For many companies without an effective search tool, the telephone is an essential enterprise search device. Studies show people spend seven to 15 hours a month looking for information, says Michael Cizmar, president of MC+A, an enterprise search specialist. If they don't find it, they pick up the phone, and now two people are involved in the search for information, causing even greater inefficiencies.

Such inefficiencies are driving the market for enterprise search. We classify enterprise search as the ability for employees to directly search their network for the resources to do their jobs, says Michael Healey, CTO of GreenPages Technology Solutions. Although some companies may incorporate customer-facing platforms, such as a corporate web site, within enterprise search, we'll focus here on searches behind the firewall.

Imagine being able to Google one's own network, and you get an idea of the power of enterprise search. Within a law firm, an attorney could quickly find documents relating to a case. A financial services executive could instantly find all relevant documents when a borrower becomes a late payer. Salespeople would be more effective if they could instantly locate a sales presentation created by a colleague.

Solution providers targeting this market find business benefits as well. Even very small companies can be good prospects. Professional offices with just a few employees, for example, might have thousands of documents that need to be searched. Profit margins are high because the technology is relatively new and requires technical expertise. As a result, there's less competition than in more mature markets.

The familiarity end users have with Google's internet search can also open the doors for additional sales opportunities with new and existing customers. People understand the day-to-day search capabilities of Google, so when a VAR shows how this same technology can be applied and leveraged within a corporate environment, the ROI is realized almost immediately, says Melissa McCann, Google vendor business manager at Ingram Micro. Besides Google, other companies in the space are Microsoft and Coveo.

Why Enterprise Search?

PROS: Broad appeal and high margins CONS: Not a casual sale BOTTOM LINE: Still time to get in

A Customizable Solution
The entry-level Google Mini search appliance sells for $2,990, and more robust appliances start at about $30,000. The total solution can run into six figures, and for national firms as high as seven figures. The best opportunities, notes Cizmar of MC+A, are those from $100,000 to $200,000 per solution. A key difference between appliances is the number of documents they can search and the document license purchased. The Google Mini searches 50,000 to 300,000 documents, depending on the document license.

Customized solutions are common, as this is not an out-of-the-box-and-off-you-go technology. Solution providers can customize solutions based on a client's content, types of files, security requirements and search results, where results are presented to reflect the client's preferred format and appearance

Ingram Micro Can Help
Sound like a business you'd like to be in, Ingram Micro can demonstrate the technology at its Solution Centers in Buffalo, N.Y., and Santa Ana, Calif. The distributor also offers pre- and post-sales tech support and a dedicated market development specialist for Google. To become a Google authorized reseller, at least one person at a solution provider's locations needs Google certification, which requires a one-week technical course. For details, contact your Ingram Micro sales representative.