Going Google: Lessons for the Enterprise

Editor's Notes

• #2: Welcome everybody. It’s great to see that some of you are still around here on the last day of the conference. My name is Peter Sejersen, I come from Denmark and as you can hear I’m not a native English speaker, so please interrupt if you don’t understand what I’m saying. I am going to talk about “Some lessons for the enterprise when Going Google”. What I’m saying is based on the research we have done in J. Boye about Google, including interviewing customers and partners and not least listening in our large European community of practice. Our Community of practice is where online professionals can meet each other and share experiences in a confidential setting with us as moderators. So what I’m going to share here today is mainly based on what I have heard from actual users of Google’s services.
• #3: Vendor-neutral and independent means we share both positive and negative experiencesImportant:We do not receive any money from vendors, including GoogleWe do not accept gifts such as plane tickets and hotels
• #4: But before we get started I would like to ask how many of have heard this in your organisation? What Google.com has done on the internet with their search engine, has deeply influenced the existing enterprise search area. People are used to finding what they look for with Google on the internet, which often sharply contrasted by the search experience they have at work. Image credits: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/787433
• #5: So here’s what i’m going to talk about the next 25 minutes. Please feel free to stop me if you have a question - otherwise I expect that we have some time for dialogue after the presentation. Image credits: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1215187
• #6: To quote CMS Watch in their 354 page long report on the, an American analyst company you can meet down in the exhibition area.: “” The reason they say this is, that Google has raised the expectations. Enterprises have to offer their employees good search options, because Google has made search the primary way of finding information. This means that the vendors in the enterprise search marketplace has to acknowledge the Google-effect and adjust their offerings to the high expectations from the users.
• #7: So why can’t enterprises just “Go Google” and solve their search challenges like What does it mean to “Go Google”? The main point here is that search is only one aspect of what Google has to offer the enterprise.So it can mean many things to Go Google. First a little back ground on Google’s Enterprise Division. Google has approximately 800-1000 of their 20.000 staff working in the Enterprise division. However, Enterprise represents less than 2% of their annual $22 Billion US dollars revenue. The rest comes from advertising. Yet, in the last couple of years Google has been fighting hard to become more than a one product company. Image credits: http://www.lbhat.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Googlebillboard.png
• #8: Besides search, the most hyped offer from Google for enterprises is Google Apps. Apps is a cloud based collaboration suite which they sell to Enterprises for 50 dollars a year pr. user. Yesterday you could actually meet WWF here at the conference presenting a case study about their experiences with apps. WWF is a member of our international CoP, and for their globally distributed charity organisation Google Apps has been a good fit. Google maintains all the infrastructural aspects including upgrading and hosting, so it’s very easy for the WWF to maintain. And then it’s completely free because WWF is an NGO. From a search perspective Google Apps are also interesting because they come with a built in search engine. So if your organisation Goes Google by switching to Apps and builds an intranet based on Sites and Docs, you don’t have to buy a search engine. Image credits: http://jedwinmedia.ca/home/images/stories/googleapps.jpg
• #9: Other key areas where Google have already entered the enterprise landscape are Google Analytics and Adwords. As you probably know, Google analytics is completely free to use. Is allows users to do quite advanced web analytics in an intuitive user interface. Then there is Adwords, which is where all Google’s money come from. Many large organisations are using Adwords, in order to gain visibility on Google which is what all users use to find what they are looking for.
• #10: But getting back to search, Google has clearly done some great things on the internet when it was introduced in the late 1990ies. Google revolutionised web search by offering great search in a very simple and intuitive user interface. What made Google’s search so great, was the so called PageRank algorithm, which sorted the results and returned the most relevant hits. The main factor in this algorithm was - and still is - links, meaning that the more a site was quoted or “linked to”, the more popular and relevant it was considered to be by Google. As we all know, this wisdom-of-the-crowd-idea turned out to work really well for the world wide web. So why can’t we just have a Google for our enterprise? The main reason is that search is a very complex affair meaning that web search and enterprise search are two very different things. Image credit: http://www.google.co.uk
• #11: It’s the classic problem with comparing apples to pears. Google’s web search is based on the PageRank, but as all enterprises know, popularity should not be confused with authority. As an example, links are not that common in an enterprise document repository. Another issue is security and restricted information which should only be accessible by the right people. So just because google.com is great, it doesn’t necessarily mean that their enterprise solutions are great. Web and enterprise are two very different scenarios, so it’s best to take a step back and actually looking at what Google has to offer the enterprise, instead of looking at what Google is doing on the internet. Image credit: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1160937 & http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1070025
• #12: So here we have a listing of what Google has to offer the enterprises. Here it is worth saying, that search is actually one of the most mature parts of Google’s enterprise offerings with roots back to 2002 where the Google Search Appliance was first launched. First up we have the Google Site Search or “Custom Search” as it is also referred to. It is a hosted search solution and can only be used for searching publicly available information. Next in line we have the Google Mini Appliance and the GSA, which are turnkey servers you install on premise.
• #13: Here I have made a brief overview of the most important key differentiators. The prices varies depending on the numbers of documents being indexed. If you are very interested in the specific technical details, I would recommend that you talk to Google or visit CMS Watch down in the exhibition area. As you can see with the Google Search appliance, it can index up to 1 billion documents (according to Google). This is done by connect multiple appliances to each other and meaning that it will be quite pricy. All three have their own specifications and limitations, but there are also some common things worth noticing, which are valuable to know for organisations considering Google.
• #14: The first thing it’s good to know is the the solutions from Google are more or less black boxes when it comes to the ranking algorithm. You have very little control over the way results are ranked, although the GSA allows you to apply more authority to specific collections. You can also add best bets for certain key queries, which will then be shown as ads outside the generic list of results (like AdWords on Google.com) However, most users say that google delivers good ranking out-of-the-box, but you should beware that it relies heavily on the quality of your data and meta data. When it comes to styling the user interface, it is possible as the examples here show, though it is not as easy as you could wish. Then again, what you buy is basically the Google experience, which people know and trust, so you should think twice before changing the look and feel too much. Don’t reinvent the wheel - users are used to Google.
• #15: What users like to most about Google is that the solutions are very easy to get up and running. The installation and indexing is quite simple. However, if you have complex repositories that needs to be indexed like SharePoint installations or various databases, you often need to setup an additional server in between. Users report that this can be very challenging, especially if you also have advanced security restrictions on your content. Google also often rolls out new versions with new features. However, it is not uncommon that these new features are still in beta or you have to play with the different APIs and attach additional servers if you want the new features. Make sure to test on real content! Image credits: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/979642
• #16: As I showed on the overview slide, Google’s solutions are quite affordable. However, if you are in an large enterprise you often need more that one appliance. One of the organisations I interviewed needed to buy 3 appliances so they had one for both the development, test and production environment. This would cost them around 100.000 Euros. So the price curve can be quite steep if you have serious requirements. It is also worth noticing that after 2 or 3 years the appliances are no longer supported by Google, so you have to buy new ones if something goes wrong. Image credits: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1144347
• #17: A major strength of Google that is also worth mentioning, is that it is easy to market and sell internally. As mentioned before, people know and trust Google, so if you install Google, you might take some heat of your back. Users like Google so the brand alone can make them less critical of your enterprise search. Image credits: http://www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=download&id=1211480
• #18: So, with all this said, it is worth stressing, that there are many alternatives to Google. When I talk to customers, they often didn’t have a search engine before they got Google. So basically any choice would have been an improvement. Many vendors have been around longer that Google and offer simple, advanced or specialised search options. Maybe your budget is very limited, or maybe you want to get help from your local agency. Image credits: http://www.cmswatch.com/vendormap/
• #19: So instead of just Going Google, because your colleagues like what they see on the WWW, you should take a step back and do a proper evaluation. (read bullets) Think the process through and find out what your requirements are. Also take a look at what you already have - if for example you are using SharePoint it may be easier and cheaper to go with the built in search, and instead spend some resources on optimising that. As an example The Guardian uses Endeca - a US enterprise search vendor. They have structured their results completely different from what we know from Google with the ability to narrow the results. Only, then you can decide for a specific tool!
• #20: You will be a small fish which means that it can be hard to get their attention and hard to get them to make changes. Google is not the normal kind of software vendor who will run after each and every customer. You will often be a small fish to them, meaning that negotiating prices and terms and conditions can be challenging. Image credits: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/93867
• #21: Corporate culture: Google is a unique and secretive company (they are engineers - not sales & marketing). They are very intelligent and friendly to work with. Beware though, that they don’t offer training to customers but only to partners. Instead they refer to the API and the simplicity of their products. In general their support gets mixed evaluations. Some customers say, that they usually respond quickly to support requests, which is useful as the available documentation isn’t that comprehensive. Other users have however complained that the support is slow and unsatisfying. Especially if you are in Europe and have to wake for America to wake up. There are also some contract issues. In many cases you can only get an American contract with Google, which is not always appreciated by your legal/procurement department. Then you need to buy the appliance through a reseller. They also have some special terms in the contract. AS an example you have to reply to their support request answers within 2 days or else the support contract will be cancelled If you have special requirements, it can be hard to find an experienced parter (especially in Europe). Image credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pineapplebun/3046503240/
• #22: So you might end up having to buy the appliance through a partner. The bad thing here is that users report, that experienced partners can are few and far between. If you have special requirements, it can be hard to find an experienced partner (especially here in Europe). So if you plan on relying on a partner when implementing and setting up the solution, make sure to investigate what the options are before deciding on Google. Image credits: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/623090
• #23: And now I just want to look a little bit forward before wrapping up. Many analysts and market watchers are saying that Google will put even more emphasis on the enterprise segment. Up until the last couple of years, Google was completely focused on the consumer side, with AdWords as the big money machine. Now they are taking their consumer-first approach into the enterprise. Google is popular because it puts the consumer first. People know and rely on Google from their professional and private life, which makes Google a very strong brand. And by insisting on putting the average consumer in the centre of the innovation, Google has embraced the trend of user-driven innovation, which is major trend at the moment. But investors also like to see revenue coming from other places than advertising in order to spread out the risks and possible growth area. As a proof, Google’s enterprise division have grown from 250 people to 1000 in just 3 years. Sources: Jim Murphy from AMR Research: “Google Gets Out of Beta and Earnestly Into the Enterprise” from Sep 2009. TechCrunch: http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/06/02/the-big-cheese-powerful-version-of-google-search-appliance-can-grow-exponentially/