IBM OmniFind Yahoo vs. Google Enterprise
The enterprise market will be a prime target in 2007 for two arch Internet search rivals: Google and Yahoo.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt has laid down the enterprise gauntlet with a Q1 launch date for Google Apps Enterprise Edition, as I have been chronicling (see “Google enterprise strategy: Death to the hierarchy”) over the past month, after spending several hours at the NYC Googleplex for an inside look at the Internet search behemoth's enterprise search and applications strategy.
I heard Michael Lock, Director of North American Sales for Google Enterprise, make the Google case for enterprise search and Google Apps.
“Wouldn't it be great if search within your company was as easy as search on Google.com,” Lock honed in on a simple message of Googley goodness. Google Enterprise Solutions makes organizational life as “fast and effective” as a personal search at Google.com.
He also put forth a simple, but powerful message towards Microsoft Office: “Death to the hierarchy,” hierarchical data organization.
Google Enterprise may soon be calling for other “deaths” as well; IBM and Yahoo today “unveiled free enterprise search software”:
IBM OmniFind Yahoo! Edition is a no-cost, entry level enterprise search product developed to help eliminate financial and technology barriers to intranet and Web search. Unlike other enterprise search solutions that can cost thousands of dollars to purchase and implement, the new offering from IBM with Web search services powered by Yahoo! can be downloaded for free and is simple to install and use with existing hardware.
With support for up to 500,000 documents per server, more than 200 file types and documents in more than 30 languages, IBM OmniFind Yahoo! Edition offers a unique combination of simplicity, openness, and functionality. It features a three-click installation process and takes customers only minutes to go from download to live search and information access. It provides a no-cost entry point for clients who want to get started with basic search but might have future needs for advanced secured search, or capabilities beyond traditional search such as business analytics, quality insight reporting, e-commerce or customer service self-help, or who want to leverage their unstructured information more broadly as a service throughout the enterprise.
The IBM OmniFind Yahoo Edition pitch is concise, but compelling:
IBM and Yahoo! make information actionable with a simple, no-charge enterprise search solution.
In “Google Enterprise goes to market” I present the Google Enterprise Solutions product portfolio, and pricing, strategy seeking to dovetail with the Google Internet search success story (also: Nick Carr's "Fighting free with free"):
Why is it that you can get the “number of steps in the Statue of Liberty” in under a second, and yet, you have to waste so much time finding that old presentation in your intranet, file share or some other place? We believe your information should be just as easy to find as the stock quotes, weather, movie show times, package tracking and other general information you’re already used to easily finding on Google.com…
Just as you can get a weather forecast, movie listings or stock quotes directly from the search box on Google.com, you can now access up-to-the-minute enterprise information right from the search box on your Google Search Appliance.
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