1 Oct 2020

Mindbreeze InSpire Search Appliance Implementation and Lessons Learned

Abstract: The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Knowledge Management relies on enterprise search technology to index and search ERDC’s accumulation of knowledge stored on various web connected systems. In 2016, Google announced the discontinuation of their search product, the Google Search Appliance (GSA), at the end of March 2019. After conducting extensive market research and identifying a suitable replacement that met all ERDC requirements, a competing product called Mindbreeze InSpire was chosen. This product provides a simple-to-use interface that facilitates quick location and retrieval of ERDC knowledge located on ERDC’s internal and extranet websites, and is designed for simple and intuitive installation and configuration. This document investigates and details the acquisition, installation, and configuration of the Mindbreeze InSpire enterprise search appliance, and the lessons learned throughout the entire implementation process.