Our Search Application Assessment Process

Details matter when it comes to ensuring success with search.  Search engines touch a broad range of other technologies and systems as it seeks to index data.  Detail also matters when aiming to meet business objectives head on.  There is a difference between simply getting a search application to work, and having it make a telling contribution to your business success.

It is important to know what to look for.  We will help you find opportunities to focus the solution on your business need, and we will guide you past the pitfalls, such as relying on hyped technical functions.  This requires experience as well as expertise.

Over the years we have developed a comprehensive customer assessment process called methodologies for success which provides a structured yet highly pragmatic approach to search implementation.  We begin by talking to your people, analyzing your current configuration and gaining a detailed understanding of the business issues driving your need for a new search-centric system.   We then provide you with an assessment results document containing detailed recommendations and a road map for solution development, including an outline project and staffing plan.  This document enables you to see a clear picture of the size, complexity and likely overall cost of the project, written in an open and accessible manner.  You can use our assessment results to guide an in-house development, you can subcontract to a third party, or you may choose to further engage with us. 

We offer this assessment service for an attractive fixed price.  The clarity that our assessment results provide will save you many times the cover price within the project as a whole, regardless of how you choose to implement your new search solution.

Statement of work

If you choose to work with us, we will translate the assessment results into a detailed project and staffing plan.  This statement of work specifies every facet of our engagement with you — development, installation, stabilization — and it is used as a coordination and discussion tool throughout the project.

Focused implementation

Your approval of the statement of work triggers the implementation phase.  This is carefully orchestrated, with hand-picked Search Technologies staff working with you to provide, as necessary:

• Architecture and design
• Data cleansing and data transformation
• User interface development
• Indexing pipeline development
• Performance analysis and tuning
• Search engine scaling (data, users, throughput)
• Categorization, entity extraction and taxonomy development
• Index optimization
• Query pipeline and results format tuning

Because of our scale we can provide the ideal mix of skills for each project we undertake.

Once your system is in production - and because of our pragmatism and experience the vast majority of our projects go into production on time - we offer you the continuity of a first-class ongoing support service.

Contact us today to discuss how methodologies for success can help you.