Enterprise Search with FAST
Rick McDannel
Manager of Information Technology
Agenda
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Thompson Coburn Environment
FAST Search Decision and Implementation
Search Engine Comparison
Lessons Learned
Thompson Coburn Environment
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750 people, 350 attorneys, 4 offices
Windows 7 / Office 2010
Autonomy iManage Document Management
Autonomy Records Manager (FileSurf)
SharePoint 2007 Intranet and team sites
FAST ESP Search Engine
SharePoint 2010 / FAST4SP project in progress
SharePoint DMS/RMS project in progress
Enterprise Search Requirements
Enterprise Search Engine
Enterprise Search Engine
SharePoint
Document
Records
Management Management
System
System
Intranet
and
Team Sites
Legacy
Intranet
Other
Databases
and
Network
Drives
Why FAST ESP?
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Scalability, speed, and flexibility
Security trimming capabilities
Connector API
Faceted searching with “Deep” refinement
Automatic entity extraction
Advanced linguistics
Ability to create search applications
Favorable licensing cost
Roadmap
FAST ESP Implementation
 Midway through our SharePoint 2007 project
Microsoft acquired FAST
 FAST POC with FAST Professional Services
 POC produced a prototype iManage
connector and knowledge transfer
 Administrators attended online FAST
University training
 Internal software architect wrote Records
Manager connector and other
customizations
FAST ESP Challenges
 New skills required
• Python scripting, JDBC, and Apache Server
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Complex environment
DMS/RMS security trimming
SharePoint web parts were open source
Internal resource requirements
Storage requirements (1.5 x content)
Support during transition to Microsoft
Search Results Page
Sub-Second
Results
Metadata
Information
Refiners
More Search Refiners
Advanced Search Application
Lessons Learned
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Planning is important
Remove unnecessary functionality
Indexing can be slow
Customization is necessary
Don’t underestimate infrastructure
requirements
 Train internal resources
 Use Microsoft Services or a partner for
implementation
FAST for SharePoint 2010 Status
 Custom iManage and FileSurf connectors
have been re-written
 Ethical Wall security trimming is in place
 Offering the same user experience with
additional features
 Plan to integrate West KM and our Expert
Witness database
 Working with focus groups to determine any
additional requirements
Microsoft Search Products
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SharePoint Foundation 2010
Search Server 2010 Express
Search Server 2010
SharePoint Search 2010
FAST Search for Internet Sites (FSIS)
• Based on FAST ESP
 FAST Search for SharePoint 2010 (FAST4SP)
• Based on FAST ESP
FAST4SP - FAST ESP Comparison
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Better SharePoint integration
Supported SharePoint web parts
FAST Search Center template
People Search “hybrid” solution
Visual enhancements
Similar documents and related searches
Contextual searching
Duplicate aggregation
AND, OR, NEAR syntax
No document hit highlighting in FAST4SP
In Common with SharePoint Search 2010
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Common framework (API/Object Model)
People search
Click-thru relevancy
Connector framework
Development environment
Refiners
Search from Windows 7
Taxonomy tag integration
FAST4SP Capabilities Not Found
in SharePoint Search
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Visual Best Bets
Thumbnails and PowerPoint Preview
Extreme scalability and speed
Superior content processing
Contextual searching
“Deep” refinement
Enhanced relevancy ranking and sorting
Enhanced web content indexing
Missing From FAST Search for SharePoint
 Relevancy ranking based on social data
 Search alerts
FAST4SP Administration
 Additional SharePoint Site Collection options
once FAST4SP is installed.
 FAST Service Applications in Central
Administration
• FAST Content SSA
• FAST Query SSA
Sample FAST Search for SharePoint Page
Sorting on
any property
Visual Best
Bet
Deep navigators with
exact counts
Related
searches
People
Matching
Document
thumbnails
PowerPoint
preview pane
Considering FAST Search for SharePoint?
 Determine if the FAST4SP enhanced
capabilities are really necessary or desired
 Engage an experienced partner for planning
and implementation
 Train internal resources for admin and support
 Requires PowerShell skills
 Check out vendor add-on products
Resources
 FAST Search for SharePoint Evaluation Guide
 Microsoft Search Technology Comparison
 http://zoom.it/So9H#full
 Fast Search for SharePoint 2010: Capabilities Deep
Dive
 http://channel9.com/Blogs/matthijs/FAST-Search-forSharePoint-2010-Capabilities-Deep-D.msdnive
 Microsoft Technet
 http://technet.microsoft.com/enterprisesearch
 FAST University
 http://www.fastuniversity.com
 Book: Professional Microsoft Search by Wrox