Why did we build our own search engine in Exact Synergy Enterprise?

In Exact Synergy Enterprise we have made major changes to the search logic. Sometimes I got questions from people why we did not implement Google or other available engines. I think this is a valid question. In my previous blog: Why is Enterprise search more complex than we search? I explained the difference between Enterprise search and web search.

In this blog I will explain the main reasons for our own developed search engine:

1. Exact Search engine is integrated in the software. No additional deployments steps are necessary to use the engine.
2. No additional configuration is not needed. Index process is configured out of the box. Only one background job to schedule the indexing process.
3. No additional hardware is needed to use the search engine.
4. Access control of content is integrated in the Exact Search engine.
5. Development costs versus license fee of external search technology.
6. Training of support and consultancy.

Can it happen that we will use an external search engine in the future? Yes, there will be a moment that we will make use of external search technology. If you ask when, I do not know at this moment. We continually follow available products. The quality of the result set is not the only factor for a decision. We will take the mentioned reasons into account.

If you know search engines who has a good answer on the mentioned reasons feel free to contact me.

8 reasons why I uses a SaaS accounting solution for my financial administration?

At the moment that my first child was born I started to do my own private bookkeeping in Exact for Windows. I only know the amount of money on my bank account every month. I had no idea how much money I spend for different things this like food, clothes, housing, holidays, my car etc. I started, 9 years ago, with Exact for Windows. 4 years ago, I switched to my first SaaS solution. It was the alpha version of our current SaaS solution Exact Online. (http://www.exactonline.nl/ dutch only) Since 2 years, I'm a very happy user of Exact Online. A lot of people ask me the question, why are you using a SaaS solution for it? Is it safe to store your data somewhere else? Of course, before I start using Exact Online, I asked myself the same questions. Why did I decide to use it?

1. I realized that already a lot of my 'private' data is stored somewhere in the cloud. It's all about TRUST. Everybody is doing their banking stuff via Internet. Web shopping is very popular. Invoices of my telecom provider can only be retrieved via the internet. In the Netherlands, the government started with the Electronic Patient Dossier. This is your medical file, available via the web for doctors. So a lot of my data is already in the cloud and I'm happy with it. It's a running train which will never stop.
2. At home I have multiple PC's in a small network. My previous financial bookkeeping solution was installed on one of these PC's. Therefore it could only be used from that single PC. This is not a problem if you are alone, but with more people in the family it can happen that the financial bookkeeping PC is in use. With Exact Online, you can use it from every PC with a browser. Not only at home but everywhere in the world.
3. Backup of my data. How much times do you make a backup of all your home PC's. I did it almost not. With the hosted solution, I have no worries about that.
4. Availability of your data. A few months ago, I visited my dentist and she asked for the insurance number of my kids. I started Exact Online, from the PC of the dentist, to retrieve the insurance numbers. When I travel with my family, all my e-tickets and reservations are stored in Exact Online. If I need them, they are available for me.
5. Functionality which is the advantage of a SaaS solution. I will give one example: direct automatic import of your bank statements during the night. Exact Online is directly importing my bank statements from my bank. I do not have to download my bank statements and import them manually.
6. I'm working for the research and innovation center of Exact in Delft. I'm in favor of the principle: Eat your own dog food.
7. With the current financial crisis, what is the impact on my financial situation? In one overview, I can see all my revenue and cost in comparison with previous months and years.  
8. Last but not least, Exact Online complies with my personal statement: Keep It Simple and Fast.