Enterprise Search

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Setting up Enterprise Search
• User experience
• Why should you use Enterprise Search?
• FAQ
• Best practices

Note:

Enterprise Search is a paid add-on to your Simpplr subscription. Contact your Simpplr rep for more information.

Overview

Enterprise Search is an AI-powered search platform designed to help organizations efficiently find and access their collective knowledge. By connecting disparate data sources and leveraging advanced AI capabilities, Enterprise Search provides a unified, relevant, and secure search experience, enhancing productivity and collaboration across all departments.

The legacy search functionality uses an API to search an external, linked system. Results are returned in no particular order depending on what's returned via the API. With this, Simpplr has no control or influence over the information, relevancy or order of search results. Enterprise Search changes this.

Enterprise Search uses Simpplr's global search algorithms to display, rank, and prioritize search results from external platforms in the same way we rank and prioritize content living directly within the intranet. That is, results from connected platforms like SharePoint, Google Drive, Confluence, etc. will be personalized to each user. Factors considered in prioritization include (but are not limited to):

• User's profile data
• Keyword repetition within content (ex: 5 instances of the exact keyword would be ranked higher than 2 instances of the exact keyword)
• Keyword presence in page category and/or site name
• Publish date

Simpplr will analyze the results to provide an AI summarization, and highlight the sources used for the summary. In addition, users can filter their search results to easily find the information they're seeking.

Note that as of now, site-level searching will remain the same, and will not be powered by Enterprise Search. 

Setting up Enterprise Search

Admin setup

1. As an App manager or user with applicable permissions, head to to Manage > Enterprise Search
2. Click Add source.
3. Select the source(s) you'd like to add from the list. Use the connectors feature to sync data from various repositories. This eliminates the need for users to access different sources individually. A "connector" in software is a pre-built software package that acts as a bridge between applications, systems, or services to facilitate communication and data flow. Integrating platforms into Enterprise Search must be done by a system administrator for each respective platform (some platforms may allow a "connector admin" privilege to be assigned to a non-admin user). The admin user connecting the integration should be a service account, or the integration will break when that user leaves the organization. 
   • • Click on Data Sources.
     • Select the type of data source you want to connect (e.g., HR databases, IT repositories, Sales and Marketing tools).
     • Follow the prompts to authenticate and authorize the connection.

   Note that as of now, Simpplr supports the following 3rd party applications as search repositories:

   • • Google Drive
     • SharePoint
     • OneDrive
     • Confluence
     • Jira
     • ServiceNow

   More applications will be supported in upcoming releases, including Zendesk, Github, Salesforce, Dropbox, Slack and MS Teams.

4. Configure the connector name as you'd like it to display in search results.
5. Add the administrator's email address.
6. Add the connector JSON.
7. The respective system admins should be familiar with how to generate the connector JSON. If not, instructions for Google Drive, SharePoint, and OneDrive are linked above in the list.

Configure access controls: Set up security and privacy settings to ensure compliance and control over who can access specific data.

1. Navigate to Security Settings.
2. Define access rights and roles for different user groups.

Personalize user experience: Leverage user context to tailor search results.

1. Head to Personalization Settings.
2. Enable personalization features to provide users with the most relevant search results based on their role and previous interactions.

User experience

Accessing Enterprise Search: Users can access Enterprise Search directly from the Simpplr search bar on their intranet, or the respective application.

Individual users will not need to connect their accounts to use the integration. Enterprise Search will be connected in a different manner than legacy search, so users can seamlessly search across data sources without needing to take any additional actions.

With the ability to search across multiple data sources, users may have a large number of results returned to them, depending on their search term. To help improve the user experience, users will be able to sort and filter results. That is, if the user only wants results from their Simpplr intranet and not Confluence, they can filter accordingly by clicking on the source they want to return results from. Robust filter options are available based on Date, Author, and Content Type (page, file, album, etc.)

Performing a search: Enter a query in the search bar. The system understands the intent behind the query and provides relevant results.

Using AI-powered features: Benefit from AI summarization, search suggestions, and translation capabilities to get precise and actionable insights.

Interacting with results: Click on the search results to view detailed information, access documents, and perform actions directly from the search interface.

Why should I use Enterprise Search?

• Unified search experience: Access information from multiple data sources through a single search interface.
• Enhanced productivity: Quickly find answers and insights to make informed decisions faster.
• Personalized results: Receive search results tailored to your role and past interactions, increasing relevance and efficiency.
• AI-powered insights: Utilize AI for summarization and search suggestions to get concise and useful information from lengthy documents.
• Secure and compliant: Ensure data privacy and security with robust access controls and compliance with organizational policies.

FAQ

Q: What's the difference between Federated Search and Enterprise Search?

A: The table below provides some key differences between Federated Search and the new Enterprise Search.

Q: What types of data sources can be connected to Enterprise Search?

A: Enterprise Search supports a wide range of data sources, including HR databases, IT repositories, sales and marketing tools, finance records, and legal documents. Administrators can connect these sources using native connectors.

Q: How does Enterprise Search ensure data security?

A: Data security is maintained through access control logic, allowing administrators to define roles and permissions. This ensures that only authorized users can access sensitive information. Additionally, all data transmissions are encrypted.

File access and visibility permissions as they are configured in the external platform will be respected by Simpplr/Enterprise Search. That is, if a user does not have access to a file in SharePoint, they will not see the file returned in their intranet. However, if a user's access permissions are updated, the change can take up to 48 hours to be reflected in Simpplr's search results, though users will still be unable to access the file if they try. They will be shown the default unavailable message specific to the file management system, and not a Simpplr-specific error.

Q: Can Enterprise Search handle queries in multiple languages?

A: Yes, EnterpriseSearch includes a translation feature that allows users to query and access knowledge in different languages, making it a versatile tool for global organizations.

Q: How does personalization work in Enterprise Search?

A: Personalization leverages user context, such as role, previous interactions, and department-specific needs, to deliver highly relevant search results. This helps users find the information they need more efficiently.

Q: What AI capabilities are integrated into Enterprise Search?

A: Enterprise Search incorporates several AI features, including:

• Query Processing and Intent Recognition: Understanding the intent behind search queries

• Relevance Ranking: Providing accurate and trustworthy search results

• AI Summarization: Generating concise snippets from long documents

• Search Suggestions: Offering recommendations based on user queries

Q: How can Enterprise Search benefit different departments?

A:

• HR: Quickly find company policies, benefits, training materials, and experts

• IT/Engineering: Securely search data repositories, product documents, and code repositories

• Sales and Marketing: Locate product information, pricing, proposals, and marketing materials

• Finance and Business Operations: Access retirement data, tax guidance, and investor relations information

• Legal: Discover cases, contracts, and regulatory content

Best practices

Before using Enterprise Search in your intranet, consider some key best practices to get the most value out of the feature:

• Organizations should audit folder & content access permissions prior to enabling Enterprise Search. Some information may inadvertently be shared with a larger audience than intended.

• Your org should use the respective platform service account (e.g., Google Workplace service account) to connect an integration. This is because the integration will eventually break if it is connected under a specific person, and that person leaves the company. For example, if an App manager is connecting Google Drive, they should enable the connector using a Google Admin account. They do not need to be logged into the Simpplr service account.

• Because of the way search results are ranked, it's a best practice to have clear and concise file names, page titles, etc. whenever possible. This improves the chance of relevant results showing up in search.

• For a consistent user experience, all supported file management systems should be integrated through Enterprise Search. If some platforms are enabled via the connectors for Enterprise Search but others are not, clear expectations should be set with the customer. For any integrated platform not connected through Enterprise Search, users will still need to sign in individually to those platforms.