterprise search is important: the basics.
No great digital enterprise without a well-functioning enterprise search.
How often do you use Google in a day? I know I do it a lot and I’m not alone. Only looking at Google, users do 3.5 billion searches per day.
It shows how ‘Search’ is embedded in our digital lives. Employees translate the ability to find everything on the web to their expectations for the workplace. Especially people who need to handle information on a daily basis can experience difficulties to find their way in the pile of content.
Enterprise search: the benefits
One of the main advantages of a digital workplace is finding the information right when you need it. Part of that is a good working enterprise search. All your digital tools and applications get connected through that search. Thinking about a document, typing its name and getting it on your screen. That’s how it should be.
“ 71% of employees are convinced that search is necessary for their organisation, yet 25% of organisations has one in place. “ - AIIM.
It is also an enabler for better collaboration and employee efficiency. Imagine, looking for that one document, browsing through your whole computer and you just can’t find it. You are frustrated and annoyed, we all would be.
Invest in an enterprise search with the right capabilities and let employees focus on what they want to do: working together on challenging projects. They can put whatever they need in the search machine, and it’s there within seconds. In this way, people don’t get interrupted in their workflow.
Another aspect, often overlooked, is the role of a good search for user adoption. If employees don’t find what they’re looking for fast, they will get disappointed in their digital environment, reaching back to their old ways of thousand documents on their desktop. Back to square one.
Importance of good information management
You can’t just start to implement an enterprise search. As with everything, you need to be prepared to get to the result you want.
To have a good functioning enterprise search, it is important to have a good information strategy. Often, all tools have their own search, what prevents users from having a satisfying search experience. Make sure that all company applications are integrated, preferably with a single sign on. But it doesn’t stop there. A structured taxonomy and providing relevant metadata are key to getting the right results. The better your organisation is structured content-wise, the better the search results will be. And don’t forget about mobile because 65% of employees are unable to find information on their mobile devices.
Do you want to dive in the world of enterprise search? Formica is organizing a breakfast seminar where we will go into the benefits and possibilities of enterprise search with Elasticsearch. See you there?
Contact us
