Enterprise search is software technology for searching data sources internal to a company, typically intranet and database content. The search is generally offered only to users internal to the company. Enterprise search can be contrasted with web search, which applies search technology to documents on the open web, and desktop search, which applies search technology to the content on a single computer.
Enterprise search systems index data and documents from a variety of sources such as: file systems, intranets, document management systems, e-mail, and databases. Many enterprise search systems integrate structured and unstructured data in their collections. Enterprise search systems also use access controls to enforce a security policy on their users.
Enterprise search can be seen as a type of vertical search of an enterprise.
Enterprise search refers to the process of searching and retrieving information across all of an organization's content repositories, including databases, documents, websites, and other sources. Some of the key benefits of enterprise search include: