Introduction
The amount of global data grows at a phenomenal pace and more and more data is added every day. Without this data, modern businesses would be near impossible to manage. Almost all of the everyday business activities that companies engage in is driven by data in one form or another. However, data is meaningless unless it can be used effectively and to use data, you must be able to find what you are looking for easily. Enterprise search makes this possible and without this business-changing technology, data would be near useless. In this post we ask, what exactly is enterprise search and how can it be used in businesses on a daily basis?
What Is Enterprise Search?
In general, enterprise search engines can be compared with normal internet search engines such as Google and Yahoo. However, enterprise search engines are customised to search through specific data sets while internet search engines are designed to search through the entire internet. Since the data that companies use is often confidential, it is not possible to use an internet search engine to find the information that is needed. Enterprise search engines offer the perfect solution to this problem.
For Which Purposes can Enterprise Search be Used?
Enterprise search has a wide variety of applications and can be used in almost all of the daily activities that a business undertakes. Some examples include:
Managing of Knowledge
Enterprise search makes it possible for companies to search through a large number of documents quickly and effectively. This is particularly useful in organisations like libraries, research companies and government organisations. Enterprise search engines can recognise natural language queries which enable users to search for data using simple phrases.
Managing People and Contacts
Enterprise search engines are not just used to search through data, they can also be combined with algorithms and AI to automate tasks. For example, enterprise search can be used to search through employment applications to find the appropriate candidates based on a natural language search query. This makes it easier for companies to find the right staff for their needs and reduces the workload of administrative staff. By using a combination of natural language input and AI, enterprise search can find information like the name of a contact when just a partial name is known.
Improving IT Systems
Enterprise search plays a vital role in the management of backend systems. Enterprise search can be used to perform tasks like finding duplicate files and finding obsolete files that are ready for deletion. In addition, enterprise search can be paired with AI algorithms to find critical performance data and display results in graphs or on a dashboard so that IT technicians can use the data to diagnose system errors and perform preventative maintenance.
E-Commerce / Customer Services
E-commerce is one of the fields in which enterprise search truly shines. Enterprise search can be used to manage e-commerce operations and perform activities such as finding specific products in large databases. In addition, enterprise search can be used to make it easier for customers to find the products that they need on an e-commerce website. Enterprise search can also be used to present customers with individualised search results based on the previous queries that they made. This is an important function for e-commerce websites because it can be used to drive sales.
Legal Applications
Enterprise search engines have a variety of applications in the legal field. Typical legal practices work with a variety of legal documents and finding information can be complicated due to the sheer volume. Enterprise search can be used to search through these data files quickly to find the information that is needed. When combined with AI, enterprise search can also be used to find specific laws and previous cases. This functionality reduces the workload of administrative staff and increases productivity across the board.
In Conclusion
Enterprise search is a powerful tool that makes it easier for businesses to operate in the digital economy. As digitalisation progresses, the application possibilities for enterprise search will only increase. For this reason, it makes sense for every business, irrespective of size or industry, to invest in enterprise search solutions that can meet the needs of the business.
Source: Plato Data Intelligence: PlatoData.io
