Konica Minolta’s Enterprise Search solutions help businesses unlock the full value of their data assets

Few business assets are more valuable, or highly prized, than data. And as the world becomes increasingly digitised, businesses have access to a limitless amount of data they can use to secure their sustainable success and establish their competitive advantage. However, harnessing the full power of data requires that you first know precisely where to find the information you need. And as the volume of data gathered by any business continues to grow exponentially, locating the insights you need can become a challenge. This is why an intuitive data search capability is so vital for any business that wants to unlock the full value of its growing data resources.

Konica Minolta South Africa’s Enterprise Search functionality is designed to do precisely that, by enabling users and educating employees to find exactly the data and information they need, within seconds, without having to switch between applications or do numerous searches across multiple systems.

According to Mario De Carvalho, solutions specialist at Konica Minolta South Africa, the Enterprise Search functionality effectively brings the search engine experience that we’re all used to to ignite our multifunctional devices into the office environment. “In our private lives we enjoy the luxury of smart multifunctional devices with search engines that allow us to instantly locate any type of information we need,” De Carvalho says, “but when we’re in the work environment, finding the data and information we require is never as easy, or efficient, as keying in a search phrase.

Although most organisations experience a flood of data inflows, De Carvalho says only around 24% of companies worldwide provide their users with basic data search functionalities. This effectively means the vast majority of information workers are finding the process of locating the data they need to be frustrating at best. “Employees who need data insights to deliver the outputs required of them are spending an inordinate amount of time just trying to find the information they need,” he explains, “and apart from the expense this presents for the business in terms of wasted productivity, the opportunity costs resulting from slower market reaction times are potentially very significant.”

He contends that the solution lies in smart search software that provides advanced search functionality within existing data archives, without the need to first move or consolidate files and data resources. And that’s precisely the level of convenience and simplicity that Konica Minolta’s Enterprise Search solutions deliver.

According to De Carvalho, the Enterprise Search functionality is a critical tool that increasing numbers of South African businesses are using to unlock the full value of their data. The solutions offered by Konica Minolta include cognitive search and graph search functionality as well as sophisticated device learning techniques that ensure they evolve as the organisation’s data resources grow.

“When setting up an Enterprise Search solution for a customer, we take a holistic view that places their needs and infrastructure at the centre of everything we do,” he explains, “so if their business has silo-based data structures in place, we don’t expect them to migrate all the data to a central location; we design solutions that allow them to retain those legacy systems and keep the data where it is – and then we make it quick and easy for them to find exactly the data they need.”

As the proliferation of enterprise data accelerates, and workforces become increasingly mobile and remote, the ability to access information quickly, reliably and from anywhere has the potential to give a business a decisive advantage.

“With Konica Minolta Enterprise Search solutions, businesses can unlock the full benefits of their digital archives through searchability that is accurate and immediate,” De Carvalho says, “and that’s a vital cornerstone on which the success of any data-driven company depends.”