{"id":59,"date":"2023-10-24T18:48:21","date_gmt":"2023-10-24T18:48:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.gosearch.ai\/?p=59"},"modified":"2024-09-27T16:47:28","modified_gmt":"2024-09-27T16:47:28","slug":"search-as-a-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gosearch.ai\/blog\/search-as-a-service\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Search as a Service? A Game-Changer for Your Enterprise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Picture a library. Let\u2019s say it has twenty books, one librarian, and three patrons. In that situation, everyone would get the information they need in no time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But let\u2019s say the library has tens of thousands of books, no head librarian, and over a hundred patrons \u2013 and they\u2019re all simultaneously looking for help. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the difference between knowledge management for a small business and an enterprise company. Because enterprise companies have so many people, departments, and platforms, they need unique solutions to connect employees to their vast array of resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s where enterprise search<\/a> comes in. This important topic merits a deep dive, which is why we’ve created a three-part guide on enterprise search tools. In Part 1, we\u2019ll cover basic definitions, how search as a service works, and why it\u2019s so useful for enterprise companies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be sure to check out Part 2 on the benefits of AI-powered enterprise search<\/a>, and Part 3 on choosing the best enterprise search software<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What is enterprise search as a service?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019re probably pretty familiar with software as a service (SaaS). People use cloud-based solutions for everything from email to content management to video streaming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Search as a service <\/strong>is a specific type of SaaS product. Think of it as an internal search engine; it connects to all your company\u2019s data and lets internal teams search and access that content. The software-as-a-service model means it\u2019s built, managed, and improved by a software company \u2013 so there\u2019s no heavy lifting on your end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s important to clarify: enterprise search is not site search. Whereas enterprise search connects employees to internal company information, site search focuses on external users\u2019 website search experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re budget-conscious and hesitant to add one more SaaS product, learn how you can use SaaS spend management software<\/a> to optimize your tech stack. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How does enterprise search as a service work?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Without getting too technical, let\u2019s take a look at how it works. Enterprise search combs through large amounts of internal data \u2013 apps, drives, files, tasks, people data, and other sources of knowledge. This relies on data indexing and vector search, which is distinct from federated search.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Federated search<\/strong> runs separate searches on each data source and presents combined results to the user. Unlike enterprise search, it doesn\u2019t create a unified data index \u2013 instead, federated search relies on the existing indexes of the individual data sources, which can limit its functionality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What is data indexing?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Data indexing<\/strong> is like a library card catalog. The enterprise search platform crawls all connected internal information sources and creates an index, or navigational guide, that\u2019s frequently updated. This improves the user experience, since the pre-made index makes information retrieval lightning-fast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is vector search?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Vector search<\/strong> adds machine learning to the data index. It assigns a numerical value, or \u201cvector embedding<\/a>,\u201d to all indexed data \u2013 whether that\u2019s text, image, video, etc. The search platform then converts users\u2019 queries into vectors and searches for relevant results based on quantified proximity within the vector database. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basically, where humans perceive semantic similarity between data, the search platform perceives numerical similarity between vectors. This powers more relevant results and enables semantic search<\/strong>, which we\u2019ll discuss more in Part 2 of the guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The result? Enterprise search reduces the amount of time and effort it takes employees to find information. This yields higher productivity, lower frustration, and overall better work. For related tips, check out this article on enterprise apps<\/a> that boost productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why is search as a service a game-changer for enterprise companies?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s users expect internal search to operate like a powerful external search engine. But creating Google-style search functionality for internal information isn\u2019t easy. It requires significant effort and coding expertise to build, which is why SaaS options are so popular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Search as a service provides an out-of-the-box solution for enterprise companies. When you invest in a fully formed product, you save time and personnel resources at every stage \u2013 from building to implementing to maintaining the search platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Powerful results with minimal effort is a recipe for enterprise success. With search as a service, your company will reap the benefits of knowledge management<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider these numbers: knowledge management is one of the top three issues<\/a> influencing company success, but only 9% of orgs feel like they can address it. And it\u2019s worth addressing \u2013 employees waste over 3 hours per day<\/a> searching for information. That\u2019s a lot of lost productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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These use cases show how enterprise search boosts information access and efficiency:<\/p>\n\n\n\n