The success of the Google Search Appliance business is dependent on the open source developers and independent software vendors (ISVs) community, according to its head.
In an interview with Computerworld Australia, Google Search Appliance global product manager, Cyrus Mistry, acknowledged the key role external groups play in the search giant’s enterprise push.
“Partners are absolutely paramount to our success,” he said. “We have a great partner organisation in the Australia and New Zealand region. In fact, all of our business goes through partners over here. Because of that, not only are they critical to our success, they are our success if that makes sense.
“They are excited, they are fired up. There are a few, in fact, that have gone on exclusively with Google, meaning they don’t sell or deploy anything else. And that is what we love to hear – this is now enough of our business that we can just shut down all other operations. So I would absolutely agree, both on the reseller side and on the open source side.”
When asked who he thought was Google’s biggest competitors were, Mistry did not name names. Instead he pointed to “no search” – meaning the fact many organisations don’t use enterprise search solutions.
“I never like to say disparaging things about competitors – they are all good and bring different things to the table,” he said. “Actually the largest competitor, strangely and it is by data and not just what we think, is no search. I’m not trying to get around the answer but 75 per cent of companies do not have an enterprise search solution in place.”
To assist its enterprise search efforts the Internet giant recently launched Side by Side, an application to let users compare enterprise search products.
To see the full interview with Mistry click here.
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