MSearchGroove

In-Brief: Microsoft acquires search company, but can it wring value out of mobile search for the enterprise? 

For a start, I can’t say I was terribly surprised by the news today that Microsoft will acquire Norway’s Fast Search & Transfer for a cool $1.23 billion. The sudden departure of Mike “Mr. Mobile Search” Brady last year was a clear signal to expect some significant changes. This was reinforced by the company’s tie-up with Japan’s Rakuten and my own exclusive Q&A later with Ryan Jones, FAST’s Director of Telecom & Media Product Marketing, who succeeded Mike. However, I expected a change in direction not ownership.

FAST, often dismissed as the one player in the space that knew the least about mobile search (but understood enterprise search best thanks to its corporate DNA), has apparently turned a problem into an opportunity. Read between the lines of today’s coverage and the discussion is not so much about how this move might boost Microsoft’s own mobile search prowess; it’s more focused on how FAST’s search capabilities can provide an interface to business apps and content.

Put another way, Microsoft is targeting the enterprise, and search is part of the bigger picture. It fits in well with Microsoft’s other initiatives and programs, such as it’s ambitious 2007 push into Unified Communications (UC) with an aim to embedding UC tools like instant messaging, conferencing, email, voice and presence into critical business applications.

Microsoft has sharpened its focus on providing business users a dashboard of communications services and critical content. Search - the de facto interface to all things digital - is essential. FAST, with its impressive customer base and recent accounting “difficulties,” is a steal.

But, if Microsoft is smart it will do more with FAST’s assets, which include recommendation know-how and a mobile advertising platform.

No mention of this from Microsoft’s Jeff Raikes, president of the Microsoft Business Division. “Enterprise search is becoming an indispensable tool to businesses of all sizes, helping people find, use and share critical business information quickly,” he said in a statement. Since it’s not a discussion point, I’ll have to raise it during the conference call later tonight.

If Microsoft bundles its capabilities properly, it might not only plug some gaps in its mobile search services (personalization would be a real plus); it could take its lessons from consumer-facing mobile search services to the enterprise space.

So what can we take away from the meteoric advance of mobile search in the consumer space? The growth in the amount of mobile content has forced the introduction of mobile search tools to help users sift through it. In the enterprise space, a similar increase in the number of mobile services and applications - as well as the requirements from remote workers for immediate answers to business-related queries - will ultimately result in a demand for mobile business portals and mobile search tools to assist in their navigation.

The ability to search and find information is a mission critical capability in the enterprise space. However, security concerns have so far prevented organizations from building mobile business portals, let alone delivering robust and relevant mobile search solutions. For the moment, vendors and customers alike are in holding pattern waiting for someone to take the lead. But this year could see the first steps in this direction. This acquisition certainly has the potential to create enterprise portals that better serve their “prosumer” customers.

The question is therefore not when will mobile search arrive full-force in the enterprise, but rather how must it be modified to meet the needs of the workforce and satisfy productivity goals.

There are no easy answers, but one solution may be to complement mobile search tools with technology and techniques that can follow the clues a user leaves to offer information and assistance before workers know they need it or even ask for it. It’s a concept that sits at the center of FAST’s approach to personalized and contextualized mobile search. The question is: Can Microsoft run with this - or will it drop the ball?

• Posted in
• Recommendation, Mobile Search, Mobile Advertising, Enterprise Search, Content Discovery

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