Frequently Asked Questions

Summarize Search Technologies in one sentence:

We are a system integrator entirely focused on enterprise search deployment, both behind the firewall and with web facing applications such as e-commerce sites, professional publishers, online directories and corporate websites.

Where did Search Technologies come from?

The company was founded in 2002 by three enterprise search industry veterans who, after years working with software vendors in the space, were frustrated that the majority of companies who bought enterprise search software - whether from them or from their competitors - never realized the benefits they'd hoped for.  Two main challenges would typically get in the way.  First, the software license fee tended to soak up too much of the available budget, leaving the implementation plan underfunded and ill-thought through.  Second, product choice and deployment strategy tended to be technology-led and all too often, the business goals of the project would be neglected. 

The founders of Search Technologies believed that things could be done better.

What are your key differentiators?

Our difference is our focus.  From a technical perspective, we have a unique depth and breadth of enterprise search implementation experience. We have more than 70 technical specialists on our payroll, many of whom have a decade of implementation experience under their belts.  We're also different because despite being a technical company, we have an ethos and well established best practices that ensure we remain focused on the customer’s business goals.

How many customers do you have?

We have more than 140 corporate and government customers ranging from relatively small, fast moving IT firms and business publishers, through to Fortune 500 companies and large government departments.

How do your customers typically view you?

We get things done.  Our focus is an important part of that, but our customers also value our pragmatism and practicality.  Our rates are competitive too, our customers appreciate value-for-money.

Tell me about your Methodologies for Success

This is a methodology that we’ve been using and fine honing for some years.  It is a structured assessment process within which we take the time to fully understand and document our client’s requirements – both at a technical level and crucially at the business level too.  Having a clear understanding of the business objectives from the beginning, and maintaining a focus on those objectives throughout the project, helps us deliver real business value.

We believe passionately in the importance of a structured, business oriented approach to enterprise search integration.

What’s the largest search infrastructure you’ve implemented?

We love scaling systems, and the need to take scale seriously won’t be going away anytime soon as the world continues to produce ever more information.  We’ve configured systems that sustain peak loads of 1,800 queries per second.  We’ve also implemented systems enabling many TeraBytes of data to be searched with a single query. 

It is particularly important to focus on business issues with very large systems.  Getting the infrastructure simply to work – to give back results in response to a query – does not in itself move a business forward.  Findability is key – getting precise information to the people who need it, when they need it - and that is where our experience and deep expertise really make a difference when dealing with scale.