Benchmark Study of Desktop Search Tools

Transcription

Benchmark Study of Desktop Search Tools
April 20, 2005
Benchmark Study of
Desktop Search Tools
There’s More to Search than Google & Yahoo!
An Evaluation of 12 Leading Desktop Search Tools
Tom Noda
Shawn Helwig
www.uwebc.org/decisiontools
Decision Tools | Desktop Search
2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A new generation of desktop search tools is emerging that allows users to quickly find relevant documents in computers
across the enterprise the same way search engines help locate information on the Internet. Companies expect that this
technology will boost employee productivity and creativity and allow them to compete successfully in today’s knowledgedriven economy.
Desktop search technology itself is nothing new. In fact, it has been around for years. However, some well know names
(i.e. Google and Yahoo!) have recently entered the space giving this technology a well-deserved boost in visibility. In an
effort to help understand the differences between the latest desktop search tools on the market, the UW E-Business Consortium recently conducted a benchmark study of 12 popular desktop search tools. The benchmark criteria that were used
for the evaluation included usability, versatility, accuracy, efficiency, security, and enterprise readiness.
When all the results were reviewed, it was determined that most of the desktop search tools were still too immature for
significant business use due primarily to a lack of mature security and overall manageability. However, considering the
evolution of Instant Messaging from a pure consumer tool to a valuable enterprise application, desktop search may have
similar potential.
KEY FINDINGS
TOP 3 DESKTOP SEARCH
Beta with Coveo.
Usability
Enterprise
Readiness
Based on our evaluation, the best overall desktop search tool is Copernic 1.5
Versatility
Yahoo! Desktop Search 1.1 Beta was rated the second best tool in our evaluation. See other notes.
Wizetech Archivarius 3000 came in a surprisingly close third in our evalua-
Security
Accuracy
Efficiency
1. Copernic 1.5 Beta with Coveo
2. Yahoo! Desktop Search 1.1 Beta
3. Wizetech Archivarius 3000
tion. This software is available commercially from Canada-based Wizetech
Software. Wizetech’s index efficiency is outstanding and was the clear winner
in our tests. The user interface and navigation scheme is well designed and
easy to use.
Source: UW E-Business Consortium
TABLE OF CONTENTS
BENCHMARK NOTES
2
Executive Summary
The benchmark evaluation testing was performed in
3
Overall Ratings
March, 2005. This research was not funded or supported
3
Benchmark Criteria
by any specific companies or institutions. The benchmark
4
Criteria Ratings
evaluations were conducted solely by the UW E-Business
4
Product Reviews
Consortium.
11
Appendix A
12
Appendix B
www.uwebc.org
© 2005. UW E-Business Consortium
Decision Tools | Desktop Search
3
OVERALL RATINGS
These are the overall benchmark evaluation ratings. Some tools are very good in specific areas such as usability, versatility or search accuracy (explained later), but to be the best desktop search tool, a balance of all criteria is critical.
Desktop Search Tool
Version
Copernic Desktop Search
1.5 Beta
Yahoo! Desktop Search
1.1 Beta
Wizetech Archivarius 3000
MSN Toolbar Suite
Google Desktop
Ask Jeeves
Score (Min = 1.00, Max = 5.00)
Better
4.11
3.66
3.62
3.14
3.45
2.0 Beta
3.26
1.0
3.16
1.0 Beta
Enfish Professional
6.1
ISYS Desktop
6.0
3.05
dtSearch Desktop
6.5
3.02
diskMETA Pro
Blinkx
HotBot Desktop
3.10
1.0.1
2.63
3.0
2.63
Beta
2.34
Source: UW E-Business Consortium
BENCHMARK CRITERIA
Our benchmark evaluation was performed across six main criteria. Each criterion was quantified and was given a rating,
ranging from 1 (worst) to 5 (best). The rating is based on sub criteria, which align with the main criterion’s objective. For
sub criteria and their rating details, please refer to Appendix A - Comparison Table.
1. Usability
Good desktop search tools must be easy to use, have
a lower learning curve, have professional aesthetics,
and require fewer steps to reach desired output.
2. Versatility
Versatility describes how wide and deep the tool allows you to search. This includes factors such as supported document types, web/e-mail integration, and
multi-language support.
3. Accuracy
“Can you find what you are looking for?” This criterion
addresses accuracy of search results as well as other
factors that help users find the desired information.
4. Efficiency
This criterion assesses the tool’s technical efficiency
including memory usage, indexing time or indexed file
sizes. The best tool should not jeopardize overall PC
performance.
5. Security
Security and privacy are big concerns, especially in an
enterprise environment. This criterion considers how
well vendors have incorporated security mechanisms.
6. Enterprise Readiness
While most tools are designed for the consumer/home
PC environment, some are ready to be used in an
enterprise. This criterion may be especially helpful for
IT managers.
www.uwebc.org
© 2005. UW E-Business Consortium
Decision Tools | Desktop Search
4
CRITERIA RATINGS
The following charts summarize the best tools’ ratings for each criterion. Blinkx and ISYS are versatile tools but struggle to
deliver their powerful features in a user-friendly fashion. On the other hand, Ask Jeeves excels in usability, efficiency and
security, but lacks versatility. Copernic is excellent in almost all criteria.
1. Usability
2. Versatility
Copernic
4.80
Copernic
Wizetech
4.75
Yahoo!
4.14
3.88
Google
4.40
Blinkx
3.75
MSN
4.40
ISYS
3.75
4.25
Ask Jeeves
3. Accuracy
4. Efficiency
4.50
Copernic
4.20
MSN
3.50
dtSearch
4.40
Wizetech
4.20
Copernic
3.80
Ask Jeeves
5. Security
6. Enterprise Readiness
3.29
Yahoo!
Copernic
4.00
Ask Jeeves
3.14
ISYS
4.00
Google
3.13
Yahoo!
4.00
* Copernic with Coveo, and Yahoo! with X1
Source: UW E-Business Consortium
PRODUCT REVIEWS
This section examines the details for each desktop search tool individually. The benchmark performance for each tool is
expressed with a Spider Chart (see description), in order to convey the performance in each one of six criteria as well as
the overall balance.
Spider Charts
Usability
1.50
Enterprise
Readiness
Versatility
5.00
3.00
Spider Charts have been used to show how each criterion was scored, as well
as the overall balance. For instance, the chart at left indicates that this tool is
extremely good at Versatility but needs some improvement in Usability and Efficiency.
Security
Accuracy
3.50
3.00
Efficiency
2.00
www.uwebc.org
Achieving the maximum scores in all criteria and maintaining a good hexagon
shape are ideal, but that is not required by all users. For instance, if Enterprise
Readiness is not critical for a specific user, an unbalanced shape that lacks
Enterprise Readiness features may still be a solid fit.
© 2005. UW E-Business Consortium
Decision Tools | Desktop Search
Copernic Desktop Search 1.5 Beta
4.80
Versatility
4.14
4.00
Web history search, and Thunderbird and Eudora for e-mail (as well as IE, Outdetects new and modified files/e-mails on the fly, are useful features. Filtering,
Accuracy
3.00
The tool is intuitive and easy to use. The new beta version supports FireFox for
look and Outlook Express) “Search as you type” and “dynamic indexing,” which
4.11
Security
www.copernic.com
Copernic is the most well-balanced desktop search tool among those evaluated.
Usability
Enterprise
Readiness
5
4.50
sorting and grouping search results are well refined. The application has a small
technology footprint and provides detailed index controls.
Efficiency
4.20
Source: UW E-Business Consortium
One potential improvement,
however, is that it should let
users choose a default web search engine. It only supports the “alltheweb.com” web search within the application, which is not as popular
as Google or Yahoo!
For business use, Coveo, a spin-off company from Copernic, provides
enterprise desktop search products, which enhance security, manageability and network capability. The client applications are identical.
However, the enterprise version works with additional server products
Copernic Desktop Search 1.5 Beta
such as Microsoft SharePoint.
Yahoo! Desktop Search 1.1 Beta
Yahoo! Desktop Search is based on X1 Desktop Search, so usability will be
Usability
4.00
Enterprise
Readiness
Versatility
3.88
4.00
services such as Yahoo! E-mail and Instant Messaging. It can index Yahoo! IM
their tool supports more than 200 types of documents. It indexes Adobe Pho-
Accuracy
3.29
familiar to existing X1 users. Yahoo! integrates X1’s technology into its own portal
logs as well as Yahoo! Address Book. Versatility is excellent, as Yahoo! claims
3.66
Security
desktop.yahoo.com
3.20
Efficiency
3.60
Source: UW E-Business Consortium
toshop and Illustrator
files in addition to many
media files. Contents of
zip files are examined
and displayed in a tree
structure. The tool’s preview feature is well refined, but its search
results are somewhat clumsy because too many columns are
displayed in a vertical view. As opposed to Copernic, there is no
dynamic indexing or web history search.
X1 offers an enterprise version of the desktop search tool as a
server-based product. IT managers may want to check it out.
www.uwebc.org
Yahoo! Desktop Search 1.1 Beta
© 2005. UW E-Business Consortium
Decision Tools | Desktop Search
Wizetech Archivarius 3000 3.14
4.75
Versatility
3.38
3.00
efficiency are astonishing. It is a very simple GUI design, yet organizes a lot of
products, and memory usage was relatively low in idle time. It does not support
Accuracy
3.00
from $25 to $45, depending on your status and purpose of use. Usability and
features compactly. It demonstrated the fastest initial indexing time among all
3.62
Security
www.wizetech.com
In contrast to Copernic or Yahoo!, this is a commercial product, which costs
Usability
Enterprise
Readiness
6
3.20
any media file indexing (image, audio or
video) or web/web
Efficiency
4.40
Source: UW E-Business Consortium
history searches. On
the other hand, e-mail
support is wide, ranging from Outlook and Outlook Express to
Eudora, Thunderbird and Lotus Notes/Domino. One unique
feature is that it offers remote search functionality. The application acts as a small Web server, allowing remote users to
search the computer through a web browser. Of course, it has
user/group account management capability built-in.
Wizetech Archivarius 3000 3.14
MSN Toolbar Suite 2.0 Beta
MSN Toolbar Suite is similar to Google Desktop, and has almost the identical
Usability
4.40
Enterprise
Readiness
Versatility
3.63
2.00
“Auto Form Fill” features which are already available with the Google Toolbar.
in our test. “Shortcut keyword” is a unique feature, which lets users associate
Accuracy
2.86
functionality and navigation scheme. Moreover, it includes a Popup Blocker and
MSN performed well in terms of search accuracy. Word accuracy was very good
3.45
Security
toolbar.msn.com
4.20
Efficiency
3.60
Source: UW E-Business Consortium
a keyword with specific
files. With this association,
users can type a keyword
in Windows Explorer’s
address bar to fetch a file,
instead of crawling multiple folders. One challenge is that it does
not support PDF files by default. To index PDF contents, users
must download and install an add-in tool called “IFilter.”
MSN Toolbar Suite 2.0 Beta
www.uwebc.org
© 2005. UW E-Business Consortium
Decision Tools | Desktop Search
Google Desktop 1.0
desktop.google.com
Google seamlessly integrates desktop search into its popular web search en-
Usability
4.40
Enterprise
Readiness
Versatility
3.50
2.00
to anyone who has used Google. A floating bar is a unique feature and allows
another promising feature, allowing software developers to develop add-ins to
Accuracy
3.13
gine. The browser-based desktop search tool is easy to use and will be familiar
users to type keywords from anywhere on the screen. Google Desktop API is
3.26
Security
7
3.20
enhance the tool’s functionality. OpenOffice and
ICQ index add-ins are
Efficiency
3.33
Source: UW E-Business Consortium
already available. Unfortunately, filtering and sorting
functions are quite limited. It appears as if Google is so focused
on its relevance algorithm that other sorting functions seem to be
ignored.
Google Desktop 1.0
Ask Jeeves Desktop Search 1.7 Beta
Ask Jeeves’ usability is remarkably simple and well refined. It searches all types
Usability
4.25
Enterprise
Readiness
Versatility
2.57
2.00
via tabbed panes. It has a nice preview pane, which even plays Windows Media
when they can choose either fast or gradual indexing. However, Ask Jeeves’ big-
Accuracy
3.14
of documents simultaneously, and users can look through each type of results
Player. The application is very small and efficient. Users are given index control
3.16
Security
sp.ask.com/docs/desktop
3.20
Efficiency
3.80
Source: UW E-Business Consortium
gest challenge is to
improve versatility.
Currently, the supported document
types are very lim-
ited. Also, the preview pane does not render Microsoft Excel
or PowerPoint. Web history search is not supported, either. If
it would support more file types, Ask Jeeves has the potential
to become one of the top desktop search tools.
Ask Jeeves Desktop Search 1.7 Beta
www.uwebc.org
© 2005. UW E-Business Consortium
Decision Tools | Desktop Search
Enfish Professional 6.1
www.enfish.com
Enfish is a commercial software product. We tested the Professional version,
Usability
3.40
Enterprise
Readiness
Versatility
3.38
3.00
usability. It gives users full customization of views. It provides calendar, contacts
Microsoft Outlook
Accuracy
3.00
which costs $199.95. Enfish is a lot different from the other 11 tools in terms of
and weather views in addition to search/preview views. It almost simulates a
3.10
Security
8
2.40
environment. Users
can create multiple
index files and associ-
Efficiency
3.40
Source: UW E-Business Consortium
ate them with different views. However,
this customization creates a steep learning curve. It takes
some time to get used to its operations. Enfish has “Relevant
Search” features, but its purpose appeared unclear. When we
searched “Open Office,” for example, the relevant search highlighted “support@amazon.com,” which made us wonder why.
Enfish Professional 6.1
ISYS Desktop 6.0
www.isys-search.com
ISYS is a versatile tool. It supports multi-language indexing, FTP indexing, SQL
Usability
1.75
Enterprise
Readiness
Versatility
3.75
4.00
misspells in indexed documents) and intelligent date/number format (e.g. find
Accuracy
3.00
Compuserve, Eudora and VIM. It is also good at enhancing search accuracy.
It includes a spell checker, synonym rings, fuzzy logic search (which correct
3.05
Security
indexing (requiring XML output), and supports many e-mail clients including
2.80
Efficiency
3.00
Source: UW E-Business Consortium
“1/1/05” from “Jan. 1, 2005”). In contrast to those valuable features, however, usability is significantly poor. The application creates multiple Windows menus and
confuses users. Custom query
syntaxes create another steep
learning curve for users who
do not want to memorize them. Toolbar icons don’t have text descriptions, yet their symbols are somewhat vague. When we searched MP3
files, we were stuck because it did not provide any links or enable us to
play them inside the application. ISYS must improve its usability to be
able to capitalize on its powerful versatility and accuracy features.
ISYS Desktop 6.0
www.uwebc.org
© 2005. UW E-Business Consortium
Decision Tools | Desktop Search
dtSearch Desktop 6.5
www.dtsearch.com
dtSearch Desktop is outstanding in terms of word accuracy features. It provides
Usability
2.50
Enterprise
Readiness
Versatility
3.25
3.00
encoding support, noise word list, which excludes common words such as “is” or
is that it does not deliver
Accuracy
2.88
phonic and fuzzy search, boolean and wildcard keywords, multi language and
“a,” and case/accent sensitive indexing. The most regrettable aspect, however,
3.02
Security
9
3.50
those features very well
to the end user because
of poor usability. There is
Efficiency
3.00
Source: UW E-Business Consortium
no search keyword field
on the main window, and
users have to go through the menu. Setting up the above features
one by one is also a tedious task. The indexer treats most of the
binary files as text and messes up the index file with none characters. If it enhanced the GUI and refined the usability, it could
become a very interesting desktop search tool.
dtSearch Desktop 6.5
diskMETA Pro 1.0.1
www.diskmeta.com
diskMETA is also a commercial product. We tested the most advanced version,
Usability
2.50
Enterprise
Readiness
Versatility
2.43
2.00
pane. However, it does have remarkable word accuracy features. It includes a
Accuracy
2.86
comes with very limited functionality. diskMETA does not support any web history
or e-mail search. Filtering and sorting are also limited, and there is no preview
2.63
Security
“Professional,” which costs $97.50. The application is one of the simplest, but
2.60
Efficiency
3.40
Source: UW E-Business Consortium
dictionary feature that can identify a word, like “criterion” from a keyword “criteria.” Surprisingly, most
desktop search tools
cannot do this. Iterating
search results is another
nice feature. Most desktop search tools we tested show all search
results regardless of its amount (e.g. 2,000 matches), which can
often overwhelm users. diskMETA’s page iteration is intuitive and
easy to use.
diskMETA Pro 1.0.1
www.uwebc.org
© 2005. UW E-Business Consortium
Decision Tools | Desktop Search
Blinkx 3.0
10
www.blinkx.com
Blinkx 3.0 has a Metal theme, which makes it look somewhat similar to the Ma-
Usability
3.00
Enterprise
Readiness
Versatility
3.75
2.00
tree growing. “SmartAccuracy
2.63
some unique features. “Blinkx Visualizer” produces a tree view of search results,
and users can see the
2.63
Security
cintosh user interface. The tool’s versatility is somewhat limited, but it does have
2.60
folder” crawls the web
to find relevant information to the documents
Efficiency
1.80
Source: UW E-Business Consortium
in the folder. Unfortunately, the application
has major problems with efficiency. Indexing is painfully slow. In
fact, in our test, the application couldn’t complete the process. It
runs four instances and consumes significant memory. In consequence, search outputs are slow, and a window often flickers.
Hopefully, this will be improved in the future release.
Blinkx 3.0
HotBot Desktop Beta
www.hotbot.com/tools/desktop
HotBot is a toolbar-based desktop search tool and displays output in the brows-
Usability
2.00
Enterprise
Readiness
Versatility
3.00
2.00
for eBay search). Unfortunately, we couldn’t complete indexing on this tool for
Accuracy
2.86
is very compact and has some unique features. It supports RSS indexing and
allows users to associate keywords to custom web sites (e.g. “eb <keyword>”
2.34
Security
er’s left pane, where Favorite and History links are often displayed. The tool
2.20
Efficiency
2.00
Source: UW E-Business Consortium
unknown reasons. The software seems to have been
rushed for the beta release.
HotBot offers a deskbar
version, but usability is very
inconsistent from the toolbar. Configuration is text file based, and this
is simply not user-friendly. It provides a lot of custom search syntaxes but has a steep learning curve. Search results are automatically
saved as HTML files, and this may cause some security concerns.
We expect significant improvements in its final release.
HotBot Desktop Beta
www.uwebc.org
© 2005. UW E-Business Consortium
Decision Tools | Desktop Search
APPENDIX A - COMPARISON TABLE
Criteria / Desktop Search Tools
1. Usability
1.1. Application Types
11
BW=Browser base, DB=Deskbar, FB=Floating bar, SA=Standalone Application, TB=Toolbar
Ask Jeeves
Blinkx
Copernic
diskMETA
dtSearch
Enfish
Google
HotBot
ISYS
MSN
Wizetech
4.25
3.00
4.80
2.50
2.50
3.40
4.40
2.00
1.75
4.40
4.75
Yahoo!
4.00
SA
SA, TB
SA, DB
SA
SA
SA
BW, DB, FB
BW, TB, DB
SA
BW, TB, DB
SA
SA, TB
2.57
3.75
4.14
2.43
3.25
3.38
3.50
3.00
3.75
3.63
3.38
3.88
3.20
2.60
4.50
2.60
3.50
2.40
3.20
2.20
2.80
4.20
3.20
3.20
3.80
1.80
4.20
3.40
3.00
3.40
3.33
2.00
3.00
3.60
4.40
3.60
3.14
2.63
3.00
2.86
2.88
3.00
3.13
2.86
3.00
2.86
3.00
3.29
2.00
2.00
4.00
2.00
3.00
3.00
2.00
2.00
4.00
2.00
2.00
4.00
1.2. Features
1.3. Simplicity
1.4. Navigations
1.5. Aesthetic
1.6. Others in Usability
2. Versatility
2.1. Supported PC Environment
2.2. Supported Files
2.3. Media Support
2.4. Application Support
2.5. Multi-language Support
2.6. Web Integration
2.7. E-mail Integration
2.8. Others in Versatility
3. Accuracy
3.1. Word Accuracy
3.2. Additional Word Support
3.3. Index Accuracy
3.4. Output Format
3.5. Filter & Sort
3.6. Others in Accuracy
4. Efficiency
4.1. Download/Installed File Size
4.2. Indexed File Size
4.3. Initial Index Time
4.4. Index Controls
4.5. Memory & CPU Usages
4.6. Others in Efficiency
5. Security
5.1. HTTPS Cache Indexing
5.2. Personal Folder Search
5.3. Possible Intrusion
5.4. Protection Features
5.5. Privacy
5.6. Spyware & Adware
5.7. Product Update
5.8. Others in Security
6. Enterprise Readiness
6.1. Enterprise Products
Overall Scores
3.16
2.63
4.11
2.63
3.02
3.10
3.26
2.34
3.05
3.45
3.62
3.66
Costs
Free
Free
Free
$97.50
$199.00
$199.95
Free
Free
$570.00
Free
$25.00 - 45.00
Free
6
10
1
10
9
7
5
12
8
4
3
2
Overall Ratings
April 20, 2005
Source: UW E-Business Consortium
© 2005. UW E-Business Consortium
Decision Tools | Desktop Search
12
APPENDIX B
Test Environment
We performed benchmark evaluations for all the desktop search tools on the same machine. To prevent any index conflicts, we installed/uninstalled one tool at a time. The details of the computer environment information are shown below:
Test Computer : DELL Optiplex GX240
CPU : Pentium 4 (1. 7GH)
Memory : 512 MB
HDD : 80 GB
OS : Windows XP Professional
Indexed Folder Size : Documents & Folders = 672 MB, Outlook pst file = 4.13 MB (the same message contents for Outlook Express and Thunderbird), IE web cache = 8 MB, FireFox web cache
= 19.2 MB
File Types in Indexed Folders : Text (Unicode & ASCII), DLL, Java, Class, HTML, XML, RTF, MS Office (doc, xls, ppt,
mdb), sql, OpenOffice files, IM logs for Yahoo! & MSN, Adobe PDF, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, archives (zip, tar, g-zip, rar), images (bmp, jpg, gif, tif, png, eps), video
(asf, wmv, mov, avi, mpeg), audio (mp3, acc), and Asian text file and email.
Benchmark Sub Criteria Descriptions
The followings are the descriptions for the benchmark sub criteria.
1. Usability
1.1 Application Types
Is the tool standalone, browser based, toolbar or deskbar? (not rated)
1.2 Features
How many useful features, preferences and options are available?
1.3 Simplicity
How does the tool deal with the following tradeoffs (more features vs. simpler application
design)?
1.4 Navigations
How simple and easy is it to execute the search and results? How many steps does it
take from inserting search keywords to reaching the target file?
1.5 Aesthetics
How are the user interface components and functions refined and organized? Does it
look professional? How about commands, forms, icons and images?
1.6 Others in Usability
Other remarkable usability features if any. This score is only applied if it raises the
average.
2. Versatility
2.1 Supported PC Environment Which operating systems does the tool support? Windows, Mac OS, Linux?
2.2 Supported Files
Which file formats are supported? Office, PDF, IM files, Zip, RSS and folder names?
2.3 Supported Media Files
Which image/audio/video files are supported?
www.uwebc.org
© 2005. UW E-Business Consortium
Decision Tools | Desktop Search
2.4 Supported Applications
13
Check which applications are supported. This is related to the criteria above, but what
about IE or FireFox in terms of web history searches? What about e-mail clients? Does it
support Outlook, Express, Thunderbird, Lotus Notes or Eudora? What about IM?
2.5 Multi-language Support
Does the tool support multi language searches? Can it search Asian text? Does it support
Unicode or other specific encoding types?
2.6 Web Search Integration
How does the tool seamlessly integrate local machine search, web history, and web site
search into one platform?
2.7 E-mail Integration
How far does the tool search in the e-mail client? Does it search just e-mail messages, or
does it also search attachments, address books, schedules and tasks as well? Does it
require the e-mail client be running while indexing?
2.8 Others in Versatility
Other remarkable versatility features if any. This score is only applied if it raises the
average.
3. Accuracy
3.1 Word Accuracy
How exactly does the tool recognize keywords? If a user types “apples,” does it also look
for the word “apple”? What about “criterion/criteria” or “it/IT”? Does it support synonyms
or a thesaurus?
3.2 Additional Word Support
Does the tool have spell checker? What happens if users misspell “Massatusets”? How
does the tool handle an ambiguous person’s name? Does it support wildcard
(* character)? What about double equations or boolean keywords?
3.3 Index Accuracy
What will happen if users move or delete indexed files and then try to search them? What
about new files or modified files? Does it support dynamic indexing, or does it require
reindexing? What about received/sent e-mail?
3.4 Output Format
How accurate and user-friendly is the output? Does it pinpoint exact word locations in
files or just display the file name? How easy is it for users to find documents from
hundreds of outputs?
3.5 Filter & Sort
Can users easily filter or sort search output? What kinds of filtering/sorting options are
available? How easy are they to use?
3.6 Others in Accuracy
Other remarkable accuracy features if any. This score is only applied if it raises the
average.
4. Efficiency
4.1 Download/Indexed File Size How large are downloaded and installed file sizes? Are they small or large, considering
its features and capabilities?
4.2 Indexed File Size
How large are the indexed files? Are they small or large, considering its supported file
types?
www.uwebc.org
© 2005. UW E-Business Consortium
Decision Tools | Desktop Search
4.3 Initial Index Time
14
How long does the tool initially take to index files and e-mail? Considering its indexed file
size and supported file types, is it fast or slow?
4.4 Index Controls
How can users control index performance and frequency? Can users control how much
hardware resources the tool can use? How to schedule indexing? Automatic indexing
during idle time?
4.5 Memory & CPU Usages
How much memory does the tool require during the idle and indexing time? How much
CPU power does the tool require during the usage and indexing time?
4.6 Others in Efficiency
Other remarkable efficiency features if any. This score is only applied if it raises the
average.
5. Security
5.1 HTTPS Cache Indexing
Can users search SSL web histories? Do users have an option to prevent those pages
from being indexed?
5.2 Personal Folder Search
Can the tool allow users to search someone else’s personal folders? Or does it restrict
indexable folders, primarily for privacy/security reasons?
5.3 Possible Intrusion
Is there any possible intrusion or security breach?
5.4 Protection Features
Can users protect certain folders or documents from desktop search? How about
password protected documents? Does the tool index them or ask users for a decision?
5.5 Privacy
How does the vendor address privacy and security issues? Is it clearly stated on the web
site or during installation?
5.6 Spyware & Adware
Does the tool secretly install Spyware or Adware? Is there any unusual network activity
occuring when the application is running?
5.7 Product Update
Does the tool have auto update features so that users can apply updates as quick and
easily as possible? Or does it require uninstall/install? How easy is it to uninstall and
reinstall the new one (keep indexed files)?
5.8 Others in Security
Other remarkable security features if any. This score is only applied if it raises the
average.
6. Enterprise Readiness
6.1 Enterprise Products
www.uwebc.org
Does the vendor provide enterprise desktop search solutions?
© 2005. UW E-Business Consortium
Decision Tools | Desktop Search
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About UW E-Business Consortium
The UW E-Business Consortium (the industry membership base of the UW E-Business
Institute) is Wisconsin’s premier organization that helps companies gain a competitive advantage through e-business. Our members - business executives and senior managers
from the Midwest’s leading companies - tap into world-class university resources and the
collective experiences of this B2B and B2C group to address and share strategic e-business and information technology challenges, best practices and lessons learned.
For more information, contact Assistant Director of Member Relations,
Christina Paschen (608) 265-0645 or clpaschen@wisc.edu
www.uwebc.org
© 2005. UW E-Business Consortium