We certainly can’t speak for other providers in this area, but we would like to briefly discuss our collaboration with amberSearch in particular.
Why can’t we speak for other vendors? A few years ago, when interfaces (API’s) were not yet so advanced, many software solutions were hosted on-premise and developed individually. When introducing an enterprise search, this made for a larger project due to the individual customisations that had to be made. In recent years, a lot has happened due to various developments (Fully Managed Services, API’s, etc), interfaces have been standardised and systems are configurable and do not have to be further developed themselves. Therefore, amberSearch was designed as a modern and future-oriented enterprise search in plug’n’play style. Therefore, this article refers to the SaaS integration.
We know that our customers often have too few IT resources to further develop an enterprise search or open source solution themselves that meets the now high demands of users. That’s why with amberSearch we offer an all-round service that relieves the IT department and quickly generates added value that the user expects.
“The connection of amberSearch was actually as easy as originally discussed and thus enabled us to quickly release the solution to users. After the quick set up, we were particularly impressed with the speed of development in which user feedback was incorporated into amberSearch’s software. You can tell that the team is passionate about what they do and takes customer requests seriously.”
Nader el Azabi, IT Manager at R-Biopharm AG
Roughly speaking, there are 3 phases in the introduction, which we explain in more detail in this blog article.
- Phase 1: Kick-Off & Technical Set Up
- Phase 2: Indexing & Key User Workshop
- Phase 3: User onboarding
Phase 1: Kick-Off & Technical Set Up
In the first phase of the cooperation we connect your systems with amberSearch after a small kick-off. This paper describes the Fully Managed Service variant, i.e. there may be changes to other hosting variants (see Hardware). What does the technical set-up include?
| Description [-] | est. time effort [h]* |
| Cloud applications | |
| Cloud applications are connected to amberSearch via a simple app registration. Instructions for various applications can be found here | ~1-2 h |
| Locally installed applications | |
| Locally installed applications are connected via a site-to-site IPSec VPN. Additionally, amberSearch needs a service account with read rights | ~1-2 h |
| Open interface | |
| If you want to connect a solution that cannot be connected via our standard connectors, we offer an open interface that allows you to integrate systems yourself. Please contact us for further information. | Tbd, mostly not relevant |
| Identity Provider | |
| Depending on the existing identity provider, a connection to the SSO or the AD is established so that the access authorisations can be synchronised accordingly | <1 h |
| Domain release | |
| Depending on the hosting variant or the desired domain, an SSL certificate must be created | <1 h |
Phase 2: Indexing & Key User Workshop
After the technical set-up, our software normally needs between 5 and 21 days to build up an index.
In the meantime, we conduct a so-called Key User Workshop. In the Key User Workshop we talk to the 3-4 most important users about their job and the added value expected from the Enterprise. On the one hand, this serves to place the software with potential power users and multipliers at an early stage for the roll-out, and on the other hand, to get to know the users better. Based on these findings, we continue to develop the software in the interest of our users. Read this blog article to find out more about the Key User Workshop. The Key User Workshop is a one-hour online meeting and is structured as follows:
- Jobs to be done: how does the person work? What systems does the person stay in? What are daily tasks/interactions? …
- Pains: What prevents the person from doing their job successfully? Where is the “hitch” in the drive? …
- Gains: What are the expected added values? When would the software introduction be considered a success?
After the key user workshop, the first users (mostly project managers as well as IT administrators and key users) are let onto the software to test whether it works as expected.
Another critical success factor has turned out to be that the software must be available to the user. Therefore, the IT administrator should enable further functions for your company via group policies, IFrame integrations or the TeamsApp.
| Description [-] | est. time effort [h]* |
| Make available in different systems [Administrator] | |
| There are various ways in which the administrator can make amberSearch available to its users. These can be found here. | ~1 h |
| Make available in different systems [end user] | |
| The user also has the possibility to make amberSearch available to different systems in the browser/on the desktop. The possibilities for the end-user can be found here. | ~5-10 minutes |
Tip: Before onboarding, make employees aware of the IT systems they mostly use and place amberSearch where they spend a large part of the working day.
Phase 3: User onboarding
Since user onboarding offers enough material for its own blog article, we wrote a separate blog article about it. The blog article can be found here.