The enterprise
search market is getting interesting again and that is a good thing for all
of us. The big question this week is, “What does OpenText’s acquisition of Recommind mean?”
Why Did OpenText Buy Recommind?
I think we can safely say that, with a transaction purchase price of $163
million based on $70 to $80 million of annualized Recommind revenues, this deal
was about eDiscovery revenue
and not enterprise search. Recommind’s enterprise search market (for its Decisiv Search
product) has been close to flat for the last couple of years, meaning that
annual Decisiv Search revenue is based predominantly on support payments.
Verdict: This deal was about eDiscovery revenue, not enterprise
search.
Will OpenText Add Resources to Decisiv Search?
I suggest that we look at OpenText’s historic behaviour with respect to
acquisitions. Tony Byrne did
a great job of summing this up last month: “The most important thing to
understand, though, is that as a vendor OpenText is a financial construct in
search of a technology rationale. The company follows a ‘roll-up’ strategy:
purchasing older tools for their maintenance revenue streams, streams which —
while not always large — are almost always very profitable.”
It is hard to feel optimistic about a long-term vision for Decisiv Search.
OpenText would have to do more than add development resources to the product
team – it needs to innovate in an era where basic search is becoming
commoditized and innovation is being driven by data analytics and artificial
intelligence companies.
Verdict: Decisiv Search will remain stable, but is unlikely to
evolve.
I am a Decisiv Search client – do I need to switch?
In the short-term, you have no reason to panic. But, you should start
planning for the future. I have no reason to believe that Decisiv Search will
not be maintained and kept current with required operating systems and
integrations. However, as recently observed, enterprise search can be a core
system powering content management ecosystems and search-based applications.
Moving in this direction means you should look at other search technologies.
Verdict: Decisiv Search should operate in its current state for the
foreseeable future. But, an integrated information environment demands more
flexible and sophisticated tools that turn search into an intelligent content
platform.
Where Is the Search Market Going?
There is no question that basic enterprise search delivers results (no pun
intended). But, the real value lies in leveraging the search index and
publishing search results via practice-centric applications. Search can power
staffing applications, support pricing analysis, and contribute to risk
management programs. The right search tool for you is one that:
- complements your existing information infrastructure,
- integrates into portals and mobile applications, and
- delivers information based on multiple data points, including user personas,
time entry task codes, application context – even the time of day.
We are also tracking the evolution of more advanced, analytical search tools.
Very interesting models are emerging that can be implemented in combination,
rather than to the exclusion of, other search tools.
Verdict: Viable search options are available to law firms. Currently
available technologies support high-value search-based applications. This path
can be pursued in parallel with the emergence of more advanced analytical
tools.
Is That All?
Not by a long shot. Fireman & Company evaluates search technologies with
our clients regularly and we believe that this is an area with untapped
potential. Whether your firm owns Recommind’s Decisiv or another search tool or
is still exploring search, you should look hard at the strategic uses of
search.