Yahoo and IBM pushing OmniFind against Google Mini
Just read on Yahoo search blog about the Yahoo-IBM solution for enterprise search. And it is called IBM OmniFind Yahoo! Edition.Anybody can install the IBM OmniFind Yahoo! Edition for free.Its going to be boon for small business ( may be medium sized ones too). And it seems to be in direct competition with Google Enterprise Search - Goole Mini which costs around $1995 for small business version. The google version includes the hardware too.
Beyond creating a product that was super easy to use we don’t believe that small and mid-sized businesses (or even large enterprises!) should need to spend $1,995 or more to get a reliable and robust enterprise search solution. Anybody can install and use the IBM OmniFind Yahoo! Edition product and get access to a wide set of features for no charge.
The IBM OmniFind Yahoo! Edition needs your hardware with minimum 1 cpu, 1GB Ram and 80GB HD.Which might cost $500 in India. But Google mini might be much more powerful than this minimal need of OmniFind.But it might work out cheap for a small business compared to Google Mini. The capabilities seems to same from the top.
From Yahoo
• Indexes up to 500,000 documents and over 200 file types in 30 different languages.
• Customizable search results interface I.e. it doesn’t need to look like the screenshot above. But it is not just about changing the background color, you can also hide certain features.
• Add new synonyms. Companies big and small love acronyms and shorthand speak so you can use these features to handle your common and not so common acronyms…. Hmmm…. what did TFBO stand for again?
• Create your own featured links. Yahoo! Search includes many useful shortcuts, but within your company there are likely some high use applications and content that you may want to provide one-click access for. For example, a search on “expense reports†may include a featured link directly to your Expense Report system.
From Google-Mini
Low cost:
The Google Mini delivers phenomenal price-performance value. In addition to all hardware and software, the Mini also includes one year of support and hardware replacement coverage. The Mini comes in four versions that enable you to search up to:* 50,000 documents for $1,995
* 100,000 documents for $2,995
* 200,000 documents for $5,995
* 300,000 documents for $8,995
And the responsiveness of Google's support team will help you keep a lid on internal IT costs.Immediate ROI
The Google Mini's combination of plug-and-play installation and familiar user interface means your organization will start realizing the benefits of Google search about as soon as you get it out of the box.see more here.
It looks like Google is going to have tough competition ahead in search.Everybody is trying to get into the area of Google. The Tactics always used by Google.We need to see what Google does to neutralize this.
Frankly, I believe that over the course of its use, that software-only solutions end up costing more and end up being more of a hassle. Also, they need to be installed on unoptimized computers which doesn’t allow them to be as effective in my opionion as search appliances.