Evaluating Enterprise Search Solutions Today - Q&A with Dr. John Lewis, Chief Knowledge Officer of SearchBlox
End users want answers that are relevant, like Google; they want answers that are insight-driven like Amazon's recommendation engine, on-demand like Spotify's personal playlist, and, of course, convenient like Apple's Siri.
JW: Putting it all together, how would you summarize the key differences you see in how SearchBlox approaches search?
JL: First, we listened to what end users want. They have high expectations. They're used to using technology at home. When they come to work, they're expecting it to be somewhat sophisticated. They want answers that are relevant, like Google; they want answers that are insight-driven like Amazon's recommendation engine, on-demand like Spotify's personal playlist, and, of course, convenient like Apple's Siri—and they have pretty good requests.
SearchBlox has listened to what business users want and summarized this in what it calls the SearchBlox “Four-S Difference.” It stands for Setup, Security, Support, and Search.
We have also listened to what business users want, which we've summarized into what we call the SearchBlox "Four-S Difference." It stands for Setup, Security, Support, and Search. Setup is easy—and we've talked about that a little here—with the out-of-the-box features that provide faster time-to-value. They want more security that's solid, so we include robust security features while also allowing the companies to integrate their own current authentication and authorization systems—Active Directory, LDAP, and so forth. For support, they want 24/7, so we provide platinum-level support training, professional services if it's needed, and—of course—search. They want search that's intelligent. And we've talked about how DirectIntent, as our search strategy, uses AI to enhance the search journey for the end user and supports the search administrator with advanced reports and tools.
In summary, after listening to end user expectations and business expectations, I would say that the key differences in how we approach search from others are, one, how we support the search administrators in addition to end users; and two, how our DirectIntent search strategy uses AI throughout the search journey. Three, I'd say a key difference is really how we provide faster time-to-value.
JW: That's great, John. Thanks for taking the time to talk today. For people who want to learn more about search and what SearchBlox offers, how can they follow up?
JL: We'd love to hear from you on how we can help. You can visit our website at searchblox.com or email me at john.lewis@searchblox.com. We look forward to hearing from you!