Has enterprise search finally reached the tipping point? Yes, seemed to be the conclusion of many of the experts at the recent Enterprise Search Summit West in San Jose, CA. Of course these are people with a vested interest in believing this to be the case, but there was palpably more energy, commitment, and enthusiasm for enterprise search than in previous years. I chatted with Sue Feldman of IDC and she confirmed my feelings that something has changed, that enterprise search is entering the mainstream, and that there is no turning back.If that is the case, then it was also clear that enterprise content management is only a few steps behind. The seniority, awareness levels, and scope of influence of the attendees at our KM World ECM track was dramatically higher than in previous years.

Only time will tell, but the sense here in Silicon Valley is that the long-awaited shake out, shake up, and redefinition of search from it's indie niche existence to the mainstream of the infrastructure is well underway.

At the same time, there also seemed to be a new honesty about the limitations of enterprise search and the need to manage content properly. Even Google has stated that search is no replacement for properly managed content, and that the accuracy and relevance of search tools is dependent on the quality of the content and structure of content searched.

Alan Pelz-Sharpe is a principal analyst at CMS Watch. Write him at [email protected]Only time will tell, but the sense in Silicon Valley is that the long-awaited shake out, shake up, and redefinition of search from it's indie, niche existence to the mainstream of the infrastructure is well underway. At the same time, there also seemed to be a new honesty about the limitations of enterprise search and the need to manage content properly.