What is Business Search? – Definition, Types, And More

Definition Business Search

The amount of information that companies produce is growing every year. This information does not store in one place. It is stretch across all the systems and applications that use it, leading to a dispersion of the data.

On average, a company has at least six different places to store information. These places can include databases, business management programs (ERP, CRM, etc.), mail servers, document management systems, or an intranet. Faced with such a diversity of media, searching for information at the same time on all channels is an ever-increasing challenge. It is where business search systems, known in English as Enterprise Search, come into play.

Types of search systems business

In general, business search applications fall into three categories:

Specialized search

Provide solutions that target a particular industry or a certain type of information (such as customer service). Within this category, we find Coveo.

Integrated Search

Manufacturers like IBM or Microsoft integrate search functionalities with other information or content management systems. They can also provide the enterprise search application without combining it with other products.

Independent, comprehensive search

Independent, comprehensive search is one that focuses on ease of implementation and use and flexibility of the system. Google, with its business search hardware team, would fall into this category.

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Privacy & Security

With proper information management, the privacy and security of your data should not be a problem. But if you’re not careful, your confidential documents and private information can be made public. A business search tool capable of indexing all the systems of a company can also return results with documents that at first seemed hidden.

Such problems can be avoided by configuring the security parameters that these applications usually have. Through file permission ranges, only people with authority can access specific documents. Additionally, we can include the term blacklists for the search system, with keywords that prevent sensitive information from appearing in the results. If you want to know all the security parameters that can protect your company’s searches, consult the Company Search Guide.

Preparation of a business search project

Before implementing an enterprise search system, it is necessary to identify the search applications that are already available in the different programs and services of the company. Once done, it is essential to evaluate whether they are sufficient to find relevant information both in the application that integrates that search tool and in other information channels of the company. If the answer is no, the possibility of expanding this tool or acquiring a more powerful business search system should get considered.

Next, we have to establish what exactly is required in the company’s business search to determine what are the essential functions of the new solution. Factors such as search speed, ease of use, or relevance of information are critical in choosing the right enterprise search application.

The last step is to choose the provider to guide you through the installation process. Although some solutions do not take a long time to implement, problems can arise when connecting with your document management systems.

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