The survey found that many organizations struggle with findability due to a lack of search strategy and standards. Over half of respondents said it is moderately or very hard to find the right information, and less than 20% were satisfied with their search capabilities. Issues included poor search functionality, inconsistent tagging, and not knowing where to look. While most organizations recognize that findability is important, many do not allocate dedicated budgets, resources, or ownership to search. The report recommends that organizations prioritize improving metadata, taxonomy, and strategy to enhance the value of their existing information assets.

1. RESULTS FROM THE ENTERPRISE
SEARCH AND FINDABILITY SURVEY

2. Hikingartist

3. SLIDESHARE.NET/FINDWISE
GLOBAL + EUROPE
+ NORTH AMERICA

4. ANNUAL SURVEY

5. SIGN-UP FOR 2013

6. 170 RESPONDENTS
GLOBALLY

7. SEARCH VENDORS AND
INTEGRATORS
EXCLUDED

8. EUROPE
>1000 EMPLOYEES
107 ORGS.

9. EUROPE:
59.4%
101 RESPONDENTS

10. NORTH AMERICA:
22.3%
38 RESPONDENTS

11. DEMOGRAPHICS

12. 28 COUNTRIES

13. 52.2%
PRIVATE SECTOR

14. 48.8%
PUBLIC SECTOR

15. 60.8%
> 1000 EMPLOYEES

16. 33.5%
> 10 000 EMPLOYEES

17. 52.9%
GLOBAL

18. NORTH AMERICA:
71.1% GLOBAL ORGS

19. EUROPE
53.6% GLOBAL ORGS

20. 78.7%
ONE CORPORATE
LANGUAGE

21. AMOUNT OF INDEXED
UNSTRUCTURED
INFORMATION IN 3 YEARS

22. EUROPE
86.2%
SAYS MORE

23. HOW CRITICAL IS FINDING
THE RIGHT INFORMATION
TO BUSINESS GOALS AND
SUCCESS?

24. 75.0%
IMPERATIVE/
SIGNIFICANT

25. EUROPE
76.5%
IMPERATIVE/SIGNIFICANT

26. IS IT EASY TO FIND THE
RIGHT INFORMATION
WITHIN YOUR
ORGANISATION TODAY?

27. 59.5%
MODERATELY/
VERY HARD

28. EUROPE
77%
MODERATELY/VERY HARD

29. 14.0%
FAIRLY/VERY EASY

30. MULTIPLE REPOSITORIES?

31. 50.7%
MULTIPLE REPOS

32. EUROPE
53.3%
MULTIPLE REPOS

33. NORTH AMERICA:
63.6%
MULTIPLE REPOS

34. LARGER ORGS
THINK IT IS (WAY)
MORE IMPORTANT

35. WHAT ARE THE OBSTACLES
TO FINDING THE RIGHT
INFORMATION?

36. 63.4% POOR SEARCH FUNCTIONALITY
50.0% LACK OF ADEQUATE TAGS
51.4% INCONSISTENCY IN HOW WE TAG
CONTENT
52.1% DON'T KNOW WHERE TO LOOK

37. EUROPE
64.2% POOR SEARCH FUNCTIONALITY
47.7% LACK OF ADEQUATE TAGS
48.6% INCONSISTENCY IN HOW WE TAG
CONTENT
47.7% DON'T KNOW WHERE TO LOOK

38. NORTH AMERICA:
48.6% POOR SEARCH FUNCTIONALITY
62.9% LACK OF ADEQUATE TAGS
65.7% INCONSISTENCY IN HOW WE TAG
CONTENT
54.3% DON'T KNOW WHERE TO LOOK

39. LEVEL OF SATISFACTION

40. 19.6%
MOSTLY/VERY
SATISFIED

41. EUROPE
18.5%
MOSTLY/VERY SATISFIED

42. SATISFIED WITH
UI SPEED
NAVIGATION

43. DISSATISFIED WITH
METADATA
TAXONOMY

44. PRIMARY GOAL FOR
UTILISING SEARCH
TECHNOLOGY

45. ACCELERATE RETRIEVAL OF
KNOWN INFORMATION
SOURCES

46. 86.6%
IMPERATIVE/SIGNIFICANT

47. IMPROVE RE-USE OF
CONTENT
(INFORMATION/ KNOWLEDGE)

48. 70.6%
IMPERATIVE/SIGNIFICANT

49. RAISE AWARENESS OF
“WHAT WE KNOW”

50. 58.2%
IMPERATIVE/SIGNIFICANT

51. USER EXPERIENCE
TESTS

52. 18.1%
REGULARLY

53. EUROPE
14.5%
REGULARLY

54. SEARCH SUPPORT?

55. YES
37.5%

56. EUROPE + GLOBAL
YES
45.9%

57. WHO OWNS SEARCH?

58. 57.6%
IT

59. 43.2%
IT (NOT CIO)

60. NORTH AMERICA:
78.8%
IT

61. EUROPE:
54.2%
IT

62. NORTH AMERICA:
51.5%
IT (NOT CIO)

63. 28.8%
CORPORATE
COMMUNICATIONS

64. EUROPE
43.9%
CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS

65. 17.6%
KNOWLEDGE
MANAGEMENT

66. EUROPE
10.5%
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT

67. FINAL DECISION REGARDING
SEARCH

68. 70.9%
IT

69. NORTH AMERICA:
87.9%
IT

70. EUROPE:
66%
IT

71. Hikingartist

72. SEARCH BUDGET

73. NONE SAYS
45.4%

74. EUROPE
NONE SAYS
36.4%

75. DON’T KNOW
15.1%

76. EUROPE
DON’T KNOW
21.8%

77. FOR THOSE WITH A
SEARCH BUDGET

78. 76.6%
LESS THAN 100K €

79. EUROPE
≈50%
DON’T KNOW HOW MUCH

80. BUDGET IN 3 YEARS

81. 15.1%
SAYS SMALLER
BUDGET

82. SAME OR MORE
SAYS THE REST

83. NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES
WORKING WITH SEARCH

84. 50.4%
LESS THAN ONE

85. EUROPE
SAME IN >10 000
EMPLOYEE ORGS

86. EUROPE >10 000
42.3%
HAVE MORE >1

87. EUROPE >10 000
19.2%
3 - 5 PPL

88. ROI OR TCO

89. 62.1%
NO

90. KPI

91. 58.6%
NO

92. EUROPE >10 000
42.3%
NO

93. WHAT KIND OF KPI:S?

94. MONTHLY USAGE STATS
USER SATISFACTION
% TOP SEARCH TERMS MANAGED
CALL CENTER CALLS DEFLECTED
SEARCH REPHRASING
PRODUCTIVITY GAIN
SEARCH PERFORMANCE INDICATOR

95. WEB SEARCH INFLUENCE

96. YES
59.5%
SIGNIFICANT/
IMPERATIVE

97. EUROPE
YES
67.2%
SIGNIFICANT/IMPERATIVE

98. SAME TECH ON INTRANET
AND INTERNET?

99. YES
30.4%

100. EUROPE
YES
42.6%

101. SEARCH STRATEGY IN
PLACE?

102. YES
14.2%

103. EUROPE
YES
6.0%

104. YES + PLANNED
44.4%

105. EUROPE
YES + PLANNED
46%

106. USERS CAN PROVIDE
FEEDBACK

107. YES + PLANNED
72.3%

108. EUROPE
YES + PLANNED
80%

109. USERS INFLUENCE ON
RELEVANCY

110. YES
11.4%

111. EUROPE
YES
16%

112. PLANNING
20.0%

113. IS THERE AN OWNER OF
INFORMATION?

114. YES
29.5%

115. CONTENT LIFECYCLE
MANAGEMENT PROCESS IN
PLACE?

116. NO
52.9%

117. STANDARD FOR WHAT
METADATA (DESCRIBING
CONTENT/INFORMATION)

118. YES + PLANNED
48.4%

119. HAS A TAXONOMY
(IDENTIFYING, NAMING AND
CLASSIFYING CONTENT)

120. YES
32.4%

121. WHO CAN TAG/CLASSIFY
CONTENT WITH METADATA?

122. %
All users
User that publish content
IT
Records managers
Authors
Subject matter experts
Automated (by software)
0 13 25 38 50

123. Hikingartist

124. SUMMARY
(HYPOTHESIS)

125. NO BUDGET
NO RESOURCES
NO STRATEGY

126. NO TCO
NO ROI
NO KPI

127. BUSINESS CASE?
IT DECIDES

128. BETTER METADATA
MORE TAGGING
TAXONOMY

129. SOMETHING
POSITIVE

130. INFORMATION
= VALUE

131. INFONOMICS:
THE PRACTICE OF
INFORMATION ECONOMICS
@DOUG_LANEY - GARTNER
IN FORBES.COM 22TH MAY 2012

132. ENHANCE VALUE OF
EXISTING
INFORMATION

133. WE CAN FIX THIS

134. BETTER METADATA

135. STRATEGY
STANDARDISED KPI
(SEARCH PERFOMANCE INDICATOR)
ROI

136. WORK STARTS
AFTER
IMPLEMENTATION

137. LET US ALL HELP TO
MAKE FINDABILITY
BETTER

138. QUESTIONS?

139. Kristian Norling
kristian.norling@findwise.com
@kristiannorling
@findwise
findwise.com
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