Here are examples how search can be used.
Government
1. Respond to information requests (FOIA), finding and packaging relevant emails, scanned documents and electronic files quickly.
2. Find, isolate and remove personally identifiable information (PII) from network shares, and receive notification if more is added.
Human Resources
3. Increase self-service, enabling employees to easily find answers to specific policy, benefits or other questions from an HR portal.
4. Sharpen recruiting by pinpointing candidates based on content in their resumes, correspondence, LinkedIn profiles and more.
Education
5. Empower students to find the latest information on classes, schedules, activities and critical notices using mobile devices.
6. Provide unified access to research, archives, databases, core facilities management and other content scattered across multiple campus systems.
Financial Services
7. Compile all documentation surrounding a loan application and easily direct the packet through the approval process.
8. Uncover relevant investment information from the thousands of emails that staff members are sent every day.
9. Empower customers to access your research and analysis online, searching through different sources to help them make decisions.
Retail
10. Review marketing plans, logistical details, financial forecasts and planograms stored in regional SharePoint sites to prepare for an annual product rollout.
11. Enhance reputation management initiatives by analyzing social media and blogs to gauge customer opinion and respond quickly to negative sentiments.
Customer Service
12. Enable customers to easily access the latest information about products, including safety notices, manuals and warranties.
13. Immediately answer questions about a new program, finding key details contained in emails, file shares and content repositories
Law Enforcement and Investigation
14. Share critical information with other departments and agencies regardless of what format it’s in or where it’s stored.
15. Discover the connections between relevant pieces of information hidden in any number of different sources
Legal
16. Access facts in a case, pulling vital details out of every knowledge database and document or case management system available.
17. Locate all intellectual property documents related to a new patent application and route them to the legal team.
Compliance
18. Verify that information staff is sending overseas complies with international trade requirements.
19. Search for relevant information and apply a hold to prevent modification or deletion, ensuring the content is locked down.
Contract Management
20. Stay on top of expiring contracts and renewals, receiving automatic notifications when contracts are set to expire or milestones are due.
21. Dramatically increase visibility to a large number of contracts stored in various locations, reporting on vital terms and figures.
Accounting
22. Gather all invoices contributing to excess spending on supplies and direct them to the right person for further review.
23. Proactively identify all of the documents that could be from fraudulent sources or raise red flags during an audit.
Insurance
24. Enable agents to analyze information from anywhere using mobile devices to uncover possible fraud before processing claims.
25. Answer customer questions in one step, immediately locating policy, claim and payment details from multiple systems.
While every organization addresses information overload differently, these are best practices related to enterprise search technology that the most successful operations have in common:
1. Federate instead of consolidate.
As people create content at a dramatic rate across an organization, the costs, resources, and processes required to manage all of that information in one system have become prohibitive and unrealistic.
Organizations are finding that search technology can provide a single point of access to all types of information wherever it may exist, including legacy sources and thus delivering the benefits of consolidation without the obstacles.
2. Think organizationally, act individually.
With an enterprise search platform that is flexible and scalable enough to fit anywhere it is needed, successful organizations are empowering individuals to find and share information on their own. Distributing access to content eliminates knowledge silos, helps staff make better and more informed decisions, and saves time and resources.
3. Leave no document unturned.
At the top of the list of organization concerns is the accountability of all organizational content. Knowing what is floating around an organization, and being able to easily surface it, is crucial to mitigating risk and supporting compliance. Providing access to every ounce of relevant, unstructured information that exists outside of core business applications also is essential if you want processes to be fully informed.
4. Drive value from data.
Once they have unearthed their valuable information assets, smart organizations are immediately putting that data to use. Enterprise search can drive an operation's ability to analyze results, automate manual tasks and connect people to the right information at every point of need. It is not good enough to just find content you need to be able to do something with it.
5. Demand simplicity and usability.
When it comes to technology, especially enterprise search, users expect the experience to be simple, straightforward and pertinent to their roles. Top organizations understand those requirements because buy-in is critical. If a solution is too complex or the search results and functionality are not ideally suited to them, users will find workarounds. Then you will be back to square one.
Galaxy Consulting has over 15 years experience with enterprise search. Please contact us for a free consultation.
