Browsers, Search, etc. – Enterprise Considerations

With all of the recent buzz around this week’s launch of Bing.com – Microsoft’s new consumer oriented search (or ‘decision’) engine, I feel that this is a good time to bring up the topic of the internet browsing, search, and the enterprise.  i.e. What, as an IT organization, should you be thinking about?

Firstly, if you haven’t had the opportunity to have a look at Bing, then I encourage you to do so.  The early commentary from users and reviewers has been largely positive.  But, there’s a staggering amount of critique out there.  As with anything in this era of information overload, you can find wide ranging opinions on any topic, so you’ll undoubtedly find some folks that are not terribly impressed.  But then, search relevance is one of the problems that we’re trying to fight with our new engine.  In any case, here’s one prominent publication’s take: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124398438264979107.html .  If you don’t like the portal\engine for whatever reason, then the site is still worth visiting for the cool background pictures (and clickable areas if you like to know what you’re looking at and why it’s cool).

So, why, as an IT Pro, should you care about a search engine on the internet?  Well, this should not be a newsflash, but users, be they business or consumer, spend a ton of time searching for information.  And you should be aware of what they’re looking at, how it works, what it means to them as business users, security implications, and the like!  For instance, right after Bing’s launch there was a bit of a stir about the video preview feature, and what that means to content filtering engines that you might be using in your environment (blocking certain sites and, um, questionable content).  Read this for our position on that topic.

In an enterprise environment, having a good search experience makes your users more productive, whether it be crawling the corporate file server infrastructure, or the public internet.  Do you provide them with tools and recommendations, or are they on their own?  I find the latter to be more prevalent in my travels.  Just now, enterprise search is coming to the forefront of corporate awareness, and the tools to empower users are either already there, or are just around the corner.  From an end-user perspective, the search experience in Windows 7 will make a huge difference.  Simply being able to start typing program names or control panel settings in my search box makes it significantly easier to perform the steps that I require in my work.  In the same vein, I now have the ability to search Sharepoint sites, file servers, and the public internet without leaving my Explorer window.  These have legitimately changed (and improved) the way I work.  If you can offer this to your users (through technology, training, and awareness), then shouldn’t you?  Saving business users time means saving money (or making more).  And it’s not all about the future that Windows 7 will bring – Sharepoint 2007 can be your enterprise search centerpiece today, whether it be to help users find data on Sharepoint sites, file servers, or business data connections.  Windows Desktop Search can also be your user interface for local system searches.  Don’t wait for Windows 7 to turn these features on!  In many cases, you either own the technology or it will not cost you anything to implement (or both).  We also have other offerings in Search Server Express 2008, or FAST – these products are for the low and high end of the enterprise search spectrum, respectively.  Going forward, the Windows operating system and Sharepoint are going to be the pillars of Microsoft’s enterprise search strategy.  Search is being introduced across our product set, wherever data or reporting is involved.  What we learn from the consumer side will be used to improve the search algorithms in the enterprise, and vice versa.

As for browser choices, a lot probably depends on whether or not you have a ‘managed’ desktop (a euphemism for ‘locked down’ that always makes me smile).  In my travels, the standard browser in most organizations remains Internet Explorer (what users use on their home computers is another matter).  Over the years, the reason for this revolved around what people were used to, whether Windows Integrated Authentication was an issue for folks who used some of our web technologies, and considerations for centralized patch management and customization.  While the core features, rendering speed, etc., of Internet Explorer may not be head and shoulders above other browsers, the enterprise manageability of IE is where it truly stands out.  The Internet Explorer Administration Kit and Group Policy are fantastic tools for branding and customization, while WSUS or SCCM are great for patch management.  Other browsers definitely have their strong points and their supporters, but I think that most would agree that they are generally not as strong in the area of manageability.  This should matter to you as an IT Pro – if users are using a browser that you can’t control and don’t sanction, then it’s a potential security risk.  On that front, I am well aware of the security reputation of IE, but you will find that the number of vulnerabilities discovered in the latest two revisions of IE are in line with other browsers in the same time frame.  The question isn’t whether or not a browser will need updates for security issues, but how you will handle it as an IT organization when they arise?

Internet Explorer 8 has been available publicly for almost three months now…and why should enterprises care about that?  Security and search, primarily.  With every browser revision, we learn from the development lifecycle of the previous version, introducing new security features and tightening existing ones.  The SmartScreen Filter, Cross Site Scripting, click jacking prevention, Domain name highlighting, and more features are designed to safeguard users from attacks that may jeopardize information, company assets, or confidential data.  As malicious website builders are more and more common, IT organizations need to take every step to ensure user safety.  Like it or not, many users will surf for non-business purposes using company assets, and even if they are searching for business reasons, the likelihood of them clicking a dangerous link is high.  Additionally, we provide expanded search providers to make it easier to find information.  And while we have made some changes to our rendering to ensure that we are standards compliant, there is a Compatibility Mode option to ensure positive user experience in viewing pages coded to our ‘old ways’.  Again, don’t wait for Windows 7 to get IE 8 out to your users.  It’s entirely possible and understandable that many organizations will run into some roadblocks on third party (or developed in-house) web applications, but it’s better to identify those now than waiting.

Hopefully some will find this topic enlightening, or at least thought provoking.  Until later…