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The Google name is synonymous with search, and its reach within the enterprise just grows deeper and stronger. This year's Intranet Journal Product of the Year winner for Best Enterprise Search Software is Google Search Appliance.

Google handily beat the other heavyweight in the race, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, as well as some worthy but lesser known enterprise search competitors: ISYS: web 8, Exalead One: Enterprise 4.0, and FAST Search.

Google's commitment to the enterprise is strong. According to Kevin Gough, Enterprise Project Manager, the Enterprise Division, which is focused on the Google Search Appliance and Google Mini, is over 250 people strong. The division is focused on taking the consumer search technology and enhancing it for the enterprise with respect to the unique relevance and security needs within companies' internal webs.

I spoke with Google about their enterprise search technology and learned more about the power of the full Google Search Appliance and its younger sibling the Google Mini. Both offer companies the ability to herd and find content across the far reaches of the enterprise using the core Google search technology. The products are essentially a continuum of each other with the differences lying in cost and number of documents needing searching. More on that in a bit, but first let's take a look at the key features and some feedback from a real-world case study.

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One of the biggest challenge companies' face is being able to find relevant information across disparate systems and repositories and access it when they need it. What makes enterprise search so elusive is that it needs to take place across disparate systems (internal and external), handle thousands of different file types, maintain existing security and authentication models, be easy for all level of users, and support a global, multi-lingual work force.

Google Search answers those needs by offering:

Secure search across common protocols (NTLM, HTTP Basic, LDAP, Active Directory)

Google OneBox for the Enterprise (widget technology offering results based on key searches. For example: on the net if you Google "weather New York" you get a result with the actual forecast in addition to content results.)

Proven, easy to use interface for both novice and power users

Range based search (to limit searches by date or another key set of meta data)

Fully localized in 16 languages

According to Marketing Communications Manager Jim Cahill, the biggest strength of Google Search is that the UI is easy for anyone to use and you can search all their internal and external web sites from a single search even though the information is scattered on multiple server boxes across the globe. Cahill said that "Still, four years later, people tell me that this (Google Search) is the best thing you've ever done for us."

Google Mini can search up to 300,000 documents and cost starts at $1,995 up to $8,995 a good deal the small and medium business. Google Search Appliance is geared toward large enterprise and can search from 500,000 to millions of documents and offers additional functionality such as database content connectors and integration with SSL. Cost of the Search Appliance starts at $30,000. More information on both products can be found at this Google web site.

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