FSN: Google set to revolutionise information retrieval from corporate systems

Google set to revolutionise information retrieval from corporate systems
1st May 2006 With little or no training Google allows users from almost any background to find context rich sources of information over the internet in milliseconds. So Google's announcement that it is to provide the same simple interface to query corporate information held in ERP, CRM, business intelligence and performance management applications is both exciting and revolutionary. Gary Simon, FSN's managing editor looks critically at the repercussions of last week's announcement.

Most of us are accustomed to the ease with which information can be retrieved over the internet using Google search. With little or no training Google allows users from almost any background to find context rich sources of information in milliseconds from anywhere in the world, ranked and sorted by relevance. But incredibly, 70% of the world's information is locked up in corporate databases. Hidden from view and guarded behind firewalls, valuable information lies dormant, inaccessible and difficult to query using conventional tools. So Google's announcement that working with partners such as SAS, Cognos and Oracle, it is to provide the same simple interface to query corporate information held in say, ERP, CRM, business intelligence and performance management applications is both exciting and revolutionary. Google is of course familiar to users of the internet largely for retrieving information buried in documents, web site pages and pdf's. More recently desktop versions, hosted on individual users' laptops and PC's help to retrieve information based on the same search technology without the need to remember the directories and folders to which the original documents were saved. Roberto Solimene, Google European Enterprise Director, told FSN, “The average office worker spends a quarter of their time each day looking for information so the potential savings are massive if they can retrieve information almost instantly.” The trouble with corporate information particularly around core business processes is that it is multidimensional and housed in all manner of multidimensional databases, OLAP cubes, relational databases, financial and business applications. Clearly retrieving business information is quite different from retrieving documents and HTML pages over the web. Furthermore, querying business intelligence systems in the past has required significant familiarity with specialised query tools, reporting engines and dynamic spreadsheet links. The dream of being able to tender even simple business queries in plain English and retrieve the correct answers has largely gone unfulfilled. So the big question is; how is the Google search engine going to work on corporate data and can Google succeed where successive generations of Business Intelligence, query and reporting tools have failed? How is it going to work? Working in partnership with some of the world largest software vendors, such as, Cognos, Oracle, SAS and others, Google has combined the simplicity of its instantly recognisable search box with technology that provides a ‘window' on accounting and non-financial information held in relational and multidimensional databases. When a user enters a plain English search string into the search box, (called Google OneBox for Enterprise ) the search engine retrieves a chart, graph or table of results and presents them at the head of the results page, mingled with relevant documents and snippets of information in familiar Google style. Clicking on the window or viewer launches the relevant underlying application, such as Cognos 8 or SAS 9 that returned the data in the first place, so that a search can be pursued in detail. Graham Walter, managing director of Cognos UK , Middle East and Africa , told FSN that he sees the Google relationship as a very important step. “The simplicity and familiarity of the Google interface means that Business Intelligence can be made available to the whole of an organisation. By embedding business intelligence reports within a Google search organisations can better demonstrate the value of this type of information and how it affects peoples' roles. We are very excited about the ease with which business intelligence information can be retrieved alongside other documents.” From a commercial point of view, the release of Google OneBox for Enterprise appears to be attractive too. Google is able to open a whole new market and revenue stream by charging licence fees for the Google Search Appliance which features Google OneBox for Enterprise . Sofware partners can charge licence fees for making the viewers available on their ERP and other business systems and finally, corporations can liberate information on a grand scale, improve productivity and overcome some of the ‘functional silos' that are a part of every day life in large organisations. Google says that all of this is possible without compromising security and confidentiality of information. David Turner, Global marketing director of CODA the financials software house is also excited about the development. “Google has hit the nail on the head. They are providing an easy way of retrieving information, both data and documents. Google is driving information out of data and making it available to a wider audience. We also welcome the fact that it is making the technology available to developers who are not Google partners and we will almost certainly look at it. Anything that makes the user interface on business information systems easier to use is very welcome and it seems a natural progression for Google and end users,” added Turner. Whilst welcoming the development, Frank Buytendijk, a Hyperion strategist formerly with Gartner, expressed concerns about the value of search when organisations do not appear to have embedded common data definitions. He told FSN, “BI and Search really is an important combination, something I saw emerging whilst at Gartner. At Hyperion we keep a very close eye on what is happening here. But I feel it is not about Search alone. The topic addresses the core of what BI and BPM (Business Performance Management) try to accomplish: creating the one version of the truth. That is the real problem we are trying to tackle,” he remarked. “One of the unwritten laws of business, I call it Buytendijk's law is: the closer that a certain term is to the core of the business, the more definitions of it there are around. Think of the term "call" for British Telecom (BT), "flight" for British Airways or "policy" for a large insurance company, and "revenue" and "cost" for most organisations. Every department has an interest in these terms and contributes to their use but has a different perspective on their meaning depending on their place in the value chain. Before one can embark on a meaningful search this needs to be addressed. It is partly a technology issue, and partly an organisational and governance matter. At Hyperion we see the importance of master data management, for example, being able to synchronise product codes, customer codes, and calendars, if organisations, are truly going to solve the search problem. Search-access is the cream on the cake and not the cake itself,” he added. Nevertheless, the Google developments have been widely welcomed by the market at large. In addition to the partnerships mentioned earlier, other vendors have been keen to take advantage of the latest developments. Google partners LTech Consulting and SADA Systems have developed OneBox modules to enable access to employee directory and calendar information from Microsoft Exchange. Google partner BearingPoint has developed OneBox modules that provide access to SAP and Peoplesoft, plus access to employee contact information in LDAP directories. Google partner Persistent Systems has developed a OneBox module for directory and calendar information in Lotus Notes. The ease and speed with which these partnerships have been developed suggests that Google is onto a winner. Undoubtedly, the technology will expose numerous faults and flaws with data that need to be addressed to make searches more meaningful. Setting adequate security will also pose a challenge. But at least organisations now have the possibility of a uniquely simple method of search, that anyone can use and that has worldwide recognition and respect. It is a breakthrough technology that could, in time, transform operational effectiveness.

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