When it comes to the buy vs. build debate on enterprise search software (ES), one of the most compelling reasons to decide on an off-the-shelf product is the promise of easy setup and one-click integration.

The option to simply buy and use the software is beneficial for several reasons:

1. It's easy to do and doesn't require technical expertise
2. It's time efficient and enables instant access to software features
3. It is resource-efficient and doesn't require extensive IT support
4. One-click integrations are designed to easily scale with the organization and adapt to its needs as the number of integrated databases and platforms grows

While the actual implementation might not always be as easy and seamless as many ES vendors advertise, depending on the business-specific data structure and industry-specialized tools, these can be largely mitigated with some of the latest technical solutions that enable much more efficient ES integration.

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How is One-Click Integration Possible?

When you think about it, enterprise search is a very complex type of software. It's no small feat to create a unified search repository across different databases containing different documents in different formats and structures.

Then, there are different tools, communication channels, and project management platforms that all contain vital business data needed to get a holistic perspective of business operations.

The idea is to connect all of these and make them interconnected and easily searchable with just one click. It seems like magic, but it's actually a lot of prep work and innovative technology that makes it possible.

With ES, employees can type in the search engine "customer feedback on new product launch and marketing strategies" and instantly get a cohesive report that pulls data from multiple sources, such as sales databases, marketing documents, and project management logs.

If enterprise search successfully manages such requests, it actually means that:

• It has indexed all the company data
• It understands the company data and how one piece of information relates to another
• It has access and retrieves data from all the company databases, apps, and tools
• It understands the search query and what information is relevant to satisfy the search intent

To achieve all of that through easy one-click installation, enterprise search software must adopt several technical solutions to ensure that the final product delivers the promised results.

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Vector Search to Eliminate Manual Indexing

The first step is eliminating manual indexing and enabling the ES to understand the company data. This is achieved with vector search, which automates the indexing process by transforming data into vectors that capture the semantic meaning and context of the data.

Since this technology is based on advanced AI algorithms, natural language processing, machine learning, and vector embeddings, the search engine can retrieve data based on its contextual relevance.

This means that no work is included in categorization, such as putting all the sales data in a sales folder, because the search engine will understand what information is related to sales across different sources and pull all the relevant information.

This even means that as new relevant information surfaces across different communication channels, an enterprise search engine that employs vector search can retrieve that information if it's relevant to the search query.

Another bonus of vector search is that it significantly reduces security risks because it limits the raw data exposure and removes the need for data to be stored on a vendor 3^rd party server as it processes all the data in working memory.

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Having Pre-Built Connectors

Another thing that makes one-click integration possible is the use of pre-existing connectors.

Connectors are essentially software components or modules that enable the integration of disparate data sources into a unified system like enterprise search. They do this by accessing data sources through specialized APIs and database drivers to safely authenticate, transform data, and extract it into the search index.

These specialized drivers and APIs are developed through programming languages and are specifically tailored to suit the data source for which they are made. Each data source needs its own connector because different applications have different data structures, formats, and access protocols.

In addition to pre-built connectors, there are turnkey APIs, which are essentially their adaptable/customizable version. They enable the integration of any specific data source or custom tools that businesses may have developed for special use cases. 

While these do require some technical customization, some enterprise search vendors offer the option to send requests for specific connectors to be made prior to installation so that, in the end, it truly provides an easy setup experience. This is one of the things that you need to check with your vendor before buying the product to avoid any confusion.

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User-Friendly Interface

Now that we have covered the basics of the integration process, there is still one major challenge to completing one-click integration.  

Because it interacts with so many different data sources, enterprise search could potentially feel somewhat hard to navigate, not to mention that ES vendors now offer additional analytics tools and even generative AI features to help you utilize your data in creative ways and actually make good use of it. While all of those things are useful, they can reflect negatively on the overall ease of use and navigability of the interface.

After all, what use is the one-click integration if it takes employees forever to master the tool? To avoid such problems, enterprise search vendors must create an intuitive and easy-to-use interface.

This often means separate dashboards for different ES functions and innovative ways to make certain tools appear only when needed, with notes and guidelines explaining their use.

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Challenges of One-Click Integration

While the initial setup may achieve easy and seamless integration, that is not the end of the journey, maintaining the continuity and efficiency of enterprise search software will often require engagement from the vendor side to stay in tune with potential updates on the existing tools because even pre-built connectors for certain apps can become outdated as they change data structure and protocols.

It can also be challenging to maintain data integrity in the process of creating a unified search repository and preserving various dependencies and relationships between different data sets.

Another challenge in question is security concerns. These concerns are not only about protecting company data from external influence and leaking. They can also be about preserving the existing security protocols and permissions within the business.

These minor issues can sometimes build up and create an overall feeling that integration was not really done with just one click and required a bit of fine-tuning to get everything right.

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One-Click Integration with Akooda

Practicality is a priority for SaaS products. Enterprise search is a tool meant to simplify everything within your business, not make it complicated.

That’s why, here at Akooda, we do everything to make our tool integration as close to one click as possible. To enable this, Akooda offers various features that tackle the problems of security, indexing, and custom data sources:

• In-memory processing: Akooda processes data in memory instead of storing full raw data on servers. This reduces the risk of data corruption or leakage as the data is never stored outside of your business.
• Respecting established security protocols: The platform enforces existing permissions from connected business tools so that users can only access data they are already authorized to see.
• Advanced AI, NLP, and vector searching: The latest breakthroughs in AI, NLP, and vector searching make indexing data across different data sources much easier and faster. Akooda accurately indexes and understands data from various sources by incorporating those features. This not only allows for easy setup of ES but also provides search results that are consistent and more reliable than ever.

Customization and support: In addition to 50 ready pre-built connectors or the most widely used business tools and applications, Akooda offers easy integration even for industry-specific tools and custom data sources. With customizable turnkey APIs, nothing is left out when creating a holistic perspective of your business. For any additional customization, our dedicated support team is always ready to assist with expert guidance and solutions.