Microsoft Tempts Enterprises With Free Search Tool

At the Enterprise Search Summit West in San Jose, Calif., Microsoft took the wraps off a release candidate for Search Server 2008 Express, a simple to use enterprise search product that offers sophisticated security and places no limit on the number of documents that can be indexed.

The software, which Microsoft says takes about 30 minutes to set up, is now available as a free download.

"We believe there is a core set of enterprise search features that every business should have, and we're delivering them for free in Search Server 2008 Express," Kirk Koenigsbauer, general manager of the SharePoint Business Group at Microsoft, said in a statement.

Early next year, Microsoft plans to release free connectors that allow organizations to index content from third party content management systems, including EMC Documentum and IBM FileNet.

Microsoft is also working to add federated search functionality to Search Server Express and next year plans to release free connectors to document management systems based on the OpenSearch standard. The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant will be assisted by partners such as Open Text, Business Objects, Cognos and EMC.